Wood Flooring

[Ronstar]

I'm a wood nut, and plan on replacing almost 2000 sf of carpet and tile with hardwood soon. I put solid hardwood only in our MBR closet a couple of years ago for a test and it has a little bit of shrink/swell due to temp and humidity changes. I think I'm going with engineered when I do the rest of the house.

 

[CRLLS]

I put engineered wood in the kitchen. Under the fridge, it is beginning to delam at the edge of 1 plank. I should have used solid wood I guess. We did put a cork floor in the master bath. I love it. Bare cork was glued to the floor and then sanded and poly'd. it is warm to bare feet, naturally mildew resistant, etc. Cork flooring has stood the test of time in many commercial buildings. Not good for sliding refrigerators about though.

 

[Gearhead Jim]

We will be doing a replacement of the engineered (laminated veneer over cheaper plywood) wood in our foyer next week, because the original veneer has been sanded once and is too thin to do it again.


We will be using engineered again, because it expands/contracts less with humidity/temperature changes from summer to winter. The cost for solid was virtually identical, but the installer recommended engineered because of our high humidity in summer and we don't use the A/C very much.


We will be buying engineered with a thicker top veneer than before, should be able to refinish twice, maybe even three times. Which would have us at well over 100 years old by then.


We are also using pre-finished, allegedly the factory coatings are somewhat tougher than can be applied on-site, though the on-site finish can be repaired more easily.


Ask me in a couple of weeks how it turned out...

 

[mpeirce]

A lot has to do with climate. Idnar7's profile say Minnesota, where it some might say it gets a bit chilly much of the year. Going barefoot on a tile on a hot day in the south is refreshing, but tile floors are just too cold for me in those long cold winters.

+1

That's why we replaced the tile in the kitchen with hardwood a couple of years ago. Much warmer in the winter and fine in the summer too. The tile was COLD.

So far the wood has held up well. DW does clean it often, but then she did that with the tile too.

 

[chris66]

I have always said I'd never install wood in the kitchen, entry, or bath. Well, we just changed that rule, and installed wood in the kitchen of this house, because of how it connects with the other rooms. We thought the wood throughout those spaces looked the best. We went with ash, with a "timeworn" finish. This way, "damage" is already done, and so minor damage will just add to the patina The medium and inconsistent color should also help to hide damage, we hope (time will tell, we've only had this a few weeks). We have extra wood that we kept, in case of more significant damage in the future. Newer, factory applied finishes may hold up better than floors in the past. Some of these have 16 coats! That's better than anything you could apply at home.

We have large dogs, and I'm a messy gardener, so our entrances are where we see the most damage to flooring. I'm a messy cook, too, but I think the floor with the factory finish will hold up OK there, since the dogs don't trample it as much, and since I have anti-fatigue mats on the floor, which also serve to catch grease splatters. We tiled all areas with doors from the outside, as well as the bathrooms. We heated the bath floor, so it's not so cold.

There are a number of wood floors that have 25 - 50 year warranties (dog damage not covered), so it just depends on the price point and what's available in your area. If we didn't have large, active dogs, we probably would have gone with cork in those areas (full thickness, glue down).

 

[samclem]

Part of my objection to wood in the kitchen, bath, etc is aesthetic--it looks "wrong" and out of place >to me<. That just comes from years of knowing about and participating in the never-ending battle between water and wood (guess which wins!). Maybe the new woods/wood like products will be great and never cause a problem in a kitchen, but >to me< it doesn't look like it belongs there.
But I get the same heeby-jeebies when I see white carpet. It doesn't "look good" to me because I immediately think about what a PITA it will be, and I wouldn't be comfortable having it in my house. Or a bathroom in shag carpet ("But I can just shampoo it if it gets dirty"! If?! Trust me--it's "dirty" right now.)

 

[Sarah in SC]

Oh the wood/water thing reminded me...we had a freezer failure about five years ago and the entire contents of the ice maker drained out onto the floor.
The floors buckled up in the wet area, but interestingly, after a week or so (we are pretty lazy about repairs) the floor dried and settled back into place with no visible signs that it had been buckled. Weird, but glad that our laziness paid off.
We lost a lot of cups and plates to the tile floor in our last kitchen. Wood is more forgiving.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

 

[check6]

We like to live dangerously as we recently installed engineered walnut everywhere including kitchen, guest bathroom, and laundry room.

 

[bUU]

We just moved from a home with tile on the floor in the kitchen to one with wood on the floor in the kitchen. While rugs even the playing field a bit, we do appreciate the wood underfoot. The wood floor (engineered oak) is about ten years old and has been used hard. It cleaned up nicely, and while it shows the wear it is still preferable to the tile. (Heck, the tile we left behind showed a little wear, and with tile the wear is much more noticeable than with the wood.)

 

[papadad111]

Did bamboo floors in a bathroom. Work great. Bamboo doesn't mind getting wet either.

 

[eytonxav]

Old house had tile in kitchen and walkways, carpet in family room and bedrooms, and engineered hardwood in living and dining rooms. New house has real hardwood in most locations, except for laundry room, bedrooms, game room and 3 of the 4 bathrooms. Since our house is built on a slab, we find the hardwood to be much more comfortable in cold weather, easy to care for and better looking.

 

[tnbison]

I have Mannington Icore ii floors and love them. No the aren't hardwood. But they also don't have any wood in them so they are impervious to water damage. They can chip if something sharp and heavy is dropped on them but they are very difficult to scratch. I've had them 3 years. Two 60lb dogs, zero scratches, and look like new. Just don't go as dark as I did, cuz they look dirty all the time!

 

[pb4uski]

We have the same issue... we went with a caramelized stranded bamboo and love the floor but it is much darker than what we had before which was a natural maple color and its shows just about every little piece of lint or whatever. We're quite happy with the floors but would go with a much lighter color if we ever have to replace them.

 

[Midpack]

Wood isn't the best choice for kitchens as others have noted. But against my better judgement [-]DW decided[/-] we put solid clear 3/4" maple in our kitchen last year because we don't have kids or high traffic in our kitchen. No spills, but a few dents/dings when we've dropped something.

If you go with wood, I'd go with something relatively hard and higher quality. Cheap or softer woods could get beat up pretty fast in a kitchen. And you're going to have to be way more careful with wood in the kitchen no matter what you choose. Best of luck...

 

[Ally]

I love wood, and recently saw beautiful floors that my doctor installed in her office. They looked like hardwood and I asked about them. She said that they were actually ceramic tile. I reached down and touched them and they were! Every time I visit her office, I have to touch the floor again. They look so much like wood, it's hard to believe.

 

[check6]

We have the same issue... we went with a caramelized stranded bamboo and love the floor but it is much darker than what we had before which was a natural maple color and its shows just about every little piece of lint or whatever. We're quite happy with the floors but would go with a much lighter color if we ever have to replace them.

Go to WalMart and buy a Swifter battery broom. Works great on our walnut floors and is faster than pushing a dry mop and then using a Dustbuster to pick up the piles of lint.

 

[45th Birthday]

We have oak floors in the kitchens of two of our houses, and also in houses before that. Wouldn't consider anything else. Water can be an issue, but we have also had icemaker/fridge condensate line leaks and while temporary cupping was a problem, they settled down to normal. Dings that would crack tile are part of the character of the floors.

 

[Idnar7]

Thanks all for the excellent feedback. This raised some new issues, and as in any decision, the more info the better. I think we will look into the ceramic wood tile as a possible kitchen solution. We have a dishwasher that will have to be replaced in a few years, so this is a concern (blockage). We are trying to delay a complete kitchen remodel. We have off-white carpet in living/dining rooms that three cats and a lab have customized and will soon have to be replaced. We are at the point where we have almost put as much into the house as we originally paid 15 years ago (house is 35 years old). It seems never-ending. Plan to be here another 5 -10 years.


Thanks again for the helpful comments.

 

[Tree-dweller]

We did our kitchen over this year, and we went with porcelain tile. As we live in New England, we invested in electric floor heaters between the subfloor and the tile at installation, and it makes a huge difference. We walk in the kitchen barefoot very often in the winter, and our piggies wiggle with glee.

 

[Dreamer]

We are in the process of having almost a total remodel of our house. We had hardwood floors installed throughout the main living areas. We have tile in the bathrooms and the laundry room. Our remodel has already cost more than our house originally cost and it is still ongoing. I am hoping that they are done within 3 weeks. Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[Hermit]

The tile in our kitchen/hall/powder room had hair line cracks when we bought the place when it was one year old. By three years old, the cracks had turned in to chips. I attribute this to low quality, large tiles (13" squares) and lack of support under the tile. The tile was placed on 1/2" Durarock with plywood subfloor on 16" on center floor joists. We replaced the tile with 3/4" wood floors as part of a major remodel.

I have asked a guy who owned a tile business about the best way to support the floor for tile. He said to put in plenty of cross bracing. On a previous house, we had tile in the entry and it had joists stubbed in at 8" on center under the tile and never cracked. In the house I am presently building I have put cross braces at 12" on center under the area where I will tile and the put the wood burning stove.

The moral of this story is use quality tile and make sure you have adequate support. If your floors are "bouncy", which a lot of newer construction is, I think you could have problems with cracking.

 

[Papa bear]

I'm in the midst of a kitchen remodel and will be installing solid hardwood. We haven't picked out the exact kind yet.

As for durability, I've had 3/4in solid red oak installed for the first floor, including kitchen and entry way, of a college campus rental and it has held up very well for 8 years and going. Talk about a test of extreme conditions - keg parties, dishwasher mishaps, tracking in snow and salt from outdoors, and minimal regular cleaning.

 

[Cobra9777]

We installed engineered wood floor in the kitchen of our prior house. It looked great and held up fine except in the sink/dishwasher area. Even though we had a rug there, the water damage was evident after just a couple years. You can refinish engineered wood flooring maybe once or twice, depending on the thickness of the veneer. Real 3/4" hardwood flooring is not practical in Texas where the subfloor is a concrete slab.

Our current house has saltillo tile in the kitchen, which is quite attractive, although a bit rustic/uneven and hard on the feet. We also have a few cracked tiles. I definitely prefer the "look and feel" of wood flooring, but in kitchens and baths, tile will last longer.

 

[eytonxav]

W Real 3/4" hardwood flooring is not practical in Texas where the subfloor is a concrete slab.

A proper installation requires a plywood sub-floor underneath and is very common in Texas.

 

[Cobra9777]

A proper installation requires a plywood sub-floor underneath and is very common in Texas.

...which raises the level of the floor by at least 1.5" (3/4" plywood subfloor + 3/4" wood floor). I was referring to its usefulness in kitchen and bath applications, where such a height change would obviously play havoc with toe kicks, etc. There may be some people who do it, but I think it's much more common, practical, and cost-effective to use glue-down engineered flooring in such applications.