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August 9, 2006
Which wood would you?
So, we thought that we would be able to salvage the floors on the top two floors, but upon closer inspection, um, no. The opinion of the contractor, the floor guy, and Ms. Substitute Architect (Mr. and Ms. Architect are on vacation) is that the floors probably wouldn't survive the sanding process without completely disintegrating, and that even if they did, they're so weak that the places that need to be filled (and there are many) would not hold up well after a few months.
So, I'd love to hear some opinions on the subject. We don't want to spend a ton, since this is an unanticipated cost. I've seen prices online from 99 cents a square foot up as high as you want to go. I've found with most products there's a tipping point, a point of rapidly-diminishing returns, the point at which paying more money does not equal getting more quality. So, is that point at $5/sq foot? $7? $10?
Consumer Reports did not help much with even the most basic decision, like solid over engineered or pre-finished over not. Each had disadvantages that outweighed the advantages, so I'm kind of lost here. Any opinions would be appreciated.
Comments
If you are concerned about ecological considerations, use bamboo flooring, it's renewable and quite good looking. We used Verrazano.
Posted by: cmu at August 10, 2006 9:37 AM
I would discourage anyone from using prefinished or engineered flooring.
I did use bamboo -prefinished- in a condo which I liked except for the 'microbevel'. Yes, eco-friendly but these or any other prefinished definitely have a modern look. And those designed to look like old floors look fake.
Buy unfinished and have someone finish them.
Search internet for prices.
Very recently ordered quarter-sawn white oak 5"wide for wkend house and they look great.
Posted by: Pete at August 10, 2006 9:58 AM
Yep, I'm with Pete on this one. Prefinished looks kind of fake compared to basic unfinished oak. I've installed a few of these prefinished floors. Homeowners feel they are saving money, perhaps that's true, but look what you get? I feel it's out of character of old houses. I find that scratches show really well on prefinished wood too. You can't go wrong with traditional unfinished 3/4 oak. Shop around.
Posted by: Rick at August 10, 2006 10:57 AM
We did prefinished bamboo (from iFloor) at about $3/sq. ft. We love the bamboo but don't like the pre-finished look. It sometimes looks/feels like Pergo, which we don't like. I'd say do bamboo (for both sustainable and aesthetic reasons) but do unfinished if you can. Sand/stain it to whatever you want.
Posted by: Rusty at August 10, 2006 11:16 AM
It really depends on whether you want a period or modern look. As far as I can tell, all prefinished flooring looks a bit cheesy and certainly not period. I'm putting down new parquet in my front parlor and am leaning towards quartersawn oak with a stain on it. Other things I've considered are white maple and regular white oak. All three are about the same price at Premium floors on 31st street in Sunset Park - about $3-$4 psf for 3/4 inch thick, 2 1/4 inch wide unfinished. These are strips in varying lengths. Its twice as much if you want longer strips.
Posted by: CB at August 10, 2006 11:36 AM
have any of you ever sat under an oak tree? they are glorious. they don't deserve to be cut up and milled for the houses of mere men. if you want oak, find reclaimed.
Posted by: Land of the Bat at August 10, 2006 11:55 AM
Red Oak is beautiful as a floor. I put 3" rift cut in my brownstone. If I had the extra money, I would have done the quatersawn - it is striking. Go as wide as you can, it makes the room look bigger, but it does cost more. Good luck!
Posted by: Jamzer at August 10, 2006 12:30 PM
There are several great bamboo options out there. Also cork flooring is kind of interesting and fairly durable.
Posted by: jctrain at August 10, 2006 1:53 PM
I have installed pre-finished Maple select on my floors. I actually purchased my floors from a Canadian company and since I was willing to wait for shipment it was only about $3.65 a square foot. I had to redo my rental unit and I was going to put the same flooring in there but the cheapest I could find it was about $6 a square foot at Lumber Liquidators. Then I found a place on Smith Street (I think 572 - about two blocks past the fire house) that had oak flooring for $2 a square foot. The maple I have is very light so even though it has taken a few scratches - you dont see it like you do on darker stained floors. If you would like to see them I can show you pictures or if you want the exact name and address of the two places I mentioned just email me.
Posted by: Stacey at August 10, 2006 1:54 PM
Take it easy people...
This is not a choice between life & death here.
My two cents - white oak or red oak, strip T&G,
diagonal field, border w/ feature strip. Not modern but classic.
For modern-look at maple wider planks 4-5".
Bamboo is great, but prefinished and as with any prefinished your subfloor has to be quite leveled. Unfinished on not so perfect floor is the best and cost effective solution.
Posted by: MG at August 10, 2006 1:55 PM
What about if we use bamboo but have child-laborers install it?
OK, seriously, you've given us a lot to think about. Thanks to everyone and we may have some follow-up questions for you.
Posted by: Amy at August 10, 2006 5:47 PM
I recently went to an auction and purchase 1400sf of Brazilian Teak Pre-finished for $3.50sf. There were all types of wood there and nothing went for over $4sf. That is the way to go, the price online and in store for the same flooring was much higher.
Posted by: anon at August 13, 2006 9:07 PM
Price typically indicates the species of wood (maple and exotics are more expensive), the length and width of each wood plank, and quality of finish. Consider handscraped and/or distressed flooring if you want something that looks like it's been down for a long time. The added advantage is that any dings or dents the floor endures will blend in with the overall feel of the floor, so it's a great choice for areas that'll have traffic. A quality handscraped floor goes anywhere from $8 to $16 per SF, though Woodstock Antique and Distressed options (on www.ifloor.com) are currently listed at $3.99 on up.
Posted by: JAwasen at August 17, 2006 10:13 AM
Just coming back to this site so here's my 2 cents worth, if it's not too late. When we decided to install a new floor in our front and rear parlors, we used a great place in Upstate NY called Pioneer Millworks (google them) who sell recycled flooring -- newly milled floorboards from old timbers. We chose clear douglas fir, plus heart pine for a bathroom. Both woods are really beautiful and our installer was impressed by the quality. Pioneer also offers oak and other species and they are really nice people to deal with. My only regret is that we finished the floors with polyurethane. While that was probably the best decision for the bathroom, for the parlor I wished we'd used a penetrating oil finish. I've seen these used elsewhere and the look is natural with a lovely soft sheen. But the big advantage is that scratches can be easily removed with a touch-up application of oil.
Also of note: in recent years, high end renovations in the UK frequently include new wood floors. There are a number of specialty retailers in London and the quality of the wood available seems to far exceed anything you can easily find here in NYC. I understand the oak comes mostly from Eastern Europe. But then I've always found that, while the prices are high, quality materials, fixtures and fittings are much more easily sourced in the UK than here.
Posted by: Neo Grec at August 29, 2006 2:09 PM
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