question about flooring....
I recently bought a hundred year old two family in Greenpoint. I am looking to have the floors redone. Due to furniture color and circumstance I am looking to have the floors redone. My initial summation of the situation was, “I want grey”. Is this a really deviant (uhhh) choice? I have been doing my…
I recently bought a hundred year old two family in Greenpoint. I am looking to have the floors redone. Due to furniture color and circumstance I am looking to have the floors redone. My initial summation of the situation was, “I want grey”. Is this a really deviant (uhhh) choice? I have been doing my due diligence, or whatever, on the Internet, and have come to the conclusion that this might be and (unknowingly) unpopular choice. At least on this side of the pond. All the examples that are in line with my desires seem to emanate from the ream of the .uk. I’,m nobodies fool, so I’d prefer to stay away from dollars v. sterling. My question is is there anyone who produces such wood locally? I’m no stickler for the absolute perfection in production. Apparently, the Brits are doing a white ash with some sort of black oil staining. Its beautiful, but I’m not really trying to absorb $20+ a sqft in materials alone. BTW way whats an acceptable rate for labor on such a job? I had one contractor over who quoted me $3000 labor + materials on what is a 750 sqft job. Is this reasonable? Does anyone know of a local shop that could approximate such an aesthetic? I understand with a drop in price comes a drop in quality, but can someone recommend an alternative that is affordable and approaches this “look”?
If you plan on refinishing the current floors, only certain kinds of wood really look good (in my opinion)when they are bleached. Oak, ash, chestnut, etc. A lot of Brooklyn houses have either Douglas Fir or Southern Pine floors, which don’t bleach very well. Additionally, a lot of those floors have had repairs done which involves patching in new flooring which might not bleach the same. The grey also seems like a very slick, modern look, an old beat up floor, which has its own beauty, might not match that style. Sounds like you have some tough personal decisions that you’re going to have to make.
If you are planning on going with a new floor, finding what you want should be relatively easy.
If you are planning on using the current flooring, try a test patch somewhere first like a closet that won’t show.
Either way, very few things are irreversable. Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and jump in and do it. Good luck.
Interesting. I was thinking of going grey because of my furniture. A lot of black and espresso stained and wenge wood. I think they would look cooler on black than a brown.
Love grey floors. I considered it myself during my reno but when the floor person told me to consider how my furnishings would look on a grey floor, I realized my decor would not match so went with a walnut stain color instead. With grey floors you need cool colors. Warm tones–woods, reds, oranges etc don’t look so good. I have a lot of teak midcentury stuff and it doesn’t look good with grey floors.
Bond –
“Driftwood” is spot on. It is one of the terms I googled in my initial research. Is there a NYC outfit who could take this on this look?
Regards,
Mike
Bond-
Interesting. I have no kids/pets. Do you know anyone who has done this kind of work?
Regards,
Mike
6:10 PM,
You have great taste. Your reference point is basically what I am striving for. Is this “look” inherently custom? Is there Prêt-à -Porter approximation available?
Regards,
Mike
southside-
Excuse my ignorance but who are “Abbott”? I’d be interested in speaking to them.
Regards,
Mike
4:42 PM–
Thanks. I’m truly a novice. My floors now are about hundred years old, but for the most part are in good shape. Do you think your proposal, (“Can’t you just sand off whatever typical brown color is on your floors and stain them grey”) would be more economically favorable than just replacing the floors entirely? Do you know of anyone who does such work?
Regards,
Mike
Fuming will give you a dark brown color, bordering on almost black depending on how long you leave the wood exposed to the fumes. For a driftwood color, you are better off using a bleach (not the kind you use for washing, but wood bleach). It can be a tricky process though, especially for large areas.
The beauty of pickling is that it’s relatively easy to do, and you have lots of control over the process. The drawback is that it’s not going to wear very well on a floor.