Starting to research hard wood flooring, where is the best place to buy? Tips?

[Jillpie]

I'm looking for any tips, helpful information you can provide. We're brand new at this. We're tearing up our living room carpet and hallway. So far we've looked at Lowe's and liked Bruce oak. Did you do it yourself or have it installed? Was it easy to do it yourself and how difficult were the doorways into the bedrooms? Thanks.

 

[Coconut36]

I have Bruce's Natural Reflections hardwood (not sure if it goes by that name anymore..I got mine 7+ years ago). We got it at Home Depot and I did a boatload of research prior to that. Research on what I wanted and research on how to care for it (do NOT use Murphy's Oil soap on your hardwoods..it will ruin the finish. Vinegar is a no no too as long term use will pit and dull the finish. Use something like Bona or Bruce's Hardwood floor cleaner..a spray bottle you lightly mist the floor with and use a "schmop" to clean/dry. Also do not mop it or use steam mops (Bruce's told me steam mops are likely to cause long term damage).

"We" (meaning my Dad and DH) installed the hardwoods ourselves..it saved us a TON of money for sure. My Dad had previous experience installing hardwoods so it made it doable for us to DIY it. I believe Lowe's and Home Depot used to offer classes on things like hardwood installation so you might see if you can catch one.

We had no issue at all with the doorways to the bedrooms.

 

[Jillpie]

Ok, thank you, very helpful information!

 

[kirstenb1]

With the prefinished floors, just make sure to consider how long you'll live in your home. I know it used to be they couldn't be sanded and recoated with polyurethane. I think if you were going to plan on using them for only 10 yrs or so you'd be fine.

We figure we'll be in this house a long time, so we went with a local hardwood flooring place. They installed red oak floors, and then we had them back a couple of yrs ago, when we put on an addition, and wanted the floors the same. The advantage is we can have them sanded and finished several times, so they'll last for as long as we do!

 

[WDWBlue]

I'm looking for any tips, helpful information you can provide. We're brand new at this. We're tearing up our living room carpet and hallway. So far we've looked at Lowe's and liked Bruce oak. Did you do it yourself or have it installed? Was it easy to do it yourself and how difficult were the doorways into the bedrooms? Thanks.

Menard's, Great Lakes Hardwoods with a 50 year finish warranty (hickory or oak, I put down hickory). I don't expect them to go scratch free for 50 years, but its made it 5 years and look as good as when I put it down.

 

[monkeyboy]

Do not be afraid to look at the locals. sometimes they have overstocks at great prices

 

[miralys]

We used Lumber Liquidators. Great experience. Don't know if you have one near you or not. Best advice I can give to save money: be flexible. It helps if you have a color palette to pick from rather than say, only shopping for medium mahogany or the like.

We did it ourselves. Hardest part was the toll it took on our backs for a few days, but definitely worth the savings.

 

[mikehn]

You should visit some local flooring shops just to get an idea of what's out there. There's a whole lot more to life than Lowes and Home Depot when it comes to flooring. Installing a wood floor is not something I would want to get into, but if you are a DIYer, maybe also visit Lumber Liquidators, a national chain that is geared towards DIYers. Oak is the most abundant wood available and therefore the least expensive wood. The opposite end of the spectrum are the exotic woods from Brazil. Countless other wood species in between for all different budgets. Some places like Lowes and Home Depot will advertise $2 a square foot for basic installation, but there is no such thing as "basic" installation. True installation runs around $5 a square foot or so. If you want hardwood on stairs, thats a whole nother story which I wont get into.

 

[Coconut36]

You should visit some local flooring shops just to get an idea of what's out there. There's a whole lot more to life than Lowes and Home Depot when it comes to flooring. Installing a wood floor is not something I would want to get into, but if you are a DIYer, maybe also visit Lumber Liquidators, a national chain that is geared towards DIYers. Oak is the most abundant wood available and therefore the least expensive wood. The opposite end of the spectrum are the exotic woods from Brazil. Countless other wood species in between for all different budgets. Some places like Lowes and Home Depot will advertise $2 a square foot for basic installation, but there is no such thing as "basic" installation. True installation runs around $5 a square foot or so. If you want hardwood on stairs, thats a whole nother story which I wont get into.

That is a good point..we went to flooring/hardwood specific places initially to see all the options and narrow things down (and to give me a chance to talk to the experts on long term care) but once we found what we liked we shopped around and found it cheaper at Home Depot..definitely shop all around before you decide.

With the prefinished floors, just make sure to consider how long you'll live in your home. I know it used to be they couldn't be sanded and recoated with polyurethane. I think if you were going to plan on using them for only 10 yrs or so you'd be fine.

Mine are prefinished and they are sandable and restainable. It might vary by type/make..etc but you can certainly sand/refinish at least some of them.

 

[Jillpie]

Fantastic, thanks everyone. We've spent the last two afternoons at Lowe's just getting educated to the process. We narrowed it down to Bruce solid oak, color Butterscotch. Very pretty. Tomorrow we're heading to Lumbar Liquidators, DH did the online research and it looks like they'll be cheaper all around (thanks to the posters that confirmed that). Then we have to decide to have it installed or have DH do it. He doesn't own a miter saw or power nail gun, so we have to weigh the tools/misc extras all into it vs. the cost of installment.

 

[arminnie]

Really, really investigate the different types of "hardwood". Some of those prefinished are pretty fake looking. I literally was not 100% sure my hardwood floors in my condo were really hardwood (looked like laminate to me) until Katrina buckled it up so I could see the boards. Must be a millimeter of finish on it. Scratched very easily.

Now in my second condo I put in solid wood floors that were site finished. OMG - the difference in how they look and wear. About a thousand times better looking. Also with site finished no water will slip between the boards to possibly warp them.

 

[Coconut36]

Fantastic, thanks everyone. We've spent the last two afternoons at Lowe's just getting educated to the process. We narrowed it down to Bruce solid oak, color Butterscotch. Very pretty. Tomorrow we're heading to Lumbar Liquidators, DH did the online research and it looks like they'll be cheaper all around (thanks to the posters that confirmed that). Then we have to decide to have it installed or have DH do it. He doesn't own a miter saw or power nail gun, so we have to weigh the tools/misc extras all into it vs. the cost of installment.

Makes me think it's the same Bruce's I have. Mine are called Gunstock but my parents is the same brand/type and theirs is called Butterscotch. It's really lovely and looks beautiful (as does mine ) 7+ years later.

 

[snykymom]

We just bought stranded bamboo at Lumber Liquidators for our floors. Not terribly expensive (about $3/sq. ft.), and it's harder than oak. It can be sanded and refinished. Since we're also redoing our kitchen, we're going to have our contractor install it. (My dh did, however, pull up all our carpeting and tile flooring!) I can't wait!

 

[jsmith]

we have two inch wide inch thick red oak plank flooring-it can be sanded and refinished several times if we choose. It was installed by a local vendor rather than Home Depot or Lowes. As someone else said the vendor was ademant that it not be cleaned with a steam mop, or vinegar. I dust mop daily and spot clean with Bona-then damp mop the whole floor with Bona every couple of weeks-we dont have dogs or children at home so some areas dont get any traffic at all-but the kitchen and entry area do. I love love love my hardwood.

 

[Jillpie]

Thanks everyone for all your feedback tonight! I'm starting to get really excited for this. For those that used Lumber Liquidators, did you use their payment plan and did you find that the 6 mos. no interest, was too short of a time to pay it all off?

 

[cornflake]

Another vote for Lumber Liquidators, they're awesome. Didn't use a plan, sorry can't help you there.

Do bring stuff with you if you have it available at all. I did new flooring in the kitchen and went toting a cabinet door to hold up against the floors - the ppl at LL also offered me samples to take home and put on the floor to see how they looked in the different lighting and when sunlight hit and etc. Ask them about stuff like how a floor might age (some lighter to medium shades of some woods will darken over time if exposed to sunlight, which a LL guy mentioned and had some of that wood installed in their shop floor to show vs. the sample on the wall - so you could see how it'd age).

Take anything you know you'll use - rug swatch, paint chip, etc., or take some samples home.

Remember the 'basics' too, like generally, the floor "should" be somewhat darker than finishings and walls, to ground the space. Some people like a light floor, it's personal taste obviously, but I think sometimes people don't think about what they might like outside their first instinct.

As for refinishing, it's not the type, as long as it's actual, not engineered hardwood, it's the thickness. The reason you can't refinish some is because the planks just don't have the depth to be able to be sanded down, especially more than once, and retain their integrity. If you're going 3/4" on up, I think you're fine though.

 

[mikehn]

Fantastic, thanks everyone. We've spent the last two afternoons at Lowe's just getting educated to the process. We narrowed it down to Bruce solid oak, color Butterscotch. Very pretty. Tomorrow we're heading to Lumbar Liquidators, DH did the online research and it looks like they'll be cheaper all around (thanks to the posters that confirmed that). Then we have to decide to have it installed or have DH do it. He doesn't own a miter saw or power nail gun, so we have to weigh the tools/misc extras all into it vs. the cost of installment.

Any do it yourself household should have a mitre saw. Something tells me you should probably leave the job to pros. However, should you decide to install it yourself, remember you will have to order extra wood to account for waste and quality imperfections. Your wood order will always contain some amount of wood that is imperfect and you probably wont get credit for those, so you should always order extra. Your wood will also have to sit in your house for 72 hours before installation to allow it time to acclimate.

 

[snykymom]

Whether 6 months no interest is "too short" a time depends on your own financial situation, how much you're spending and how much you can pay! If you do go with it, then just divide the total spent by 6, pay 1/6th each month and then you'll be sure to pay it off without incurring the accrued interest charges.