A Floor Above

I've always heard the quote, "Flooring is the foundation of any beautiful room."  While the actual foundation of our home is very sturdy, the flooring is, well, shaky at best. We knew from the first time we walked into the house that it needed all new floors. The current hardwood isn't in great shape [and can't be refinished], two large areas have carpet that we want to be wood, and there is parque in the foyer.

Because of us removing the wall in the kitchen, our timing was tied to doing the floors and the kitchen at the same time. So much for biting off this house one room at a time. 

The calm before the storm. And a reminder what our floors did look like. 

Hardwood ended up being the 3rd largest ticket item [first being construction labor/supplies, second being custom cabinets], but in my mind, the biggest commitment. Deciding on floors probably took the longest of this entire process.  Looking back, there were 3 turning points that got us to a final decision and order placed.

First, finishing the floors after they were laid down was just not going to be a possibility for this project. With the order that things had to happen with the construction [cabinets/ceilings/reframing], sanding/finishing them after they were installed would be much more of an issue than it would be worth in the long run. Plus, there would be much more opportunity for them to be damaged because they would have to go down sooner in the process.  Once I could admit out loud that pre-finished floors were my future [which didn't break my heart, but certainly ruined my afternoon], I could move on with what my options were.

Then, much like my counters, I had to determine what were my non-negotiables when it came to my new floors. My number one priority in life, not just this renovation, is the health and happiness of my family.  While I understand that VOCs and off gassing is not something that matters to everyone [or is even on everyone's radar], it is quite a big deal to me [and I've done countless hours of research to build my case]. I wanted an absolutely formaldehyde free flooring that only had the VOCs that naturally exist in wood. A "green" floor, if you will. While many manufactures are CARB compliant [a step in the right direction!] and are working to lower harmful chemicals in their flooring, I only found one that I really felt made safety their number one priority [and still had great colors and guarantees].

Finally, we were onto what color. Steve wanted light wood, I wanted medium-dark, and we could both agree that we were over the Ebony color that was in our previous house [the Stack-a-Shack].  I also wanted a really hard floor [JANKA scale, what what]...I'm hoping as soon as this renovation is over to get a big-dog puppy!  I'm just going to assume that Steve is never going to read this far down on any of my posts...he doesn't know he is onboard [and a waiting-list] for a third dog yet.

We ended up settling on a REALLY variated oak floor.  I loved some of the exotics, but I just didn't think they looked right in our space. We went with a traditional wood with a unique stain. Since the island will be wood and there will be wood accents on the hood, I wanted to make sure it didn't look like I was trying to match it or having it clash.  I brought the sample home and stuck it all over my main floor to see how it looked. We both loved it instantly and were completely sold.  

The flooring has arrived and is sitting in what will be our dining room absorbing our air and learning how to be a member of our family. As long as the drywall is finished on Wednesday, flooring will go down on our beautiful new subfloors Thursday and Friday.


This is the only part of the project that we are moving out for. With the dry wall dust and the floors going in the areas we have been living, it made the most sense to hightail it down the road for a few days.  Once I confirm that I love the brand/color of the floor as much as I think I will, I will post more information and links :)