HawthorneVillager.com

good morning,

our house is closing in june and we are debating about doing the hardwoord stairs through the builder. Our concern is that when we purchase the floors after the house closes that the floor stain will no match the stairs. Also, we want to go with the hand scraped floors and Mattamy does not offer that in their options.

If you could let me know what the best course of action is. Also, an idea of what the average cost is for oak hand scrapped flooring that would be great.

Thanks,

Rob

Hi Rob:

The best course of action if you really want the hand scraped hardwood installed after closing, is to see what colours in the hand scraped are available & try to pick a stain from Mattamy's samples that closely matches the hand scraped product that you would like installed. For example if you like the dark brown Baroque colour (my favourite ) then you want to pick a dark brown stain for the stairs. As long as the colour tone is the same, the hardwood floors will match no problem. Be aware that stairs are always a little darker/lighter than the floors because they are stained/finished on site vs. pre-finished hardwood at the factory. The wide plank hand scraped hardwood will be def. less expensive than the top Mattamy hardwood upgrade With builder hardwood upgrade, you are limited to what they offer.
You have so many more choices after closing plus you save yourself some money at the same time!
I will send you more info on the price.

_________________
The OFFICIAL Hardwood Flooring Thread

When we did our stain selection in February we had no idea what we would be selecting for our hardwood so we had our staircase stained black. We picked out our hardwood and installed in August- it's not black. Are there any options to re-stain the stairs? I don't believe there is such a thing but I thought I would ask, if not I guess I'll get a runner.

_________________

A runner will be a lot less expensive than re-doing your staircase. It takes a lot of effort & time to change from dark black stain to anything lighter.

_________________
The OFFICIAL Hardwood Flooring Thread

Generally 3-4 days should be fine. But it also depends where the wood was stored before.

3/4" Solid Hardwood Humidity Chart:


Invest in a hygrometer, you can get one from Home Depot or other hardware stores for around $20 +-.
You need to install a central humidifier to control the humidity in your home.

If you are installing hardwood after closing, you can choose to go with Vintage 3/4" Solid Sawn Engineered hardwood which IMO is better than solid hardwood.
Solid Sawn is more rigid & stable, does not expand/cup/shrink/crack like solid hardwood can. Plus it tolerates higher humidity changes.



3/4" Solid Sawn Eng. Hardwood Humidity Chart:

_________________
The OFFICIAL Hardwood Flooring Thread

I am wondering if anyone can recommend a good cleaner for hardwood floors? I have oak floors and stairs and have been using a VIM wood cleaner but find that it leaves my floors a bit grimy feeling, and in some light you can see the footprints from my slippers. Is there a particular cleanser I can use that is best? A friend has recommended getting The Shark which steams the floors essentially.

Any recommendations are much appreciated. Thanks!

_________________

Do not use anything like VIM, OrangeGlo, Murphy's Oil, Pledge, etc. It's like putting an extra coating on your floors & sometimes it can damage your finish.
Only use manufacturer's specified cleaning kits like from Vintage or Mirage which are excellent & do not leave any residue!



You can buy it online http://www.vintageflooring.com/ecommerc ... php?id=178
http://www.vintageflooring.com/ecommerc ... php?id=177

And DO NOT use any steamers or excessive amounts of water on your hardwood floors!!!

Hope this helps

_________________
The OFFICIAL Hardwood Flooring Thread

The nosing under the railing is 1" with a bevel, no need to touch that. If the 3ft. nosing at the stairs is lower than 3/4" it will have to be raised by the flooring installer.
Additional trim will be needed under the nosing. Looks like Mattamy's favourite word recently is NO

_________________
The OFFICIAL Hardwood Flooring Thread

If you are referring to Black Walnut, it's very soft but a very elegant & beautiful looking wood.
Oak & maple are the most common species used for hardwood floors. Maple has a smooth grainless look but will show damages faster. Oak is the most stable & because of its grain, it "hides" damages better. Asian Walnut is not a very common species used for hardwood floors at least here in Canada & is less stable as most exotics species are.

_________________
The OFFICIAL Hardwood Flooring Thread

I don't recommend any hardwood cleaners from Swiffer. Many lower quality cleaners will leave residue/film.
Vintage or Mirage makes the best cleaning products that I have used. You can order the Vintage cleaning kit & solution directly from their website


http://www.vintageflooring.com/ecommerc ... php?id=178
http://www.vintageflooring.com/ecommerc ... php?id=177

_________________
The OFFICIAL Hardwood Flooring Thread

i was going to ask the same question :p

is there any other maintenance required? we ended up with the 5" handscraped baroque. Is this wood supposed to be relatively resistant to scratching? we found a few scratches here and there that we're not sure where it came from (directly from the manufacturer, or if we did while installing it). This cleaning kit from Vintage, is the handle telescoping so it's "tall person friendly"? or am going to be on my hands and knees cleaning the floors?

_________________

also how does their repair kit work? I know we had some puddy type material to cover some minor dings here and there and it did a pretty decent job...

_________________

Baroque is my one of my favourites So did you do the installation yourself?

All wood will scratch, but with the hand scraped it will be a bit less visible. Not sure what to tell you about the scratches. I doubt it would come like this from the manufacturer. They are very careful when handling & packaging the wood. Not sure about the telescopic handle as we have an older version & it's not telescopic but this one could be. You can probably call or e-mail them & ask.

You should post some pics

Edit: Just found out that the telescopic handle is height adjustable but it's shorter than regular broom stick.

_________________
The OFFICIAL Hardwood Flooring Thread

we had a friend help with the install... we're actually still in the middle of it, so no pics yet.. we also need to finish up the baseboards as well... so other than vacuuming and or a damp cloth is there any other maintenance? too bad there isn't really an anti-scratch coating we could put on... i'm very anal about that, and scared to put stuff on the wood because it looks so nice! someone told me that even the slippers I have (they have a rubber type bottom) would end up scratching the wood... is that true? That's why I'm curious to know how that repair kit works and if it's worth getting as well...

thanks for finding out the info on the cleaning kit... we'll probably end up getting it considering it was designed specifically for hardwood.. I was close to getting a swiffer wetjet!

_________________

There is no anti-scratch coating for hardwood. No the rubber slippers will not scratch your hardwood unless you have something sharp stuck to it. All furniture must have protective pads (felt). Don't drag anything across the floor but otherwise enjoy your beautiful new hardwood

If you are concerned, get the touch up kit, it might come in handy one day.

_________________
The OFFICIAL Hardwood Flooring Thread