HawthorneVillager.com

I thought I would start an official hardwood flooring thread, since there are many people always asking about hardwood flooring advice.

Since I have extensive knowledge on the topic (we do this for a living ), just ask away if you have any specific questions regarding hardwood floors, etc.

Thanks

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The OFFICIAL Hardwood Flooring Thread

Should I upgrade my stairs to hardwood with the builder or can I wait until after closing to save $$$?

Generally it's better to go with the builder. But also depends what the builder is charging you.... But you do avoid all the mess & inconvenience that comes with this type of job.

It's not cheap to change over the stairs later to wood, there is quite a lot of labour involved. Depending on the type of stairs, the cost could be anywhere from $150 to $200 or more per step & usually does not include any staining or varnish. Unless you can do the job yourself, then it will be cheaper.

Hope this helps

what kind of maintenance is needed for hardwood?

wheres a cheap place to get bamboo hardwood?

Swiffer or vacuum, occasional wipe it with slightly damp cloth. But the best thing is to get a hardwood flooring cleaning kit that comes with mop & spray.

It's hard to say where the cheapest place might be. But they are all close in price. But don't just look for the cheapest product, you get what you pay for Don't cheap out on your floors, they take the most abuse in your house. It's worth to invest a little more & get a better product.

Patrob,

Hi there, do you install hardwood flooring?

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Andrea
In and loving every minute of it.
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Yes, my husband does this for a living

Hi Patrob,

I wanted to have my floors done in the whole house except the bedrooms up on the third floor. I am just not sure if I should go with the builder in terms of price or is it better to wait. I personally think that it is better to wait but then the opportunity of putting the price in the mortgage is not there. Can I please get your husbands business number so that I can investigate the cost of doing my floors after closing.

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Andrea
In and loving every minute of it.
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PM sent

If your hardwood are an upgrade, remember that you already paid for the carpets, so technically you are paying any where from $10 to 15 sq. ft. (depending on the builder) plus the price of the carpet that you already paid for. You have more control of what you are getting and of course quality will be better because there is no rush for closing & the installer can take more time & effort. Also no possibility of other trades damaging/scratching your new floors

Any comments on bamboo floors and where can I get them for a good price? Also is it hard to stain the stairs myself if I upgrade the stairs to Maple with Mattamy?

It's not hard but Mattamy will NOT let you. They don't leave their houses unfinished. I have heard that from many Mattamy owners where they wanted to do staining themselves.

Any comments on bamboo floors?

Bamboo flooring is close in durability as any hardwood flooring. It will scratch & dent. From what I have seen it has a tendency to scratch like maple, even though it's harder than oak. It shows more defects because of the smooth grain.

Bamboo is a grass & has a straw like structure & it's a lot harder to refinish than regular hardwood. These days you have low chances of finding a re-finisher to re-sand & finish your bamboo floors.

Goodfellow makes some pretty good bamboo flooring. Most of it comes from China & even though they state it's a 3/4" or 5/8" thick, in reality it's not. Subtract 1/16". If you plan to install it yourself, it's important to choose the right nailer, since the standard hardwood flooring nailer/stapler is not meant for bamboo.

It usually comes in 2 lengths, full boards & half. If you don't know how to install it, you end up with repeated patterns.

Maybe a dumb question, but do the stairs have to be replaced or can the hardwood be laid on top of the original stairs?

Overall, you get what you pay for. But be careful where you get your flooring. Some places (like auctions/warehouse sales) don't handle the wood carefully enough and their storing facilities are not properly heated/humidified and all of that affects the wood.

If you have to get nosings, reducers, get the one that was made to the specific manufacturer spec. Some of them don't match wood milling or colour.

Yes, you can re-do your carpet stairs into hardwood stairs without replacing the whole staircase (which is difficult & should be done by professionals). Unless you plan to do it yourself, each step will cost you around $200. If you never did it before or have seen closely someone do it, don't attempt it yourself , it's not as easy as it looks.

Even though maple/bamboo is harder than oak, due to it's smooth finish, it will show more dents & scratches. Grainy wood such as oak hides defects much better. These days it's very trendy to install hand scraped finishes, such as Vintage Flooring hand scraped engineered planks. It's very modern, classic & more durable than reg. solid wood. If you choose your flooring, try to stay away from high gloss finishes like Bruce or Satin Finish. Their semi-gloss is quite glossy & more manufacturers are trying to go towards more satin finish.

Here is an example of Vintage hand scraped:




This job (including some others) is featured on Vintage Flooring website