We’ve been showing off our new floors, but have neglected to tell you how they came to be. Our bad.
Once upon a time, our kitchen designer convinced us hardwood, not ceramic tile, was the way to go in our kitchen (white cabinets look warmer with wood floors as opposed to cold, hard tile). We started at Lowe’s and Home Depot as usual. Both had a decent selection of engineered hardwood for around $4.00/sq.ft. but we needed about 370 sq.ft. so we were looking at a grand total of almost $1,500 in flooring. We were also nervous about engineered hardwood because we were told that it’s too thin (1/4″) to sand and refinish more than once. That didn’t bode well for a few kids and a dog (we plan to stay in our house a long, long time).
So, we quit playing around and ventured over to the hardwood experts – Lumber Liquidators- where we struck gold, well, “mocha oak.”
Whether it was its beautiful, rich color or its big “SALE” sticker that attracted us, we immediately knew we had found our floor. It was 3/4″ thick REAL hardwood (as opposed to the thinner manufactured kind) at a mere $2.79/sq.ft.
The sale only lasted 3 more days so we had to move quickly to get all that flooring for less than $1000. Lumber Liquidators doesn’t do installation but they recommend installers so we called someone from their list (which turned out to be our L.L. salesman’s company- flooring racket anyone?). But hey, they came out, measured and ordered our floors for us within 24 hours.
BTW, I’m totally glad we didn’t try installing it ourselves. I don’t own ANY of the crazy tools they used, and since it took them three days (and they ran into a host of roadblocks) I can only imagine what it would have been like had we been the team attempting the installation. Though if I ever get brave enough, the folks over at One Project Closer have a floor installation tutorial that makes it look less scary. Anyways, you know the rest of the story – it’s in, it’s beautiful, and Burger couldn’t be more pleased with his new play surface.
Image courtesy of Lumber Liquidators
win says
How much was the labor to install the floors?
Thanks.
YoungHouseLove says
Good question. It was a while ago so I’ll admit to feeling a bit rusty on the numbers, but I know we got all the flooring and the installation for under 2K. I think the installation came in at around $1000- which isn’t bad for three rooms and a hallway (den, kitchen, bathroom, and hallway/laundry area). Hope it helps!
xo,
Sherry
Jasmine says
I recently found your site and love all the beautiful work you’ve done in your home! I am totally coveting your gorgeous mocha oak floors! My hubby and I have been planning to install wood floors and had originally settled on carbonized bamboo. We love the eco-friendly aspect and thought the lighter color would be better since we have a brown leather sofa. (Dark floors+dark sofa= too much?) However, I’m nervous about bamboo’s relative softness (we have a big dog) and have also always preferred the look of darker wood. I’d be curious to know how your floor is holding up. Does the dark wood show dust/dirt more? Any scratches? Has it worked out well in the kitchen? (I think I’m going to convince my husband to reconsider the bamboo!)
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Jasmine,
We have friends with a big dog and bamboo flooring and it seems to hold up just fine but we also have found that our dark wood floors have held up really well too (they are a bit harder so they can withstand a ton of traffic and still look rich and lovely). The dark wood hides dust and hair which is also nice, and we don’t have any scratches (knock on wood) yet. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Mary says
My hubby and I have thought about doing hardwoods so I researched your archives to see what I could learn from you folks. I was surprised to see your comment that dark wood hides dust & hair. I have a dark wood dining table & dark end tables and they need to be dusted every day. Because of that I have been nervous about getting a dark wood floor.
Now I’m more confused then ever.
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Mary,
Sorry to hear you’re confused. We know what you mean about dark tables showing dust, but for some reason our new darker floors definitely show less dog hair & debris than our old lighter floors did (and my sister in law has blonde wood and she’s vacuuming every day and grumbling about how they show everything). Perhaps since dark floors are a lot lower than the height of a table, they don’t catch the light and show dust like a tabletop does? Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Eryn says
Hi Sherry,
I was inspired by your kitchen and contacted Lumber Liquidators about the mocha oak wood. We had a contractor , recommended by LL, come out to the house and give us an estimate. He told us that we would have to use engineered wood in our kitchen so it would be the same height as the rest of the house (since it is thinner). Are there engineered floors that will look comparable to your beautiful mocha oak floors? I am nervous and don’t want a fake wood look.
Thanks!! Eryn
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Eryn,
Good question! You can definitely tell the difference but it can still look great. Namely the engineered floor sounds not as solid when you walk on it in heels, but actually has excellent durability and still looks sleek and clean. I would ask to see photos or even visit a room in person with engineered flooring to be sure that you like it. That should settle things quickly. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Eryn says
Thanks Sherry! You’re the best!
Lauren says
I’m considering hard wood/engineered wood, but we have two small dogs and I’m worried about scratches. Does Burger run around a lot on your floors? You said you don’t have scratches, but I wasn’t sure since maybe Burger doesn’t love to run circles around the couch like mine do.
Thanks and love your blog (hence, why I’m reading through your archives!)
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Lauren,
We have hardwood and it has held up beautifully (no marks from Burger’s claws or anything). You might want to talk to your wood guy (maybe the vendor at Lumber Liquidators) about the pros and cons of engineered vs. hardwood to help you make the best decision! Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Chris says
Saw a couple of people asking about how the engineering flooring holds up to dogs. I installed some Bruce engineered flooring awhile ago in my house, and it still looks new. Our 70lb boxer/lab hasn’t put a scratch in it yet.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks so much for the tip Chris!
xo,
s
Rachel says
We have old hardwood oak flooring throughout our entire house, except the kitchen. We’ve decided to put wood in our kitchen too. Do you think we should continue with the oak hardwood or could we try a different type of wood and still have it look decent?
Thanks for sharing all of your wonderful ideas!
YoungHouseLove says
We’re all about seamless and open flooring, so if putting in the same wood is a possibility, definitely go for it! Hope it helps.
xo,
s
Kaloyan Banev says
I personally prefer hardwood floor designs everywhere in my home, bedrooms, kitchen, living area, dining area. It looks natural and keep my home warm during the winter time. It have a long life and restoration is inexpensive too.
Andrea says
I may have missed it, but what type of subflooring do you have? We’re on concrete slab, would love hardwood, but don’t know how this affects installation time and costs (our remodeling wheels are just starting to spin!).
YoungHouseLove says
We have a crawl space, so it’s not concrete slab. Not sure how slab would work but I think it can be done. Maybe call your local hardwood floor retailer just to see what they recommend. Good luck!
xo,
s
Leigh Anne says
We’re in the process of getting estimates for hardwood at our house, and I have a question regarding what one person told us. He said that prefinished hardwood (just lay and go) cannot be refinished while unfinished hardwood (sanded and stained on site) can. It sounds like your floors are prefinished – did you ever hear anything like that? Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
Hmm, that sounds off to us. Maybe it’s true in some cases, but we’re certain our hardwood can be refinished. It’s solid oak and 3/4ths of an inch thick! It’s made to last!
xo,
s
Jennifer says
We are just having our newly discovered (under 45 years of carpet…) gorgeous hardwood floors refinished and I was wondering – do you have any sort of protectors on the feet of your furniture? I don’t want to scratch up the finish and we are still working on finding area rugs we love, so quite a few pieces of furniture will be resting right on the wood.
YoungHouseLove says
We use those felty feet from Home Depot. They seem to work like a charm and they’re pretty cheap for a bulk amount.
xo,
s
PatC says
Sherry,
Just wondering…do you know the brand of your flooring?
Bellawood, Casa du Colour or some other?
Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey PatC,
Here’s a link to our exact hardwood floor choice (although it’s no longer on clearance): http://www.lumberliquidators.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=5534&categoryId=6§ionId=1&subCategoryId=191
xo,
s
Erin C says
I’ve decided to go back and read from the beginning. It’s really funny reading this post now that you are in a new home and installing your flooring by yourself. You’ve come a long way kid! ;)
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Erin!
xo,
s
Pati says
My hubby is going to go to Home Depot & get tongue & groove hard pine planks, refinish them in brazilian cherry stain and poly them & the 920 square feet will only cost us about 700 bucks !
Kim says
I had to giggle when I read “we plan to stay in our house a long, long time” :)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, having a baby changes everything!
xo,
s
Celia Rodriguez says
Hey!
Loved the archives! Question about your floors. Did you match the new floor to the existing floors? I noticed that you have transition pieces. How did you like them?
YoungHouseLove says
It was all the same level except for a spot where the kitchen meets the living room where there’s a small transition. I think we would have loved to not have any at all, but that slighy (maybe half-inch?) transition was necessary. Hope it helps!
xo
s
Chelsey says
Bored at work on the last day before break so I dug into the archives! Just have to say, love this comment: we plan to stay in our house a long, long time!!!
Hope you have a very Merry Christmas (in your new forever home!)
– Chelsey
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, I know, right?! We even have a Q&A video where I tell John I’m never moving! Never say never, eh?!
xo
s