My wife and I recently bought our first house and have ripped out the carpets in the living room, dining room and hallway. We’ll also rip out the linoleum in the kitchen. We’re going to install 600 square feet of unfinished red oak. When considering the project I realized that we had an issue to address. Our house is a split-level and there is a white oak railing, ballister, nosing at the end of the living room that overlooks the stairs. I don’t want to rip those out, but I want the floor to look really good.
On the way home today an idea occured to me. What if I used white oak for the 4-6″ closest to all of the walls? It would then blend with the nosing that is there. It would also frame out the fireplace which extends 16″ into the floor. This would also give us a transition between the living room and dining room and between the kitchen and hallway. I think the finished product would look really good, but is this a reasonable idea? Is it more work than it’s worth?
Has anyone done something like this?
Any tips, pointers, etc.?
This is my first posting. Thank you in advance for your help.
Bobby D
Replies
Pre-finished brazilian cherry and maple. All mine were prefinished cuz that's what the customer selected. I would rather do site-finished. These are all in the same house.
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Beech and bloodwood. A little busy for some rooms.
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Bolivian cherry and bloodwood. Slightly browner than Brazilian cherry.
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"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Edited 8/25/2005 11:40 pm ET by FastEddie
Edited 8/25/2005 11:41 pm ET by FastEddie
Edited 8/25/2005 11:42 pm ET by FastEddie
Nice, dude. Very nice.
Dinosaur
A day may come when the courage of men fails,when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship...
But it is not this day.
Nice Eddie--I always thought that Maple light and cherry dark would be a nice contrast in a floor--and when I get the chance when we remodel I think I am going to do it--thanks for the boost of confidence in apperance.....Mike" I reject your reality and substitute my own"
Adam Savage---Mythbusters
Very nice sir. I always thought the subtler tones of a fumed white oak with black walnut, or maybe Honduras Mahogany as the parquet was nice.As far as mixing the oaks, you can do whatever you want. White and red can be stained to match, I've seen it on more than one job.
pretty cool floors. I especially like that cherry/blood. What the heck is bloodwood? African or S. American?jt8
"Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago." --Warren Buffett
I have no idea what bloodwood is. But years ago when I was more into woodworking I got some, and it seems to be about the same. Very dense. Smells a little sweet when cut. All that wood came from Lumber Liquidatotrs, purchased by the HO. 3/4" solid nail-downs.
You know what the funny thing is? I did 5 floors in that house. Some were new as part of additions, some were pulling up carpet and replacing with wood. And those are the first and only wood floors I have ever done.
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Edited 8/26/2005 7:08 pm ET by FastEddie
Edited 8/26/2005 7:09 pm ET by FastEddie
Here's a local Hardwood's wood bio page, bloodwood and others are in there.
http://www.highlandhardwoods.com/hardwood-flooring-info.html#dictionary
Aha! Good link!
Bloodwood grows in the forests of French Guiana, Brazil, Peru, Panama and Venezuela. This is a scarce wood, and for this reason its cost is regarded as high. The heartwood is various shades of rich, lustrous red and yellow overlaid with a golden sheen. The wide sapwood is yellowish-white and sharply demarcated from the heartwood. Although hard, the wood is not difficult to work, glues well and takes a high natural polish. It finishes very smoothly. Bloodwood is used for veneer, furniture, marquetry inlays, turnery, cabinetry, bows and fishing rods.
Although they don't have any info on Osage-Orange aka Hedge aka about 10 other names. A friend gave me a couple sections of Osage logs a couple months ago. Even though they were weren't dry, I cut them into blanks. The sawdust was a fine orange powder. The pieces are initially yellowish... BUT... A piece I stuck out on the deck for half the time aged into a rich golden orange color. Another piece has remained on the deck and the color has deepened to a darker brownish orange. A piece that has been in the house the whole time still has a bit of yellow tint to it.
Osage is harder than hickory. As soon as I can talk one of my local 1-horse-operation sawmills to supply me with some, I would like to try using it for a floor (even if I have to t&g it myself on the router).
jt8
"Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago." --Warren Buffett
Those floors look great.
Are they 3/4 thick, and are they floating, or are they some sort of glue down. Have you had any problems from the movement on all those pieces placed at angles to each other?
They are 3/4" thick solid wood, prefinished, nailed to Advantech subfloor. They were from Lumber Liquiudators, and I found the quality control to be a little lax. Specifically the tongues and grooves of the diffeent species didn't always want to mate properly.
Here's another on in that same house, this in the library. Brazilian cherry (jatoba) with 4@ 12" porcelain tiles. This one was the doctor's idea and i almost sent him to the ER half way through ... it was tough. This wood was from Hardwood Installer.com and was very nice. Same price as LL ... maybe 10 cents more, but well worth it. In this pic the paneling has not been painted, and the floor has not been grouted.
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"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Edited 8/29/2005 11:29 pm ET by FastEddie
well, thanks for the technique advice. Hopefully I will find the nerve to try something similar myself.
ar
yes