Hi Ruth, My husband laid white oak, tongue & groove when we did a house rehab. We bought the oak from Lumber's Liquidator. Got a good price. I think we bought their "high end" oak as the lesser stuff can be full of knots, etc. We bought it pre-finished, and bought a pneumatic floor nail gun. The hardest part was starting: you have to be careful that you line the wood up correctly so that when you get across the room it is not gollywampus (is that how it is spelled?) against the opposite wall. You also have to store the wood in your house for a bit before starting so the wood can acclimate to your house temp & humidity. Good luck with your project!
We have carpets installed in most of the areas in our home.. It gives an attractive look as well it acts as a filter trapping pollutants in the air so you don't have to breathe them over and over again..
And how we are all different.....I went to the lumber yard and hand picked the White Pine planks with the most knots.
Ooh this is something I have never understood by watching american movies. Why on earth do you use carpets everywhere!? By reading Ruth's arguments I start to understand why you're using it though. In Sweden we stopped with carpets in the 70's, since... It is extremely ugly, dirty, smelly and in general gives the room of being a hotel room. This is your home - not a place you stay for a night! I understand your point regarding babies. Sure, a soft floor is always better. But me and all of my friends were grown up on surfaces like oak and marble. None of us had to go with "the short buss" to school. In terms of wood being cold I cannot agree more. Stone is cold, wood is not. Coming from Sweden I know what coldness is. We had winters down to -30c. But it is all about isolation in the house and what type of heating system you are using. We have been using oil filled radiators and proper isolation and were never freezing.
Carpeting popularity seems to go in waves in America. It was everywhere, including the kitchen, in the 70's. Where I'm living, hardwood is considered the floor treatment of choice these days, and a premium when selling a home. We removed the carpet from our current home to find beautiful wood flooring underneath. Back in the 60's, I think they were installing wood floors in the new homes, then installing carpeting right over the top (our's was built in 1964). What we found underneath the carpet looked like it had never seen the light of day! I've been searching for a possible new home, and have been looking at older "historical" homes. It stresses me when they cover all the floors in carpeting. I understand why they do it, it's relatively cheap and makes the home "look good" quickly to sell. But it doesn't necessarily belong. I found peeling laminate flooring in a 1870's dining room last week, it made me sad and I just walked away shaking my head.
Like you, I am always cold in the winter and worry about hardwood flooring being too cold. I must admit though that in the winter I am bundled up pretty well and always have house shoes on. Of course, this is a personal preference but I think you'll like having the hardwood flooring in the living room. Like suggested, add a good size area rug to help combat the coldness of the hardwood in the living room. Again, I agree I love carpet and feel it does much better in the bedrooms. Good luck on replacing the flooring!
Love hardwood floors and even good laminate will impress me now. So much easier to clean. Scatter rugs as decorating tools are also able to give one look but easy to change to another with only the removal of a rug.
