Wooden floors. What do you wish someone had said?

[TomNook]

My qs:
How much to spend
What colour you wish you’d had
How do they do doorways
What happens with skirting boards

im not having laminate

Engineered oak. Get underfloor heating if you can afford it. Get a flooring expert to lay it, as it can make all the difference in the look.

If you are doing real wood, you will have the choice of pre finished (done in the factory) or raw and you sand and finish on site. Pre finished has a harder wearing coating, but the edge between the boards is sealed. When it is finished on site you coat the whole lot in poly so it has a more waterproof barrier. Pre finished is almost impossible to change the color or sheen of, once bought. Raw you stain on site and if you dont look how it looks you can re sand and restain.

When choosing your stain, think about how it will fade over the years, and it will also differentially fade under furniture and rugs

When choosing your top coat, think about sheen - satin,matt, gloss... also it can change how the stain fades and some are easier to clean than others.

Love our wood, and it is very normal round here (in the US)

Oh and vet pale colors show the dirt more but very dark colors show the scratches more. There are also grades of wood and widths of plank..basically the more expensive ones will be wider amd cut from a more stable section of the log. Wood will naturally expand and contract in the humidity of the year, more expensive planks will do this less. That is why you should put your skirting boards on top of the floor as the boards will shrink a little in winter and otherwise you would see the gap.

If you have a Victorian house with an underfloor void do not leave floorboard exposed.

In winter it will be ice cold, crafty and an insect haven

Fine for newer houses without voids

Thanks Sea

I have stripped wooden floorboards throughout my house. Previously painted white, now all painted black. They look lovely.

Would never have carpets - cats, dogs, kids, clumsy coffee drinkers, make-up droppers, etc.

Am very interested in the robo-vac idea though.

I've had original parquet flooring in a couple of houses I've lived in, and I think that's one of my favourite wooden floors. Oak wide boards in another which is also lovely. I don't really go for laminate.

Real parquet is great. I have an Eufy as well. Best buy this year. Goes effortlessly from carpet to wood, to tiles and back again.

Is that a robot hoover

I'm not keen on carpets, but I regularly want to weep with how grubby my wooden floors look. I would happily accept cleaning tips.

We have solid maple, oiled downstairs. It’s a little bit light to be honest (we’ve had it 14 years) and I’m trying to persuade DH to let me stain it a bit darker.

We have sanded and oiled a couple of times and it comes up like new. I think having it in the hall was a mistake though; it gets a lot of wear in that area.

I've had engineered wood flooring before and it showed every scratch. I'm considering Karndean for a harder-wearing surface as I have dogs - anyone got Karndean?

Please bear in mind how slippery they are when wet (solid oak here). Husband rushed out of bathroom to “rescue” toddler, slipped on the drips, and shattered his collarbone, elbow, and fractured his hip. He was about 38 at the time (now older!).

IMO not suitable for anywhere likely to be wet (utility, bathroom, bedroom with en suite, etc).

If you want engineered wood somewhere where it's in regular danger of getting wet, have unsealed boards put down and blather them with polyurethane varnish to seal between the boards as well as the surface.

Hate carpets, wooden floor boards are lovely. Ours were here, we just sanded and varnished.

Doorways they normally cut the door frame and slip it underneath a little
Skirtings it's your choice you can use something like this along the edge matching your floor normally bought from same place or as someone else said take them off and either reuse or replace.

I have tiled floors rather than wood, but I think it's the same problem - get rubber feet for your furniture or you will end up chasing your sofas around the room.

@colouringindoors are those porcelain tiles?

Yes they are. can get link....

www.ctdtiles.co.uk/gemini-tiles/aspenwood/p-7556-aspenwood-beige-tile-1200x200mm.aspx?catid=2878

In daylight today. Been down 6 months. Still brilliant. Quick mop and you're done. We don't have underfloor heating and they're not too cold (partly depends what you have under your floors re insulation etc).

Highly recommend. If you're into haggling you should be able to get 10% off. And if you don't need loads I have 10 boxes over....!

They’re incredibly slippy, especially when wet or if you’re wearing socks. My aunt and uncle have solid wood parquet flooring and the amount of times I’ve slipped on that in socks is unreal, we have laminate in our kitchen and I went flying the other day on a wet patch by the dog’s water bowl. Just something to consider if you have kids are older.

What's an eufy? Is it a mop?

We have wooden floor boards downstairs and carpet upstairs. The floor boards have seen two children (now teenagers) a cat and a dog with numerous accidents. Not only are they practical but look good too.