installing a decorative border in an existing wood floor

[Russell Hudson]

a client wants us to create a 1" wide contrasting wood band about a foot from a small room's walls, running the perimeter of the room... in their existing oak floor / can I use a guided router and create a channel 3/8ths down into the 3/4" floor & glue the inlay into place? / Do I have to cut all the way through the existing flooring? / has anyone here done this & what are your suggestions?
Thx, in advance!

[J.R. Rutter]

I have done it like you suggest - guided router ~ 1/4 to 3/8" deep and plane the contrasting strip for a tight fit. I did jatoba inlay into oak and it worked great - I left the outside corners rounded, but you could easily chisel it square if needed. I tacked strips of plywood right to the floor to make a channel to trap the router base.

[Rich Engelhardt]

EZ and Festool both have router guides for their track systems.
I believe that's what I'd use.
Probably the Festool since those are the tracks I have.

[Mel Fulks]

Inlays are used but the most common way is paint . There are lots of books and magazines with pictures of lavish European homes with lots of different painted floors.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Wow...double tap..

[Jamie Buxton]

How is the existing floor fastened down? Blind nailing on tongue-and-groove? If it is, I'd try to keep the routed channel from cutting deep enough to hit the nails. Unfortunately, you probably don't know how much sanding has been done over the years, so the available depth is a guess. Maybe a quarter inch? I'd have some spare router bits on hand when I start the project, and I'd be wearing eye protection.