hardwood floors in living room or not?

[jack duren]

hardwood flooring kitchen, entry and hall. now we are thinking about doing the living room as well. do any of you have hardwood flooring in the living room and regret it or happy?.

what would you prefer?....jack

[Effie Lever]

Jack,

We have hardwood floor in the living room as well as the kitchen, entry hall and most of the rest of the house and we love it :) . We also had it in our previous house. I see no down side to it unless there are some specific weather or other conditions that creates a problem, go for it.

Effie

[jack duren]

you guys should have look on my wifes face after i got through using the nailer with the wall as a prop :eek: luckily im painting after the floors ;) ....jack

[John Pollman]

I've installed a lot of hardwood flooring for myself and customers. I've got hardwood throughout the entire house except for the kitchen/laundry area which is tile. There is hardwood in the bedrooms but we put carpet in there just because it's a little quieter. But we may be going back to removing that carpet soon. Hardwood looks good and is MUCH easier to maintain than carpet.

IMO, hardwood can go just about ANYWHERE in a house and work well.

We love it !

John

[Andy London]

I built our home in 1987 and at the time only put hardwood in the dining room. The living room was carpet and the best I could find at the time. A few years after our son was born we were told he had asthma and had quite a time for a while, I replaced the living room rug with hardwood, his bedroom and the second floor hallway, while we made a lot of other changes also, the hardwood made a big difference, IMO.

If doing this over, I would have hardwood everywhere except the entrances and bathrooms where I would place Ceramic.

Andy

[John Hart]

Our house is about 100 years old with hardwood floors throughout. But then, it's all covered with carpet!:eek: We're not far from tearing all the carpet out and sanding the house. I guess I'll have to buy a sheet of sandpaper.:)

[jack duren]

well it sounds like hardwood floors throughout the living is the way to go. already got a blister from the mallet. putting the floor on a 45 is a chore but worth it along with a 6" border....thx jack

[Jim Becker]

At this point, I wouldn't have a house without wood floors. No carpet for me!! I have to qualify that ours are not hardwood...wide pumpkin pine for all but the MBR (narrow heart pine) and the kitchen...brick.

[Bryan Nuss]

Hi Jack! I have 2-1/4" oak flooring in our living room, hallway, dining room and kitchen on the upper floor of our front-split, and love it. I put the floor down in the kitchen about a year and a half ago. It looks really good, is easy to maintain and even our two small grandsons have made no lasting impressions on it! I would never go back to carpet for these areas. The wood looks so much warmer and comfortable, and you don't have to remove stains like you do from the carpet when one of the kids knocks over your wine glass!

[Dave Mapes]

Jack

We had oak hardwood flooring in the hall way when we bought the house and added hardwood flooring in the kit and family room and really love it. The only problem with hardwood flooring in the kit is things seem to be dropped more often imparing a few dents.

I do think hardwood floors are easier to care for but I still like carpet in bedrooms. (no cold feet in the middle of the night during the winters)

[Gary Herrmann]

Only place we don't have hardwood is the bathrooms and kitchen - which are tile.

Sorry to hijack, but I just noticed this is my 100th post. Does that make me a centurion?

[Corvin Alstot]

putting the floor on a 45 is a chore but worth it along with a 6" border.... Why did you decide on a 45 degree shift to the wood floor? Seem like it would be more difficult to install and would look different than the traditional house. Just curious.

[Lee DeRaud]

Our house is about 100 years old with hardwood floors throughout. But then, it's all covered with carpet!:eek: We're not far from tearing all the carpet out and sanding the house. I guess I'll have to buy a sheet of sandpaper.:)Better get two: that stuff they're selling these days just doesn't hold up like the old stuff.:cool:

[jack duren]

thx for all the replies.sounds like hardwoods in the living room.

the interest in hardwoods through the major areas was based on one unforseen spills in the carpet that was pulled. i found that the kids are better at covering there friends spills from sllep overs than i am at fixing a mistake in wood :mad: .

then there are the two cats. we buy leather furniture because of cats, hardwoods should offer good protection. more sanitary ;) .

Corvin we went with 45's because we intended to put a 6" walnut boarder around the perimeter. because the walnut price doubled since i talked to the distributor oak may be installed instead.

second reason... these are called "ACES". only 12" to 13" long $1bd ft. if i go traditional the floor could look extremely busy. going at an angle with a perimeter border will distract from the "busy" of the ACES.

hopefully everything turns out well. average harwood installed floor to a "builder" is around $6.75- $8.00 a board ft installed and finished.

ill have $600-$700 in wood, $18 a gal for Miniwax stain, 2 gallons ZAR satin finish $42,$58 rental of floor sander.

materials and rental roughly $850. otherwise in an occupied house by a flooring professional between $4k-$5k.

tile alone installed is expensive. around $5 sq ft in new housing for basic floor. add a boder or tweak it anyway and $$$$$ :eek: . this does not include extra prep situations(occupied home) or tile,thinset or cbu. luckily ive become a pretty good tile man. saves a bundle ;) ....rebel

[Chris Barton]

Only one word is needed: Wood

[Corey Hallagan]

Jack, I love hardwood floors everywhere but the kitchen. Actually it is nice in the kitchen as well much better than tile comfort wise, however, I like ceramic for durability and possible water damage. We have old hardwood floors thorought the entryway, hallways and livingroom bedrooms but they need refinished. I refinished the bedrooms and they look great, however no way to do the hallway and living room without the family moving out for a couple weeks, wouldn't have access to the bathroom & bedrooms during finishing etc. it would be a nightmare for us. So the livingroom and hallways are getting a new laminate floor very soon, tile will replace the vinyl in the kitchen.
Corey

[Corvin Alstot]

Jack/ Nice work on the tile floor. Looks like your a pro.
I think you will love having wood floors all over your house.
The wear on a wood floor looks great and can also be refinished.

[jack duren]

Corvin thx for the comment. "pro" no way but i enjoy tiling as much as woodworking. as stressful as woodwoking at times but the way it changes the appearance of a room is worth it :) ....jack