Matching Our Original Hardwood Flooring

We are full steam ahead on working on our library. We’ve already painted the walls and hung a new chandelier, and we are now working on the floors. If you missed part 1 of creating our home library, you can read more about it here.

Finding the perfect flooring has been an absolute pain. The cottage was built in 1945, and the second floor was an addition at some point in time. The downstairs area has old, solid oak floors, which were covered with cheap, laminate flooring.

The downstairs flooring wasn’t in the best condition, but it’s also been there for several decades. My goal is to salvage and patch the flooring downstairs.

I tend to be fairly indecisive on little things like paint color or where to hang something, but I was extremely adamant about the upstairs flooring. My upstairs area includes the second living space, master bedroom and master bath.

The second living space and master bedroom is about 450 square feet. The second living space that we are turning into the library had dark green carpet, and the master bedroom currently has a cream-colored carpet.

I’ve been asked why I didn’t want to keep carpet upstairs, and the answer is because I find it difficult to keep carpet clean. Hardwood floors are easier to clean and have that timeless look. While it’s impossible to match the old oak floors downstairs, I wanted flooring that doesn’t make the upstairs look as much like an addition.

In case you didn’t know, we are in the middle of a pandemic. The price of lumber is through the roof, which doesn’t bode well for my plan to add solid, red oak flooring. After searching high and low for flooring, I found a good fit – unstained 2 1/4” wide and ¾” thick red oak. They didn’t carry it in the store, and I had to order a minimum amount sight unseen.

I finally took the risk and ordered enough flooring to cover the upstairs area and patch a few areas downstairs. A week later, I received a call telling me my order was canceled by the vendor due to product discoloration. I was back to step one.

I finally found solid red oak flooring in the same dimensions but already stained and sealed. I wasn’t crazy about the color online, but it was within my budget and was the correct type and dimensions. It was Bruce ¾” thick by 2 ¼” varying length solid oak hardwood flooring in Plano Marsh, and you can find it here.

When I brought a sample home, I was pleasantly surprised that the color was similar to the stair treads. While I don’t believe they make things like they used to, this flooring is the best option.

The bright side of the new flooring is I didn’t have to purchase a minimum amount like the first order. We were able to get just enough flooring to cover the main living space, and we’ll go back to get more for the master bedroom whenever we are ready.

We purchased a pneumatic floor nailer and a smaller compressor, so we wouldn’t have to lug the big compressor up the stairs. The next step is ripping out the carpet and laying down the new floor, and I am absolutely thrilled to get started.

Your friend,

Laci