[Updated] Wood flooring.

[NoShangriLa]

I just bought a house that is 3 years old and I don't know what wood to pick for flooring.

What should I pick from the list below?

Maple -- My mom have natural maple and it looks great. (I prefer unfinish so I can get a better surface on it than factory prefinish)

Oak -- Natural red oak (unfinish)

Bamboo -- Carbonize (prefinish)

Brazilian cherry -- Natural clear finish (unfinish)

Thanks

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Show pictures of the area - what color are the walls, furniture, etc.

 

[NoShangriLa]

Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
Show pictures of the area - what color are the walls, furniture, etc.

I'm doing the whole house @ 1600 sqf (not including basement, garage, or 4 bathrooms). I'm going to repaint the house to match the floor & will pick up all new furnitures (furnitures will be darker brown/red). The kitchen cabinets are staying natural maple colour for now.

PS. I don't have any pictures at the moment, because I'm not getting the key to the house till Dec 29, 2006.

 

[Squisher]

You will never be able to get a better finish on it then they can do at the factory.

 

[NoShangriLa]

^

 

[FoBoT]

why does a 3 year old house need new floors?

 

[NoShangriLa]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
why does a 3 year old house need new floors?

It have carpet & we are allergic to dust.

 

[AbsolutDealage]

Originally posted by: Squisher
You will never be able to get a better finish on it then they can do at the factory.

Well, other than the ugly seams that prefinished wood floors have...

I would probably go with oak and put a light stain on it, but that's just me.

 

[vi edit]

I've got Brazillian Cherry in 90% of my ground floor. It never fails to get compliments from people. It has a warmth to it like no other. Be warned that it will "tan" with light though. I can show you pictures when I get home. It actually gets darker with light. If you have a rug over it in front of a door, the area under the rug will be much lighter.

It works opposite most flooring. Most woods tend to fade with light.

Brazillian Cherry just has a very unique style to it. Very different planks and many different tones.

I've got maple and oak upstairs in bedrooms, plus my parents have oak in their homes and it just doesn't have that same warmth. Plus BC is one of the hardest woods out there so it isn't as prone to dents and scrapes as some of the others.

 

[BoomerD]

I've grown fond of the look of Bamboo flooring over the past couple of years. MUCH nicer (IMO) than the run-of-the-mill oak or oak look that so many people have. Wide variety of finishes, VERY good wear properties.

 

[AreaCode707]

Over time, light will grey completely clear finished floors. If nothing else, you should put on a very very light shade of stain - it will protect the color of the wood.

 

[fLum0x]

Originally posted by: NoShangriLa
I just bought a house that is 3 years old and I don't know what wood to pick for flooring.

What should I pick from the list below?

Maple -- My mom have natural maple and it looks great. (I prefer unfinish so I can get a better surface on it than factory prefinish)

Oak -- Natural red oak (unfinish)

Bamboo -- Carbonize (prefinish)

Brazilian cherry -- Natural clear finish (unfinish)

Thanks

personally, i am a large fan of bamboo. It is natural and typically average priced. A kitchen in bamboo with good accent colors looks absolutely amazing.

 

[richardycc]

I installed about 1000sq/ft of solid santos mahogany from BR-111, I got the thiner and cheaper 5/16" kind, if I have to do it all over, I'd go with the 3/4" thicker one, but they will add 80% more to the cost. Anyway, maple might be too soft, and they dent very easily, oak is too common, but I almost got the mirage red oak in auburn finish, but they were more expensive than the SM, all cherry are photosensitive, so they will change color/turn darker as they age, avoid cheap chinese bamboo. Goes here, tons of good info.
avoid lumberliqudator.

 

[Codewiz]

installed bamboo in my house but I went with bamboo because I could float it over concrete.

What type of subfloor do you have?

 

[NoShangriLa]

¾? vertical carbonized bamboo with kissed edge won the day.

A couple of days ago I purchased 7 boxes (vertical carbonized bamboo, horizontal carbonized bamboo, birch, yellow oak, maple, Japanese cherry, and Brazilian cherry) of hardwood flooring to see what it look like in my house, and the vertical carbonized bamboo looks absolutely marvelous.

Today, after work I purchased an air flooring nailer, 50? hose, and a finishing nailer to do the work next week. (Hopes that my old compressor still working, because I haven't fired it up in 6 years)

Thanks all for the help.