UPDATE 8: Flooring
Seamless Transitions Make for a Thoughtful Remodel
For homes like this one that have existing hardwood, tying in new or replacement boards from small sections to entirely new rooms worth of product requires some thoughtfulness. Here, our goal was to make sure the red oak in the kitchen flowed seamlessly with the dining room beyond, which would require 2 important techniques, taking about 5 days from start to finish.
- Lace in new boards by staggering the joints: If we simply installed the kitchen hardwood in a straight line where the new floor meets the dining room hardwood, an obvious and unnecessary seam would prevent the spaces from feeling unified. Especially in a remodel, finding ways to naturally transition form new to old is an integral part of the success of the design. We cut into the existing hardwood at varying lengths, which staggers the joints between new and existing boards.
- Resurface the entire floor: In order for the new and existing boards to be indistinguishable, the entire main level wood floor needed to be sanded and refinished. Once sanded, we applied three layers of water based coating with a full 24 hours of drying time between each. When considering other non water-based hardwood finishes, consider that they typically take longer to dry, needing about 48-72 hours between coats.
*If you’re in need of a replacement boards or all new wood flooring, get a flooring expert to help you identify the wood species. They have both experience and tools needed to make sure the right wood is selected.
Luxury Vinyl Tile is A Great Option
For flooring in the mudroom and sunroom addition, our clients and design team settled on a bluestone luxury vinyl tile or LVT. In this application, LVT is an excellent choice because it works well in wet conditions. With wet boots tracking in water over the course of several winters, cleaning and maintaining the quality of this LVT will be much easier for our clients than other natural materials. Other than the durability, LVT is also cost-effective and is easier to repair or replace in comparison to stone or hardwood. To install, our flooring expert laid out and glued the bluestone luxury vinyl tile directly to the subfloor.
