I posted this while I was away on accident, so I wanted to re-publish it with an update...
Wide plank flooring, a must have for me in the new home. It is something that I wanted in our last home that we built 5 years ago, but being in Canada we seem to be a bit behind the times and it was pretty much impossible to come across then. Now there are tons of options. Is it the best choice for our climate? Simply no. With the lack of humidity we will be having a lot of separation between the boards but I am OK with this...at least I say I am now, only time will truly tell.
Image via GardenWeb
Reclaimed, distressed, maple, oak, hickory, walnut, cherry, fir....soooo many decision. This needs to be finalized asap so we can order our stairs and it would be nice to select carpet as well. So far we have the 11 samples below, it will be finished on site so I also need to get on a stain color. The one thing I know for sure, I will never EVER have dark hardwood again, at least not with little ones running around. I am leaning towards a wood that will work well with a medium stain color, I want some depth but not the deep dark floors we had previously.
We are pretty sure we are going to be using varying widths for the planks, I am thinking 6" & 8" combination or possibly even a 4", 6", & 8" combination, just another decision that I will mull over for way too long. Here are some images that made the decision for wide plank oh too easy...
Image via My Home Ideas
Image via Decor Pad
Image via Houzz
Along with picking a wood that will allow me to have the color I want is also selecting a wood that is durable enough to withstand 2 small boys, a husband, and my 'Shoes on Party' philosophy. Before we had Jatoba flooring, this my friends was pretty much indestructible but it has was too much red in it for my liking.
When we are trying to find the right fit for us I am using the Janka Hardness Scale as a resource. This ranks hardwood flooring on a scale, from 380 (Eastern White Pine) to 3684 (Brazilian Walnut). We are leaning towards Hickory (1820), much softer than the Jatoba (2350) that we had before but also a lot more durable than the Fir (660) that seems to be so popular up here right now.
While the rustic and hand-scraped looks are 'in' right now it is not up my ally. I think this is only going to date homes that are incorporating this look and to be honest, I find a lot of the hand-scraped floors have a plastic look to them. I still prefer the clean simple look of a beautifully finished on site flooring, and yes, finished on site if the budget allows is the way to go, but a pre-finished vs. on-site
Image via EcoTimber
Update: We have decided to go with 6 & 8" Hickory floors. The wood coming out of the mills right now is just beautiful. With the gray undertones the wood naturally has I know it will be the perfect choice for us. Here is one final image that made the decisions easy, it is from the JCrew store on Madison Ave in NYC, hickory done in a chevron lay...it.is.amazing. Now, am I gutsy enough to go with that color?
A lot going on here today, our front door has passed through customs and is being delivered/installed today (oh I hope I like it!!) as well I need to get on my finishing information for Wexford II, can't wait to share with you what is going on in that home! Mel xo
