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Really,because I'm in many different homes weekly from tract to custom and have yet to see any. One of my main builders back east never had any in their homes either and there starting point was 750K. Maybe some are starting to use them again but I wouldn't necessarily say they're "very much in" at the moment.
Really,because I'm in many different homes weekly from tract to custom and have yet to see any. One of my main builders back east never had any in their homes either and there starting point was 750K. Maybe some are starting to use them again but I wouldn't necessarily say they're "very much in" at the moment.
They’re very much in and have been for the past year or so. Check out design sites/magazines and some of the more design focused renos/infills in Arcadia and the historic districts.
Here are a couple cool examples:
Last edited by DetroitN8V; 03-03-2018 at 09:04 PM..
When we researched wood flooring, we heard all kinds of opinions. I decided to have engineered wood floors installed because of the warning about cracking. Back in 2013, when I was looking at samples, I had to ask "is this one real wood" because to my untrained eyes, the faux wood looked absolutely real. Half the times I guessed wrong. I assume it is even better now.
We chose engineered real wood flooring and we put it on slab. We acclimated it to the room for a week and they glued it on. To the op, hickory is harder than oak. In fact, here is a chart of hardness Janka Hardness chart for Exotic Wood and Domestic Wood | Bell Forest ProductsIF you like the look of hickory, it's a harder commodity wood and that keeps the price in line for a home in Verrado. We also picked a more rugged look. Therefore it could hide dings, scuffs and any potential cracking better. Something like this https://floorsunlimited.com/prefinis...hoCWYoQAvD_BwE other than we picked a natural color hickory (no stain). Our thought was a lighter wood would hide the dust and more natural qualifies as "timeless". Also, the more knots that are present, the more character to give more color and texture. Even better, the knottier, the less it costs. Again, this was back in 2013, but I am pretty sure we stole it locally for under $3 a square foot. And the retailer had an installer for $2 a square foot with materials. That's under $5 a square foot.
If you want something very specific like a rosewood, get your wallet out. Unfortunately in Verrado, you will never get your money out of that kind of investment. Truthfully, those faux woods CAN look sooooooooo convincingly good that an untrained eye won't know the difference especially if you go with that hand scribed look.
I'll bet the tract builder isn't going to give you a credit on flooring if they don't put it. report back if they do. What I've heard is they will just not put it in and keep the $$'s. The game is for you to WANT to upgrade. Again, it's a lost leader if you go 100% builder grade everything. So they hammer you on any upgrade. So my guess is when you work the numbers, it is going to be the most cost effective to have them put in carpet and change out wood flooring later.
Re: grout lines. We live in AZ 6 months a year (just two of us but we are in the home 20 out of 24 hours a day). Personally, I don't like dark grout lines. So with the lighter grout that we have, I scrubbed the lines by hand in 2011 to perfection. I sealed it with THE best sealant twice. At minimum dirty grout lines and dirt inside the texture of the ceramic, we wash the floors twice at each washing and the water is pretty dark and switched often. The grout lines we have are a sponge and just last month, we spent over 3 days (x2 people) scrubbing the grout lines with an acid wash again and resealed. Even more scrubbing near the edge of the walls on the tile as it gets darker ceramic because the mop is harder to get in that area. It's a PITA. Now if I chose chocolate colored grout, I suppose it wouldn't bother me. But realize the grout can be a sponge. I would be talking with the builder about epoxy grout versus cement based like I have.
MN-Born-N-Raised - thanks that was all very helpful, and I LOVE the light look of wood. I know the dark has been in for awhile and now I think it is the farmouse gray look that is in.. but I like the hickory look like you... Ya, I think they are going to try to stick it to me on the floor when I go to pick my floor.. and I CAN'T do GROUT!! so tile it out for me. :-(...
When we researched wood flooring, we heard all kinds of opinions. I decided to have engineered wood floors installed because of the warning about cracking. Back in 2013, when I was looking at samples, I had to ask "is this one real wood" because to my untrained eyes, the faux wood looked absolutely real. Half the times I guessed wrong. I assume it is even better now.
We chose engineered real wood flooring and we put it on slab. We acclimated it to the room for a week and they glued it on. To the op, hickory is harder than oak. In fact, here is a chart of hardness Janka Hardness chart for Exotic Wood and Domestic Wood | Bell Forest ProductsIF you like the look of hickory, it's a harder commodity wood and that keeps the price in line for a home in Verrado. We also picked a more rugged look. Therefore it could hide dings, scuffs and any potential cracking better. Something like this https://floorsunlimited.com/prefinis...hoCWYoQAvD_BwE other than we picked a natural color hickory (no stain). Our thought was a lighter wood would hide the dust and more natural qualifies as "timeless". Also, the more knots that are present, the more character to give more color and texture. Even better, the knottier, the less it costs. Again, this was back in 2013, but I am pretty sure we stole it locally for under $3 a square foot. And the retailer had an installer for $2 a square foot with materials. That's under $5 a square foot.
If you want something very specific like a rosewood, get your wallet out. Unfortunately in Verrado, you will never get your money out of that kind of investment. Truthfully, those faux woods CAN look sooooooooo convincingly good that an untrained eye won't know the difference especially if you go with that hand scribed look.
I'll bet the tract builder isn't going to give you a credit on flooring if they don't put it. report back if they do. What I've heard is they will just not put it in and keep the $$'s. The game is for you to WANT to upgrade. Again, it's a lost leader if you go 100% builder grade everything. So they hammer you on any upgrade. So my guess is when you work the numbers, it is going to be the most cost effective to have them put in carpet and change out wood flooring later.
Re: grout lines. We live in AZ 6 months a year (just two of us but we are in the home 20 out of 24 hours a day). Personally, I don't like dark grout lines. So with the lighter grout that we have, I scrubbed the lines by hand in 2011 to perfection. I sealed it with THE best sealant twice. At minimum dirty grout lines and dirt inside the texture of the ceramic, we wash the floors twice at each washing and the water is pretty dark and switched often. The grout lines we have are a sponge and just last month, we spent over 3 days (x2 people) scrubbing the grout lines with an acid wash again and resealed. Even more scrubbing near the edge of the walls on the tile as it gets darker ceramic because the mop is harder to get in that area. It's a PITA. Now if I chose chocolate colored grout, I suppose it wouldn't bother me. But realize the grout can be a sponge. I would be talking with the builder about epoxy grout versus cement based like I have.
Good luck with your decision.
You made a great choice with Hickory, especially natural with knots! I researched Solid hardwoods vs Engineered woods when we built our house in MT and GA (like you did acoustics). MT and GA are big on hardwoods, MT even more so due to severe cold and the want for a "rustic" look. Now one thing has to be made clear, there's Engineered wood flooring where the top section is actual wood or a synthetic. I'm talking about the one that's actual wood as I will never by a synthetic.
Here's in general is what I found out. When one puts in hardwoods of either type one has to look ahead and take into account "what if's". The big one on that scale is "what if it gets beat up".
High heels,dogs,kids,rocks in the sole of shoes etc can beat up a floor. We bought a house once that had hardwood floors and you could see where the lady of the house walked in her heels, little dents all over the place. Water is another issue, be it under the floor (moisture) or constantly spilled on it like in a kitchen or bathroom. You could see the wood splitting and pitting in front of the water dispenser in the door of the fridge. This was Engineered wood installed by the builder.
I decided and it was highly recommended that whatever wood flooring we put in be able to be refinished at least 3 times. That means sanding,filling and re-staining. You can buy engineered flooring that's thick enough to take a refinishing but sold wood wins that hands down.
The following explains most of what I found out in my research when it comes to wear. I'd suggest going to the link to see the full comparisons.
Quote:
High footfall means that you anticipate your floor to experience lots of traffic on a daily basis. Heavy footfall refers to environments where there is likely to be a higher impact on the floor thanks to the people crossing it. This might refer to wheelchair users, people who rely on walking aids or may even be people who are significantly heavier than average weight.
Wherever there is high or heavy footfall, it’s comforting to be able to re-sand and re-finish your floor relatively frequently. Although an engineered wood floor with a relatively thick lamella or top layer can be sanded comfortably two or even three times during its lifetime, a solid wood floor will take up to five or six sandings before risking significant damage. So, if you are flooring a room where there is likely to be high or heavy footfall, your sub floor is nice and dry and there are no significant temperature or moisture fluctuations as well as no under floor heating, then solid wood flooring is probably a more practical solution.
One other thing I learned over the years about wood flooring, what to do with rugs. I've seen many a wood floor in our house hunting where the homeowner had a rug under the dining room table or by the front door or in the front room. Places where things aren't rearranged very often if ever.
Over time the sun fades a floor so if you don't move the rugs very often you'll end up with a "ghost rug" spot that's the color of the original floor just like you get with carpet under the sofa that's never moved.
Y'all got me thinking and made me put my research hat on. Here's an important link on the subject of Hardwood Floors in AZ from an industry magazine.
Enjoy! I did... https://hardwoodfloorsmag.com/2017/0...-dry-climates/
One other thing I learned over the years about wood flooring, what to do with rugs. I've seen many a wood floor in our house hunting where the homeowner had a rug under the dining room table or by the front door or in the front room. Places where things aren't rearranged very often if ever.
Over time the sun fades a floor so if you don't move the rugs very often you'll end up with a "ghost rug" spot that's the color of the original floor just like you get with carpet under the sofa that's never moved.
Yep^^! A real concern. That's the case in out MN home. Pre-finished knotty hickory (not scribed and not engineered). Zero stain. I see what you are talking about. Last year, we took out the hug rug by the window in order to sun bleach the other areas.
My house had engineered wood from the early 2000's the polyurethane eventually cracked though since it's engineered can't be sanded and refinished. The issue was discovered because I put down a rubber mat for some exercise equipment it trapped moisture under the polyurethane turned black got into the wood. I tried sanding it my self with a sander was so deep into the wood could not go much farther then the top layer. We had to just put a rug over that spot ill never buy engineered wood again.
We had oak shorts installed in our new home (1983) and soon had a problem with warping. The builder used an adhesive that was supposed to serve as a vapor barrier. We consulted an attorney after the builder refused to do anything about it. It turned out that the installation method used by the builder was contrary to industry standards and we convinced the builder to fix it. They tore it out, installed a sub flooring and used tar paper as a vapor barrier. I have since heard that they have developed an adhesive vapor barrier that works. We had that house for another 22 years or so and there were no further issues. Every 5 years or so we would have it stripped, sanded and re-coated with polyurethane.
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Again, this was back in 2013, but I am pretty sure we stole it locally for under $3 a square foot. And the retailer had an installer for $2 a square foot with materials. That's under $5 a square foot.
