The first thing we had scheduled in the new house was getting the carpet out on the lower level and site finished red oak installed. They came out, took out the carpet, laid the new floor, then came back to sand, stain, and seal the new floors. They came out absolutely gorgeous and we couldn’t be happier with them!
We are getting new Shaw Floors Epic Plus engineered hardwood flooring on the top level of our house, so wanted to somewhat coordinate the new flooring with the existing flooring downstairs, so we tried to find a good color that would be complementary to the site finished floors and I think we did it.
This is the floors as they were and the color was fine, but we wanted to blend the new floors upstairs with these floors and needed to have them sanded and re-stained a bit darker to get the look we wanted.
We used Dalton Wholesale Floors for the installation and they did a fantastic job. This wasn’t sponsored, we paid for it but it’s the same company that we will use for our Shaw Floors upstairs too. They happen to do site finished jobs as well, so we got an estimate that was fair and went with them.
You can reach them at Dalton Wholesale Floors in Adairsville, GA. 770-773-2681. We were very happy with the outcome of our new floors and worked with Chad King. They work in the Atlanta area often.
New Red oak was installed and then the sanding and staining process began.
The guest room got new floors too.
So nice to have all the carpet removed and hardwoods all through the lower level. I just love hardwoods!
All the floors were sanded down and prepared for the new stain color.
We are using a medium brown toned Hickory Epic Plus flooring upstairs and chose the one above. It’s called Epic Plus Pebble Hill Hickory in Warm Sunset and we think it will be beautiful on the top floor. I knew about the Mixwax stain color, Provencial, so that is what I chose for the stain color and it turned out gorgeous. It’s a tried and true color and looks good with anything.
I had brought home a few samples to try out and didn’t want to go as dark as the floors in my current house so we were looking at more mid-toned browns and really like the one we chose.
I’ve been choosing runners too for the stairs and we’ve decided on this pattern in the color Carbon, which is Black and gray (I think it’s the top right one). We think it will look great with the black iron spindles on the stairs and really give an elegant look to the stairs. This is from Shaw Floors as well, they have some gorgeous carpets to choose from.
The staining process began and then 3 coats of poly to seal it. We went with a matte finish poly and it’s so soft and gorgeous.
The guys did a fantastic job with our floors and we couldn’t be happier. It took 3 days for all 3 coats to go on and everything to dry well.
Now we’ve got this beautiful wood floor all throughout the lower level and it feels and looks so good.
No more carpet in the den which makes both of us really happy. Can’t wait to put down some area rugs.
Provencial stain is a really nice warm brown tone and a great color for stained floors.
So, that’s an update for this week. We’ve had a week or so with nothing going on, but the painters are coming this week, so we hope to get those projects started. We are getting the main living areas along with the 2 story foyer painted and then we will paint the rest of the rooms as we get to them. I really wanted to get the kitchen cabinets sprayed by a pro painter, so glad we are doing that before I try to move anything in the kitchen right now. We both like painted cabinets and like a lighter and brighter kitchen, so it will be nice to get them painted. It will brighten up that area so much.
It’s a work in progress, but we will get there! It will be awhile before we get all moved in so August will be slow as well. We have a family beach trip for a week in August that we are excited for and I have to pack up my house to get moved by the end of the month, so I have a lot to do, but I’ll keep you updated as we move along on moving in.
Thanks for sharing the process and company Rhoda. We have lived in our home 23 years, have had ours screened and re-poly once after adding them to our family room. Love the Provencial color, my top choice. We are looking to have ours done in the next year. Glad to know there is another company out there.
Love the floors, they look fabulous. The house is coming along beautifully.
Thanks for sharing the progress on your house. The floors look great!
The floors look beautiful! We also have red oak floors stained in Minwax Provincial and are very happy with how they turned out.
Shelley
The floors look great! Such an exciting time for you!!
Sooooo pretty. I live in Dalton and Shaw is the best.. I worked there in the late 70’s and early 80’s. Where I work now they are one of our big customers. Cant wait to see all the things you do to make this a home for you and Mark. Still praying for your sweet Daddy.
Love the floors Rhoda. You guys did an amazing job picking out the stain color. Thanks so much for sharing!
Judy
We had our hardwoods refinished just last week in Provencial with a matte finish. It’s a nice, warm color. We also added hardwood to our master. Love it all! Can’t wait to see further progress on your new home! Hope your dear dad is improving.
The hardwood floors look gorgeous! What a great idea to do, especially before you move in! I can’t wait to see everything decorated!
Yay! Step one is done. So fun to see this new adventure begin. Gorgeous!
The floors look beautiful! Just curious as to why you have a few threshold type pieces dividing the floor up on the way to the curved window area and in the hall going toward the stairs and what I assume is the foyer area. Is that where carpet was so the original wood had cleanly ended to begin with? Good luck with the painting!
HI, Kate, the only spot we have those pieces breaking up the flow is between the hallway and den (with those curved windows). That’s where the carpet was and the new flooring is butting up to that, so there has to be a break since the new flooring just went in when the carpet came out. It doesn’t bother us, it’s flat and blends right in with the flooring, so that’s how they have to do things when new flooring is added and old flooring was already there. They have to keep running the new floors the same direction on the floor joists as the old floors, so that’s how they do it. That’s the only place that’s like that.
Wow, what a HUGE difference looking on my laptop versus my phone!! Once they are stained you can’t even notice it. I adore hardwoods, too, and would have torn up the carpet as well. Are the boards face nailed or tongue and groove? They appear to have putty all over as though they were face nailed. My house is from a terrible era…1969…but one nice thing is that the entire thing was built with hardwoods everywhere. Red oak, 1/2 inch, face nailed and finished with Minwax half Early American and half Cherry mixed together to form a new color, and Street Shoe lacquer.
Kate, they used some wood putty after installing the wood to fill in little cracks. Then after everything was sanded down, that is gone and it all looks seamless. These are site finished tongue and groove so not face nailed at all.
Fantastic
Good job
The floors look beautiful! We ripped out carpet years ago and haven’t looked back. There are so many pretty area rugs and I look forward to seeing what you and Mark select. The kitchen will be so pretty, lightened up. You will be a busy lady for a while!
Great floor stain color tip, Rhoda. Love how it turned out,
As I am reading this post today is the first day of demolition at my house. We are having red oak flooring site finished and can you say I am nervous. I just love how your floors turned out and praying that I have made the correct choices and love the floors as much as you love yours.
HI, Lisa, I’m sure it will be beautiful, what color stain did you choose?
So pretty! Thank you for sharing the pictures and details. I was wondering about your wall colors and look forward to hearing what you’ve decided on. Have a super trip!
Floors look gorgeous!! Can’t wait to see all your progress. 🙂
What a timely post. We are having our hardwoods sanded & stained on Monday. We also have red oak in a dated “orangey” color now & I also have picked Provincial as my new color. I hope they look as great as yours.
Did the sanding make much of a dust mess or was it a “dustless” system? Also, much touch up needed on the baseboards once finished? Thanks. Love the new house – we’re local too, in Marietta.
Hi, Ana, how exciting for you too! They did use a dustless system and really it worked pretty well. I see some fine dust on the kitchen countertops and I went around the baseboards with a vacuum, but overall it’s not too bad. There is some stain marks on the baseboards so we will have to touch those up too when we get a chance. Mark is installing the quarter round and then we will paint and touch up all of that.
Just gorgeous! Thank you for sharing with us. Can’t wait to see you cabinets painted. That is on my wish list in the near future.
The floors look great! We are considering removing our carpet and installing hardwood but I am wondering about the weekly maintenance. Do you have to dust mop everyday? I know I’m not industrious enough to do that!!
HI, Hallie, I’ve never had bad maintenance issues with hardwood floors. I vacuum mine and use a Swiffer type mop on them when needed which is great for getting dust off. With matte finish on ours, I don’t think they will be hard at all to take care of. Gone are the days of that shiny finish on hardwood floors which was impossible to keep clean. My engineered hardwoods are just as easy to take care of too. Vacuuming and dust mop when needed is all that I do on those too.
Can you speak for how these new floors downstairs would hold up to dog traffic? Do they scratch easily? Yours looks absolutely gorgeous!!
Shar, I think site finished floors hold up well to dogs, but I do think the new engineered floors with their baked on finish probably are even tougher than the old school site finished ones are. Wood is wood and will ding and scratch, but since we don’t have dogs inside the house right now, I don’t think we will be testing them out.