Flooring advice
I've included some photos from the listing, the kitchen will be refinished and will have white cabinets and dark grey countertops and glass great subway tiles.
Kommentarer (35)
PROCancork Floor Inc.
8 år sedanLaminates cannot be stained. Some engineered hardwood can be refinished, some cannot. Solid hardwood can be stained and refinished whenever you want. The photos of the maple are inconclusive as to what they are.
Check what those floors are before making decisions. Laminate cannot be changed with stain.
Candacw Krenek
8 år sedanYeah, not sure laminates can be stained. Definitely find out the material. As far as color choices go, I vote go with a medium stain laminate, dark seems like it would be too abrupt in the home. If it is indeed laminate just rip it up and either continue your laminate choice throughout or do tile in the kitchen and the laminates in the rest of the home. You mentioned going with tile throughout, from a buyers perspective I personally hate seeing tile throughout. It is much more difficult to rip out later and makes the home look like a rental, in my opinion.
Toklo Laminate - 12mm Acacia Collection · Mer info
Lamton Laminate - 12mm Exotic Wide Plank Collection · Mer infoBest of luck! :)
Wendy Hamilton
8 år sedanIf it's a laminate, don't replace it with another laminate! Some look great but you can almost always tell they aren't real. Too hard to tell from the pics. If durability is an issue, check out the strand woven bamboo in click lock. But don't go too dark. You do need a contrast from your cabinets though.
miacometlady
8 år sedanIf you like the fact that laminate doesn't have to be refinished down the road, look into faux wood tile.
lswd_box
8 år sedanÄndrades senast: 8 år sedanUnless there is damage not obvious from the pics, I'd leave the floors as is, especially since they will darken some with age anyway; also, darkening them will make your rooms seem much smaller -- and the floor dirtier, especially if they don't stain evenly.
No, it is definitely not too much neutral color to have all the floors the same beautiful maple color -- I'd want the same wood floors throughout the house, if possible; and if I were going to replace any floor that didn't have them, I'd try to match the maple flooring. Lighter floors will make the space seem larger and you can add darkness and/or color elsewhere.
Instead of changing the floor color, visually connect the rooms with rugs and/or window treatments and/or other decorations and/or accessories that match and/or coordinate -- stuff that will not be the costly mistake that changing those maple floors would be.
PROEL INTERIOR DESIGN
8 år sedanit will be grate contrast with a darker hardwood floor and with a wide Planck's. On the top of your floor it will be a rug which will help to do a job by enhancing warmth, color, atmosphere and interest. I will highly recommended a faux finish which always brings depth, interest and vibrant movement by bringing richness from outside to your home, as o one big component to your desirable interior design project.
- PRO
EL INTERIOR DESIGN
8 år sedanif you want to stay with this light floor, than I will recommended to introducing a faux finish of darker color on your walls and some design on your ceiling. you need contrast, so introducing the color, will do desirable job by creating interest with contrast. Unfortunately,we have too much of the some color, so it becomes less appealing.
tracyburton
8 år sedanI think the maple color looks nice (at least in the pictures), but I do agree with some of the other comments that suggest there are a lot of neutral colors. Maybe you want to start out by adding pops of color with fabrics, pillows-even wall paint which is much easier & less expensive to change than the flooring. Then, if you still arent happy with the maple-go for a change. Not sure where you live, but remember, tile is going to be COLD underfoot unless you add radiant heat. Personally, while I love the look of dark wood, I fought long & hard with my husband NOT to have dark(brazilian cherry) throughout a former home, agreeing to put it only in his office. He now agrees that between the inevitable dust bunnies, my blonde hair & our white long haired cat, dark wood is less than practical. Just something to keep in mind if you have pets or dont like to spend every day using the swiffer.
lacielanee
8 år sedanIf your floors are real wood I would not introduce laminate next to them. I think laminate next to real hardwood looks cheap and would look odd. If it were me I would either replace ALL the flooring to what you want. Or I if the budget would allow, I would continue on with the hardwood throughout the rest of the rooms and stain them a new color (resounding the kitchen ones to match). If that is not an option and you have to keep the wood flooring I would stain the flooring and pick a tile to go in the other rooms, assuming your wanting a solid floor.
Lynn G
8 år sedanIf putting in new floors DO NOT GO WITH LAMINATE. I had a friend redoing a place and not wanting to spend a whole lot on it. When I checked the pricing it cost as much to do laminate/engineered wood - same to buy, same to install, can't refinish.
Keep the floors light/honey colored - it's what's stood the test of time. These dark stains I think will go they wayside along with avocado green appliances - a trend. And the darker they are the more they show dust.
Get prices for purchasing and installing real hardwood floors, and see if there is a difference, and if so, is it worth it to you to pay the little bit extra - you may find it's not much more. Then get the same color as what exists. Maybe put a few dark boards between the current wood and run the new stuff in another direction so you're not trying to match up boards or have a harsh line - that's what I did when I replaced tile in my kitchen with wood that matched the other spaces and it was a visually interesting transition that didn't look like an "ooops" or add-on.
Cindy Menear
8 år sedanI've found from experience laminate looks nice when 1st installed but doesn't hold up to kids, pets and spills/water . Check out the more durable vinyl flooring that has become popular recently . It looks and installs similar but is waterproof and doesn't scratch as easily .
Lizzy L.
8 år sedanI put in quality Made in the USA laminate flooring in my basement 10 years ago and now I'm pulling it all out and going with high-quality wood-look vinyl flooring. The laminate did not hold up well after water seeped in underneath. It pulled apart. The new vinyls are very attractive, perfect for lower levels, and has a great warranty. I'll never put in laminate again. For your situation, I'd go with vinyl, wood-look ceramic tile, or wood, and run it throughout the whole space.
PRODiana Bier Interiors, LLC
8 år sedanI cannot understand for the life of me why homeowners who would NEVER consider laminate for their countertops think it's a great option for their flooring!
Cancork Flooring said it first--you cannot stain laminate--it's plastic. Go with a good-quality raw wood on the floors and have them site finished. It will be a pain at first, since you have to keep off the floors while the stain and polyurethane dry, but they are just beautiful and will last for years. My 90-year old house has the original strip oak floors and they still look fantastic. Our brand new kitchen has white oak floors, site finished with Minwax' special walnut, and they look and wear wonderfully.
annharrell
8 år sedanI would leave them alone and give yourself a year to decide if "light" is right for you. Right now, the furniture appears to float. As others have suggested, treat yourself to an interesting rug to tie it all together. I love dark wood, but have found it very depressing and oppressive, even here in Florida. (Imagine that kitchen countertop on the floor. Ick!!!) Dark flooring doesn't reflect, and furniture gets lost in it, especially with glare from windows. Most of us wind up tearing it out and going with something light.
I also love the cabinets in your kitchen, but find the stove placement awkward. Why not give yourself four seasons to live with the change of light, neighbors and landscaping before investing $$$ in changes? Good luck to you.
laragazza
8 år sedanI love the colors, light and airy and cheery. Love the color of the kitchen cabinets too, even though I am a white cabinet fan. I agree about keeping the floor light or medium, definitely not dark. Laminate cannot be stained that I know of.
Beautiful house! Love the flow and happy glow of it.
daniellemcguckin
8 år sedanIntroduce colour with paint, textiles and accessories. Check out houzz for some great ideas
PRODiane Leone Design
8 år sedanYou have a lovely home. Laminate can not be re-done as the top layer is a photo of wood on plastic. While it appears to look nice in the photos, it blends into the cabinets so if you are going to replace the flooring, I think you need some contrast in the kitchen.
You could either go with: a medium toned engineered wood; a stone or porcelain tile (lighter in color for contrast) or a tile that looks wood, also lighter in color (these have become popular in kitchens) in the kitchen.
If you go with the engineered wood, and must pull up the carpet, you could carry it into the living and dining areas and add beautiful area rugs with color in the design (some light colors as well).
I'm not a fan of tile throughout a house, but the look of tile or natural stone and engineered wood together is nice. So another option is the stone or porcelain in the kitchen and engineered wood to replace the carpet. You want some contrast between the flooring and the kitchen cabinets and with stone or tile, you could go lighter. The lightest you could go with engineered wood is Maple or perhaps a painted color, but I don't think it would work. I hope this helps. Best of luck!
kliberto
8 år sedanIf you're just purchasing the home, I would live in it for a while before spending too much money renovating. Personally, I don't like light wood floors but I think if you just paint the walls it could be beautiful with the right colors. Add some window treatments and area rugs. Contrast in the kitchen with a warmer, richer color tile floors and some new cabinet hardware. The house is really nice, it just needs some color to warm it up.
Clyde Rhyne
8 år sedanI just bought a weekend house with 7 year old laminate floors, and there are definite areas of wear. I have had real wood floors before and, even though they look beautiful and warm, I cannot stand the cleaning and maintenance. They are also easy to damage. My money will go for porcelain tile throughout.
My main house has 13 year old 12" black and white ceramic tile laid diagonally throughout. I love it. Maintenance is a breeze. The pattern is actually more neutral than you would think, but also striking. Area rugs look great on it.
I would choose porcelain tile over ceramic next time, because there are a few small chips in the surface, and porcelain is the same color throughout.
Tile doesn't look "rental" to me; it looks easy, durable, and practical. (I think you can tell that I'm not really into housekeeping.)
I agree with others that the pictures look very, very neutral, but floors need to be neutral, because they'll be there a long time. Add contrast with paint, furniture, accessories, etc.
Robin Michetti
8 år sedanÄndrades senast: 8 år sedanAlthough you are writing about flooring, I can't help but notice that the spaces you are showing could be SO beautifully enhanced with widening of the windows. (The opening of walls and installation of new windows are surprisingly inexpensive.) I can imagine your living room with one huge floor to ceiling wall of windows. I see a street beyond, so perhaps a cedar hedge could make the garden more private. (Then you could have fun creating a pretty garden!) I think that the value of your house would soar with such a feature. Your kitchen ideas sound beautiful. The family room window is very high... Could you lower it. If there is no door to the outside to the left of the photographer (which there likely is) you could make it into French doors.
I did a 2 year reno/extension on our house and after much deliberation, I chose to rip up the pale, maple floors and replace them throughout with jatoba flooring. It is really beautiful. When a spotlight shines down on it, it glows a lovely, warm reddish brown. For me, pale flooring looks very 1950s and boring... We get so many positive comments on our rich, jatoba flooring. I wonder if you could stain your floors either a handsome, medium, barn grey-brown (avoid yellowish tints) or jatoba... It would be important to stain a piece of existing wood (taken from a cupboard?...) to see how the stain would 'take' to the maple.
You have to decide if you like high contrast or a more muted decor. I tend to higher contrast so with my jatoba floors, I do have a patterned sofa with a dark/light nature design and plenty of large, plants and antique (dark) tables...but with light painted walls and lots of lamps to make the spaces seem more spacious...and huge windows to bring in all the natural light!
Good luck!
kathyjohnstonkathy
8 år sedanSince staining the maple is not an option, I assume you will leave it in place. The travertine option would be lovely and durable. But I think you could make the other option work too. You would need to make some kind of transition like running the new boards in the opposite direction for a foot or so, or make some pattern using both colors of flooring.
For my own kitchen, I am planning tile, with the rest of the house wood. So I plan to use large black border tiles around the perimeter if the kitchen and then using a different tile in the center. I think that will make a more interesting transition from tile to wood than just one stopping and the other starting.yytcm
8 år sedanPlease, please, please take the absolute best advice several others have given above with which I totally agree - live in the house for a season before you do anything major (including the kitchen). Your pics show a light and airy home - something to be treasured. See how YOUR furniture looks in it and see how you feel every morning when you wake up and walk through the house and throughout every day, see how and where the sun comes in and where the rooms are dim and how that changes during the day, where you need sun-filtering or sun-blocking window treatments and where nothing or ordinary will work, etc., etc. I've seen so many people move into my community after making major remodeling changes (I'm sure because they think it's easier to do so before move in) but then regret it forever. I didn't have the funds to do that when I bought and had to choose a within-budget home with walls and floors I could live with until... After two and a half years, I haven't done much of anything really major yet but every dollar I've spent so far has been well spent and I don't have any regrets. Good luck!
yytcm
8 år sedanP.S. I'm totally with you on the white kitchen cabinets, but those kitchen floors are lovely and you may find that they're the perfect color backdrop for that white and grey kitchen of the future.
mike rock
8 år sedanmy advice. use one surface.period. redo it all if you cant match the kitchen. do you have kids?dogs? are the floors scraped or used looking? if so..perhaps not any wood but stone of somekind. if the floors are fine..power thru with wood.
PROFinstads Carpet One
8 år sedanI'm in the flooring industry and looking at the 4th photo you uploaded it appears that you have a hardwood product. When you say "laminate" you may mean "engineered hardwood". It appears that you have a 2-1/2" or 3-1/2" wide plank. If you have gas forced air and there are vents you can pull from the floor you'll be able to determine if it's solid or engineered. If it's engineered it's unlikely you'll be able to stain it darker. I advise having a hardwood refinisher take a look at your floor to determine the possibilities. If you have a 3/4" solid hardwood you can definitely have it sanded and finished in a darker stain. My advice on picking a stain color is not to go too dark. A dark tone will show the dust and lint and you'll feel like you are constantly sweeping and cleaning. Choose a mid-tone if you don't care for the natural maple tones.
If it does happen to be laminate---you cannot refinish it as others have already commented.
If you want a tile look, the LVT or luxury vinyl tiles are a gorgeous option for the kitchen floor. Some brands can be grouted, making them look like a ceramic tile but much easier on the legs and also very durable. Otherwise, the same hardwood throughout all the areas is a great option and gives all areas a contiguous, cohesive feel. The glass subway tiles for the kitchen splash will look fabulous. IF you decide to use a ceramic subway tile stay away from the 3x6 which has been way overdone. There are new subway sizes that will keep you current with the modern trends and will still always be a classic look. For instance a 2x8, 4x8 or 4x16 subway format are very attractive as a different option than the ordinary 3x6.
Best of luck with your project. Wishing you harmony and happiness in your future home.- PRO
Cancork Floor Inc.
8 år sedanSantypas...are you still there? Have you found out if your floor is laminate or engineered hardwood?
- PRO
EL INTERIOR DESIGN
8 år sedanthe laminate flooring is not permanent. it easily has been loosing a nice look. So, be prop ere that after of a short time of using!!!! it will be ready to replaced. Unfortunately, you cant refinish laminate. "Clearly, the hardwood floor will be your best choice which will stay forever.
jamdot
8 år sedanÄndrades senast: 8 år sedanWe just tore out our laminate flooring we had for 10 years because it looked awful for several years since our a/c leaked and the laminate "separated." Laminate can't be stained.....it can't be repaired in any way. We just bit the bullet and installed wood-look porcelain tile and it is gorgeous.
santypas
Författare8 år sedanThank you ALL! We have taken everyone's suggestions and have decided to live with the flooring for a while and take our time to select the right wood looking porcelain for durability.
For now we will refinish the kitchen cabinets white and change the counter to silestone Cemento and use a glass white/frosted backsplash. We will change the upper traditional cabinets to match the lower ones and get rid of the glass cabinet doors to match with our contemporary sitting room furniture. Then paint the entire room and change the window treatments. Once we move in and get the work done I will be happy to include pictures :)millwad
8 år sedanDoing a kitchen remodel.... Would appreciate sound advice about what material to use for the floor. It is a fairly large space (420 sq ft including an adjoining mud room and powder room. The main kitchen area is adjoined to a family room and dining room/hallway/living room... All of the flooring in those spaces is currently Brazilian Koa (Bellawood). I feel we should use the same flooring for the new kitchen ( or possibly a Brazilian Koa laminate to save on cost) ... My husband is convinced that any type of wood flooring will scratch, mar, dent etc and look bad and we will regret it. He wants to use grouted vinyl tile . I dont like the look of it and feel the flooring should be consistent with adjoining rooms ???? Thanks for any professional advicejamdot
8 år sedanWood-look porcelain tile. Narrow grout line. We have it and love it. Practical (doesn't matter if it gets wet in kitchen setting) and easy maintenance.
- PRO
Finstads Carpet One
8 år sedan@millwad^^, I would not suggest doing any wood looks with real wood. It never really looks quite right. I read the comment of your husbands suggestion and that is what I would suggest as well. I've been in the flooring industry for 18 years and the LVT (luxury vinyl tile) is beautiful when you see it in a room. Looking at just a sample or pictures does not do it justice. You can choose to grout but it does not need to be grouted. I have a friend that choose the ungrouted installation. She had a shelf unit in the corner of an eating nook with an oversized wine bottle that fell on to the floor and shattered into many pieces. She was worried about the damage to the floor, but once she cleaned up the mess there wasn't any damage---to her surprise. It also feels nice under foot. Porcelain tile is hard on the legs when working in the condition. Although, you can get those cushy mats to stand on if that's what you end up doing. Cork is also a nice option. It feels great to stand on and is very durable. Plus, it's a renewable material and you can feel good about it being a "green" product.
Good luck with your project. tracyburton
8 år sedanWe are currently remodeling an entire house, had porcelain tile put in entryway from garage, laundry & lower bath. The tile is practical for those areas, but, even in the summer months here in Michigan is VERY cold for walking on. We used hardwood throughout kitchen, living, dining area, office, up the stairs & upper hallway. Wood floors will show some wear eventually, but the nice thing is that you can have them sanded down & refinished-a "dent" on tile might end up being a crack-much harder to fix. We had hardwood floors in a previous home for over 12 years, four kids, dog, cat & plenty of visitors-it was still in great shape when we sold the home & we never had to refinish it. Currently doing master bath in porcelain tile with heat system in select areas-too expensive to do an entire room (in my opinion). If you live in a warmer climate, go for the tile (I loved our polished travertine when we lived in FL), but even the most beautiful tile is cool underfoot. Avoid dark wood unless you enjoy using a swiffer daily. Good luck with your project! I think agreeing together on project materials is the most STRESSFUL part of remodeling!
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Deborah Sibert