Flooring (decisions, decisions…)

Back in November last year, K notice leaking water on the inside of one of our living room picture windows. So we called our insurance carrier to inquire about a claim. Yaddee yaddee yada, here we are, almost six months later, having to make a decision about what kind of floor to put down. We're not unexcited about the opportunity.

Backing up a bit, our claim was approved. Quickly, a crew came in to tear out the affected (wet) areas after mapping them out with a high-tech moisture meter. Which means that, for these last six months, our living room has more or less looked like this:

Since some of the solid bamboo flooring was affected, they had to rip it out. Which of course means it needs to be replaced. The stipulation for our insurance claim is "line of sight." Meaning, any part of the flooring that can be seen from any other point gets replaced. Translation: if we hadn't torn out and laid new a tile floor in our kitchen last year, our entire downstairs flooring would be replaced. Well, we couldn't have foreseen this opportunity so we're not spending much time regretting that decision. Especially since we spent all winter reveling in the heated tiles.

What we are left with is having to choose a new floor for the downstairs, about half of which will be covered by insurance and the other half we'll pay out of pocket and replace ourselves down the road. It's not a decision we've taken lightly.

There are a couple of flooring dealers in town (minus the Big Box ones, which we didn't really consider), so a couple weeks ago we visited them both and started laying down samples. Many, many samples. We knew we wanted light with some character. We just weren't sure how much character. Between the two dealers, we brought home about a dozen samples that we tossed around our downstairs, moving from place to place around our floor. 

In pretty quick order, we had it down to two options of varying character:

• Kentwood Brushed Hickory Heartwood 'Natural' (Tempo)
• Dansk European White Oak Grano Seco

Given the climate of Wenatchee and the varying humidity levels (from very dry to less dry), we were advised to go against replacing with a solid hardwood like the bamboo we'd be ripping out. Also, it seems the market has moved largely away from solid to engineered for two reasons: sustainability (it's easier to source wood for veneer vs. 3/4" solid wood and obviously uses far less hardwood) and integrity (cross-laminated plywood layers keep swelling and shrinking to a minimum). We're not expecting to have to refinish before selling and we'll pick up at least an extra box (or two) of planks to keep on hand in case of damage.

All that said, we're still left with the decision of what flooring to lay throughout our downstairs. Though we love the richness of the brushed hickory, we appreciate the calmness of the white oak. The oak still has "character" (read: knots and what Dansk rates as "Substantial color variation," which is what we're looking for after living with the homogeneity of the bamboo) along with, what K refers to as "calmness." We like the matte finish on both options. The Kentwood is smooth whereas the Dansk has a hint of texture from wire brushing the wood before the finish is applied. Honestly, we like the slight texture under our feet vs. the smooth hickory. Just not too wire brushed, like another Dansk option we had brought home. That felt like we were walking on rough-hewn cedar. No bueno.

Dansk Grano Seco

Kentwood Brushed Hickory

The crew finally comes tomorrow to begin patching up the holes in the wall and ceiling. We'll also get a fresh paint job of our living and dining rooms (which we've started, but now will get completed). We're waiting for another sample of the Kentwood to fully commit one way or another. It should come this week and then we'll make our decision.