How to Choose the Right Floor Stain
Construction Update
It’s finally flooring week!
It’s crazy to think that I’ve “only” been doing renovations for 4 weeks because it seems like it’s been MONTHS! I think the fact that I made an offer on my house in February (Valentine’s Day) -> started planning the renovations after getting under contract -> closed on the property in April -> and then let the sellers rent back from me until May. It’s just been a longer process mentally with the unorthodox timeline. On top of that, I just moved out of my duplex and am living in a hotel! I’m happy nonetheless with the progress I’ve made and how things are coming along.
I began this process using my Construction Order of Operations and if you’ve been tracking along, you know first of course was the demo. This was only supposed to take a day, but unfortunately I had a knob & tube electrical surprise, so the amount of demo stretched to every room of the house (vs. just the kitchen) and of course caused an increase in the timeline.
From there we did a bit of plumbing (gas line for the stove and water line for the fridge) and framing, and then we moved on to drywall. The drywall phase also took a bit longer than expected because there was the extra demolition spots that needed to be patched from the electrical work. With those larger steps in the process out of the way, the fun part can begin…my hardwood floors!
White Oak Hardwood Floors
I recently swung by my home because you never can be too careful with staying on top of the contractors and making sure they are getting their shit done. I pulled up around 3:30pm and saw that no one’s car was there so I expected the worse…that he stood me up yet another day. Thankfully I was happily surprised when I walked inside!!!!
Both my upstairs and main floor areas had been sanded down and they looked beautiful! The detail work around the trim and radiators still needs to be completed, but I could care less that they called it an early day because my house is starting to finally come together and look like a home! By removing the orange stain on the top floor and dark brown on the bottom level, the home is starting to feel more cohesive across the two levels and looks so much warmer and welcoming! This girl is one happy camper!
Living room before
Living room progress
Entryway progress
Hardwood Floor Stain
My floors have an extra sweet spot in my heart thanks to living with orange/brown hardwood floors for the last four years at my duplex property. Why didn’t I refinish them? It ultimately came down to money and how many projects I wanted to tackle in a rental. If I would have planned to stay their long term I would have prioritized central air conditioning, a bathroom remodel, and many other projects. Instead, I had to continue to remind myself that it was a rental and that a lot of it could be left as is and still be cute!
Anyway, when I figured out my new Tangletown 2-story home not only had oak floors, but white oak floors…I was ecstatic! These natural beauties were made to shine! They help lighten and brighten the house so much once that dark stain was removed downstairs and the orange finish upstairs.
With the sanding 80% completed, it was time today to pick out my stain. Similar to paint, you want to know what color you’re leaning towards in advance, but it’s still important to test it on your floor before moving forward with your final decision. I originally was going to lean a little more white and go with the NordicSeal (right), but after seeing my new hardwoods sanded down, I’m going to go with a NaturalSeal (left). It will most likely lighten up a bit more over time and I think it’ll look amazing! What do you think?
NaturalSeal
NordicSeal
Kitchen Floor update
With the top floor and most of the main floor decisions made, I had to finalize my kitchen floors. When thinking through the details, I knew that I wanted one cohesive flooring material and color to run throughout my Tangletown 2-story main floor. I love my black tile floor that I laid in my duplex kitchen last year, but leaned away from laying tile at my new home because I wanted a bit more warmth to balance the depth and texture in the stone and backsplash I hope to use in my new kitchen. On top of that, it’s cold in Minnesota. Tile tends to make things a bit more chilly than hardwoods and I didn’t want to add the expense of heated floors below the tile.
Hardwood Floor Technique
Now typically when you’re laying hardwood floors, you would lace them into the room you’re connecting them to. In this case, it would be my dining room. This can be a bit more labor intensive and depending on how old your floors are, sometimes you can tell a difference in the wood itself (old vs. new).
Because I will be adding a peninsula that is going to cover 90% of the flooring transition from my kitchen to the dining room, I decided to simplify things. I will have my flooring guy lay the hardwoods in the same direction as the dining room, and then we will lay a transition strip across the 40” walkway opening between the dining room and kitchen. This will help save some time and money, and will barely be noticeable to most.
The Cost to refinish Hardwood Floors
My hardwood refinishing cost isn’t fully ironed out, crazy I know, but I was hoping to save the original maple floors in the kitchen. Unfortunately they were red maple, while the rest of my floors are white oak, and they had a little more wear and tear than I would have hoped. So, they will be getting replaced and I’m not 100% sure what the new white oak floors are going to cost me for my 10x12 kitchen, but if I had to guess…materials + labor = $2,500-$3,500. You better believe I will keep you posted though.
As for the rest of the hardwood floors refinishing cost, I have about 2,060 sq. ft. across the two floors. Any guesses on what I’m being charged for them as well as the stairs? Drumroll please….just over $4,000 or $1.96/sq ft. Not bad at all if you ask me!
Just a friendly reminder to be sure you get multiple quotes! Where one company may be more expensive for refinishing hardwood stairs, they might be less expensive on flat services.
That’s all I’ve got for now. Be sure to follow my progress on Instagram to stay in the know and see all of the progress first hand!
Cheers!
Jen
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Investor // Landlord and DIYer // Realtor // Business Consultant // Globe Trotter // Converting Vegan.
