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ntl1991

What species wood is my flooring?

ntl1991
11 years ago

Hello,

I'm in the process of working out the squeaks in my wood flooring, and I figured I'd replace a non-original filler board with one that matches the rest of the flooring. At one point, a wall was removed between my dining room and living room, and a pine board was installed in the space the wall took up.

What species wood is my flooring? Also, is there a special name to the border work?

As a side question, why don't installers do this kind of work today? My house was built in 1948 and is a 3-family, it's nothing special, but all 3 floors have this border work in the living and dining rooms. All the single-family houses (1920-1935) in my neighborhood have the same kind of flooring work.

Is it really that much more time consuming and expensive? It's yet another reason why I love old houses so much more than newer ones.

Thanks,

Nick

Comments (7)

  • ntl1991
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Now last time I went to Lowes, they had some finished-in-place White Oak, and I thought it looked quite similar to my floors, so I'm going to guess White Oak too.

    The floors are original, circa 1948. I've had them refinished twice since I've owned the house in 15 years. It is rental property, but they do hold up well.

    Knowing the species might also help me figure something out for the 3rd floor. The bedrooms and hall is original hardwood, but the big living room has been covered with carpet. When I had the carpet replaced years ago, I pulled back the old hoping for a gleaming hardwood floor underneath. I found a mostly good floor with deep gouges and cuts, it looked like someone was using a circular saw right on the floor. I think I'd have to tear up the floor and start from fresh, with a little threshold going from the old wood to the new for the height difference. The carpet is showing its age and will have to be replaced the next time the apartment is empty, if nothing else.

    It's a shame as the hardwood would really make the room stand out. My neighbor's house (the sister house to mine, 90% identical) has the original hardwoods but without the cathedrals, and it looks great up there.

  • gregmills_gw
    11 years ago

    Its white oak. No doubt

  • ntl1991
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Awesome, great to have a doubt-free answer! Thanks!

    -Nick

  • rwiegand
    11 years ago

    Agreed, white oak.

    As to the pictureframe border, any competent installer should be able to do it. It adds a little bit of time to the install to fit the boards correctly and a little bit of hassling with sanding so that you're not sanding across the grain. I've done it on the floors I've installed (including a feature strip or two in contrasting wood) and found it to be very much worth the effort. It probably added 2 hours of time (~10%) to laying a floor in a 16x20 space.

  • glennsfc
    11 years ago

    White oak definitely.

    Custom border work is still done. Any hardwood floor installer with the right tools can easily do that.

  • jmc01
    11 years ago

    If you need a small quantity of wood to replace that filler board, remove original flooring from inside closets and use it. You can then install new wood in the closets and finish. This way the public spaces look consistent.

    A good flooring company can do this pretty easily.

    another vote for oak.

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