Wood Flooring in Older Homes

Old Wood Floor

Renovating an old house can have its challenges, but it can be very rewarding. In many cases, the usual rules about the way to do things is not always the best solution. One thing I have learned is that when it comes to old houses is there really are no set “rules”. A reader sent…

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Don’t Let Your Hardwood Floors Turn Yellow

Hardwood Floors Yellow

I have had many people ask about the yellow look of oak floors. The good news is that the oak is not actually yellowing. It is actually the polyurethane finish that has yellowed. If you want your floors to remain oak colored and work well with your other stained items, I would suggest using a…

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My Wood Floor is Shrinking

Shrinking Wood Floor

It’s winter and wood floors are shrinking. Here’s a question I received the other day about this common complaint. Jean wrote: Need your expert advice please if you can.  I have installed acres of 18mm solid wood flooring in all my rooms. this winter with the heating on it seems to be shrinking. Seems to be…

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Which Way Should Hardwood Floors Run?

Hardwood Floor

Which Way Should Hardwood Floors Run? Do you notice the direction hardwood flooring runs when you walk into a house? It can make a big difference in how it looks and how it behaves over time. Rule number one in laying hardwood flooring is the wood boards should run perpendicular to the floor joists below. This…

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A Question about Refinishing Kitchen Cabinets

Refinished Cabinets

I received this question concerning changing the color on existing kitchen cabinets and I thought I would share it with everyone. I get a lot of questions regarding cabinet colors, wood flooring selections and how they should “work together.” The question was: I have new medium cherry cabinets in a new home that we have…

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A Wood Flooring Question

Wood Flooring

I’m very pleased to hear that my book, Designing Your Perfect House, is proving to be valuable to people who are building or remodeling. When I wrote it, I really hoped it would become an important resource for people and help them feel more “in control” of the building process. So it heartens me to receive…

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Yikes! I have Gaps in My Hardwood Floors

Hardwood Floor Gaps

It’s nearly winter. That means that your hardwood floors are about to show cracks between the boards. If you’ve moved into a new house, these cracks could cause alarm. How could your brand new hardwood floors crack? Gaps between boards, or cracks, if you will, are not the result of the wood floor failing or…

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Wood Floors Are Not Just Oak Anymore

Wood Floor Variety

When you mention wood floors to most people, they conjure up an image of a narrow board, red oak floor. But times have changed. Now there are many, many choices of board width and species. And many of these choices come at a modest cost increase. I’ve used white oak, antique chestnut oak, antique heart pine,…

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Kitchen Cabinets and Wood Floors – A Grainy Question

Kitchen Wood Grain

If you have wood floors in your kitchen and a natural wood finish on your kitchen cabinets, should the floors and cabinets be the same species of wood and the same color or should they contrast? And if they should contrast, which should be the darker color? I often discuss this issue with my clients.…

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