In This Post:
When we purchased our 2003 house we knew we wanted to replace the old carpeting in the three bedrooms with new hardwood floors. That way they would match the floors in the living room, office, stairwell and the second floor landing. In addition to the carpeting being old and dirty, we want the flooring throughout the house to be as uniform as possible.
We ordered red oak hardwood flooring from Lowe’s based on measurements provided by a subcontractor who visited our house. All the materials were delivered to our house prior to the installation start date so the wood could acclimate to the house temperature before installation.
Out with the old carpeting, in with the new hardwood
It took just two days for Lowe’s subcontractors to remove the old carpeting and install the hardwood floors. During the installation learned that while you can save money by ordering wood leftover from other projects, it’s beneficial to make sure the wood is new. That’s because the leftover wood can be damaged or warped and unusable.
That was certainly the case when we ordered supplies for our deck remodel and I returned to Lowe’s 3 times to replace bowed joist beams, 2×4’s and deck railing that were delivered to our home.
My recommendation, if you’re going to have materials delivered to you, especially lumber, make sure you select the lumber yourself and then arrange to have it delivered. This way you’ve already inspected the lumber for warping and can just dive into your project.
Protecting the hardwood
We could immediately see the difference and the new floors matched perfectly with the existing hardwood floors. Once installed, I added multiple coats of polyurethane to protect the floors from scratches and give them a nice shine. I used a paint brush for the edges and a staining pad on a stick for the remainder of the job. That really helped speed up the application process.
Now all of the bedrooms match the rest of the rooms in the house and feel larger and brighter. The flow from one room to the next is seamless. Let me know what you think.
Below is a breakdown of materials & costs if you are thinking of updating your house with hardwood floors. The installation fee, which was arranged through Lowe’s, also covered the removal and disposal of the old carpeting.
If you like this story, check out how a fresh coat of paint made such a difference for us.
Materials & Cost$:
Lowes Home Improvement:
– Natural Red Oak Hardwood Flooring Item #3805656 95.61 /carton-Covers 20.00 sq.ft QTY 41 3920.01
– Roofing Felt Item #10306 $34.98 / QTY 2 $69.96
– Bonding Glue Item #100575 $7.38 / QTY 5 $36.90
– Floor cleaning cloth Item #126454 $3.27 /ea.QTY 2 $6.54
– Polyurethane Item #968032 $65.81 /ea.QTY 2 $131.62
– Paint Brush Item #216061 $24.92 /ea.QTY 1 $24.92
– Polyurethane Floor Brush Item #44744 $7.96 /ea.QTY 1 $7.96
– Paint Tray Item #815739 $4.98 /ea.QTY 1 $4.98
– Paint Tray Liners Item #1060890 $2.57 /ea.QTY 1 $2.57
– Wood Filler Item #164701 $8.82 /ea.QTY 1 $8.82 $4,220.94
– Manual Caulking tube Item #876471 $6.66 /ea.QTY 1 $6.66
PROJECT TOTAL: $4,220.94
+ Labor
