It's here It's here!!!!!!! UPDATE PICS!!!!!

[cruzerlou]

Finally got our Bellawood hard wood flooring in yesterday. We got an exotic hardwood, Australian Cypress and got 5 3/4" instead of the more standard 3 3/4" planks.
Were gonna lay the foyer tomorrow and do the hall way after the Holidays.
I love this stuff I first saw this stuff about 20 years ago and really love the light color with the dark knots and contrasting grain.
It's very expensive, $7.19 a square foot but well worth it . It has a 100 year warranty and is in a matt finish . We will then do one room at a time as we can afford it ,most likely buying a box here and there till we have enough to do a room. I can live with the old carpet in the living room and the bed rooms till we can get the rest of the house done.
The hall way is rather dark anyway , there only one light socket in it , I plan on installing three recessed lights in the hall way and painting it in a light color , but not white. the board on the bottom is one of the base boards and is a nice rich dark brown as are all the doors and jams, it will contrast nicely with our new hardwood flooring .
Talking with my contractor and others just by putting down this high quality flooring will raise the value of the house by 15. 20,000 dollars with it everywhere except for the bathrooms . And speaking of the bath room Juanita picked out a real nice looking commercial vinyl for the bathroom.
Here's a pic of a few planks laid out together and the bathroom Juanita picked the color and it's just a tad bit more BLUE than we expected, but we'll do something like the sponge trick with a bit darker shade or something to tone it down a bit lol .
Lou


the board on the bottom is one of the base boards and is a nice rich dark brown as are all the doors and jams, it will contrast nicely with our new hardwood flooring .

 

[GunnyGene]

Very nice stuff! One cautionary note: Wear a mask if you have to cut it, and don't do any cutting in the house. "Although severe reactions are quite uncommon, Australian Cypress has been reported to cause skin irritation, as well as less common effects such as boils, swelling of eyelids, and asthma-like symptoms." http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-identification/softwoods/australian-cypress/

Don't know if you've ever laid wood flooring before, but you should stack it inside and let it acclimate for a week or so before you start laying it down to avoid any potential problems with shrinking or swelling later.

 

[cruzerlou]

Thanks gunny that's god to know I'll let my contractor know and Juanita is allergic to lots of things so I'll make sure she's not here while were working.
I think Kenny is gonna set up his cutting station outside so as long as we use his compressor to blow the planks off before we bring them inside, I think we'll be find.
Lou

 

[contender]

One thing to consider when doing stuff like this in stages. Protect the edges where you plan on continuing. It's easy to damage an edge & cause issues when you go to continuing the project.

 

[cruzerlou]

Yeah Ty, Kenny and I talked about that, what we're gonna do is transitions where the hard wood in the hallway and foyer ends and just start anew when we do the living room and kitchen. As for the bedrooms we're just gonna put down temporary metal strips , so we can tie in the tongue and grove when we go to do the bedrooms. but thanks for lookin out for me .
Lou

 

[TinkerDave]

And I think you are supposed to allow the flooring to acclimate for at least 48 hours before you start putting it done to avoid shrinkage + if using multiple boxes, mix the flooring up so you get an even appearance. Good luck, I have to put down about 1500 sq ft when I can afford to buy the stuff, but I will be doing bamboo at less than $2 a foot. TD

 

[Kevin]

Lou, that looks good. I like the blue in the bathroom. You sound happy with the end result even though you had to go a while without a shower. Man that floor is expensive too. Almost 8 bucks a foot. But I believe you about raising the price of the home. People like hardwood flooring these days. Carpet just holds in too much dog hair and dirt and grime...

We have carpet in the bedrooms and our cat has ruined most of it. I removed the carpet from one bedroom, just cement floor now. The wife wants wood. It's just such a big job. Good luck!

 

[rugerguy211]

That's beautiful wood. A wise decision, imo. The wood will definitely help your wife's allergies. Carpet is really bad for those of us with serious allergies (and/or asthma). We replaced the carpet in our bedrooms, with hardwood, and my asthma is much better.
dennis

 

[powder smoke]

And I think you are supposed to allow the flooring to acclimate for at least 48 hours before you start putting it done to avoid shrinkage + if using multiple boxes, mix the flooring up so you get an even appearance. Good luck, I have to put down about 1500 sq ft when I can afford to buy the stuff, but I will be doing bamboo at less than $2 a foot. TD

Exactly that is correct matter of fact the longer you wait the better.
A Moisture Meter is also good when doing wood flooring hardwood.
I like to install it with no more than 12% moisture. Check for loose
subfloor and a barrier of Rosin or Felt paper is a good idea.

Nice looking stuff Lou Good luck. ps

 

[stevemb]

Suggest some grips to be made from the scraps. Tongue in cheek mode here, but, well, maybe.

 

[joe812]

Lou, rather than use metal, just get some cheaper tongue and groove and tack it as temp pieces where you stop. That will protect the t/g of the good stuff better than the metal. You could also do the same where you were planning on doing transition, then when you pull those out you can continue, making it look like it was all done as one job. If you can save some pieces from the current boxes, you can use them to help mix when you do the rest.

 

[cruzerlou]

Yeah it will be 48 hours before we start,Kenny brought the flooring in early yesterday morning for just that reason.
I think he's sot the moisture meter thing covered too.
The problem with where the transitions is in the foyer and hall way is that the planks will be running lenght wise and there's no real way to tie them in where we stop without tearing up some of the flooring as the ends are stagered.
Maybe we could just not use as many nails as you normally would,but two things the tongue and groove is tight on this stuff so it would be a bear sliding the prices in and out and both are high traffic areas, so we're gonna have to secure them down good.
I'll bring it up to Kenny and see what he says.
Lou

 

[bogus bill]

Ya reckon you or the factory will be here 100 years from now?

 

[GunnyGene]

Yeah it will be 48 hours before we start,Kenny brought the flooring in early yesterday morning for just that reason.
I think he's sot the moisture meter thing covered too.
The problem with where the transitions is in the foyer and hall way is that the planks will be running lenght wise and there's no real way to tie them in where we stop without tearing up some of the flooring as the ends are stagered.
Maybe we could just not use as many nails as you normally would,but two things the tongue and groove is tight on this stuff so it would be a bear sliding the prices in and out and both are high traffic areas, so we're gonna have to secure them down good.
I'll bring it up to Kenny and see what he says.
Lou

Sounds like Kenny knows what he's doing, so you shouldn't have any problems with seasonal humidity changes. The wood you're using is pretty stable compared to other common flooring, which is a plus. Looking fwd to seeing it installed.

 

[WendyZXZ]

That is very nicely done and looking...looks like a great deal of progress!

 

[cruzerlou]

We finished both the foyer and the hallway and man , it looks better than I'd hoped.
I have pics but can't get to the computer to post them, I'll get them up soon, but a lot of stuff to go through, some is going in the trash and some of it in the attic and other places.
Lou

 

[Sin6Sec63451022]

Thats some purty stuff. It will look really nice when done. You've been warned about some possible well known health problems, but a lesser known thing is that it can cause your grandchildren to be born naked.

 

[wolfsong]

Lou, my brother, your bathroom looks great! Just one thing, though. I didn't see a scabbard or a holster for a wall mounted firearm in the shower/tub!

 

[Bull Barrel]

I prefer to used the finished stuff, it's finished. The prefinished stuff still has to be finished.

 

[powder smoke]

Lou how about some pics love to see your new floor. ps

 

[737tdi]

Lou: You mentioned buying a few boxes at a time. I don't know if this is true with Bellawood but other manufacturers do large lot manufacturing and the different lots are rarely the exact same color. I found this out when I had to replace an area of ours that got water damaged. I was going to just replace the damaged area but when I bought the same style/color it looked slightly different. Ended up replacing the whole floor in that room due to the mismatch.

Karl

 

[cruzerlou]

this stuff is custom cut per every order, re might be a slight difference in the grain and color to each box , but we plain to open all the boxes up and lay it out so we can vary the pattern anyway. there's light and dark in every box so I don't see this being a problem, but thanks for the advice. Now here's the pics of the foyer and hallway finshed. I love this stuff!!!!!
The Foyer,


The hallway , this took 3 pics to get it all, the light in the hall is closer to the living room , that's why the pics look different. I'm going to install 3 recessed lights in the hall to even out the light and to be able to see better at the bedroom end.

 

[BucolicBuffalo]

I love the look of a character wood floor. That is a really great choice you made.

We have not completed all of ours yet. But the kitchen and utility rooms are done. We chose to go a different route. We selected 5" boards in antique heart pine. These places are buying up huge timbers from old factories and warehouses on the east coast. Some of them are 4' x 4' and 40' long. They slice them and machine them with the tongue and groove. We sanded it ourselves and finished with tung oil. The old hardwood oak just pales in comparison.