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Ok, I have to replace the flooring in the den and the kitchen (they are adjacent to each other, but very much separate rooms). The entire rest of the house is 60+ yr old hardwood (white oak) that just has poly on it. It has a nice golden shade to it. Because of water damage, the kitchen flooring has to be replaced. The den is the only room in the house with carpet, and DS dumped abt 1/4 gallon of latex paint on it a few months ago. We bought a carpet remnant as a stopgap measure, but it needs to be fixed NOW, and I don't want carpet again!
Here are my stipulations. It needs to be able to be laid on either a concrete slab or plywood subfloor. I can probably screw a thin sheet of plywood into the slab to even it out with the level of the kitchen, but can't go too thick or the height will be different. It needs to be inexpensive--- doing this remodel wasn't in the budget-- you can see my other post about the water damage if you are curious, LOL. Third, it needs to not look weird bumped up against white oak hardwood. We did do some patching when the floors were refinished and you really can't tell, so we considered hardwood as an option. Last, installation needs to be DIY friendly or relatively inexpensive to have someone do.
Oh and Laminate flooring isn't for me Don't like the stuff. I really don't like vinyl much either. Currently we have commercial grade vinyl tile in a checkerboard pattern in the kitchen, and I like it ok, but am ready for something different. We have considered more hardwood, tile (a broad category I know), and cork. I am a little concerned abt how cork will look bumped up against this golden oak color. This is one of the reasons I am also not sure about bamboo??
Those all sound like good choices. I just wanted to point out that cork and bamboo come in lots of different shades.
One idea is to have an inlaid strip of a contrasting material between the two surfaces. Just as an example, where the cork meets the existing hardwood, you could have a narrow strip of very dark wood or cork. Maybe repeat it somewhere else as a design element? That might help to make the transition more appealing.
Gloria I love that idea of a transition color. That would be spectacular.
I also was going to suggest cork. It is very DIY friendly, can be super inexpensive (we paid about $2.50 sq ft for glue down tiles), and comes in a lot of colors and styles (prices vary). I know some people are concerned about cork in water environments, but that's because the lock and click is cork on top of an mdf base. We put glue down in our master bathroom and I'm not worried about the moisture. When my DH gets out of our deep soaker tub dripping wet I just make sure that the puddles get wiped up before sitting too long.
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We did cork in our last place and are doing it again. Both times it went/is going right next to oak flooring. I went with a cork color that blends with the wood. (First time we used APC flooring from ifloors.com--I think the harmony color?. This time we are using Jelinek in Athens.) You could easily contrast though as there are plenty of dark options. There are also a wide range of "patterns" so you can have something that looks more like a wine cork or more like a bulletin board or more like wood planks or other options.
We used/are using glueless click and DH proclaims it very easy. I think it was his favorite diy project ever. (I am supremely unhandy and relegated to research and very menial labor so I can't comment personally.)
I really, really loved our cork floor and can't wait to have it again.
I know you're against laiminate - I'd also be very cautious about putting down solid hardwood in the kitchen or dining room due to spills. JMHO, but still...
Have you considered "engineered" wood? Similar to laminate, but slightly thicker, has good sound absorbing abilities, and can be installed over a concrete slab. We're looking at it for our house. We're getting a quote from an installer to see whether we want to DIO (ourselves) or hire someone. If you're interested, I'll give you the quote and specs once we get it.
Engineered wood is just a thin piece of wood on top of an MDF base like laminate. If you are concerned about solid hardwood you might also be concerned about engineered since it's the MDF which swells when it's soaked and thus not recommended for wet areas.
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Don't like the stuff. I really don't like vinyl much either. Currently we have commercial grade vinyl tile in a checkerboard pattern in the kitchen, and I like it ok, but am ready for something different. We have considered more hardwood, tile (a broad category I know), and cork. I am a little concerned abt how cork will look bumped up against this golden oak color. This is one of the reasons I am also not sure about bamboo??
