We’ve been showing off our new floors but haven’t yet explained how we chose and installed them. Time to fix that.
When planning the kitchen remodel, our designer recommended hardwood over ceramic tile — wood pairs better with white cabinets and gives the space a warmer feel than cold tile. We started shopping at the usual big-box stores. Lowe’s and Home Depot had a reasonable selection of engineered hardwood priced around $4.00 per square foot. For our roughly 370 sq. ft. kitchen that added up to nearly $1,500. We were also hesitant about engineered hardwood because many options are only 1/4″ thick and can typically be sanded and refinished only once. With kids and a dog and plans to stay in this house for a long time, that didn’t seem durable enough.
So we turned to a hardwood specialist and visited Lumber Liquidators, where we found exactly what we wanted: a rich mocha oak.
The floor caught our eye partly because of its deep color and partly because of a prominent sale price. Unlike the engineered options we’d seen, this was 3/4″ solid hardwood — real planks at just $2.79 per square foot. The sale was ending in three days, so we moved quickly to get the material for under $1,000.
Lumber Liquidators doesn’t install, but they provide a list of recommended installers. We called one from that list and, in the end, it happened to be the same company employed by our Lumber Liquidators salesperson. They came out, measured the space, and placed the order within 24 hours.
I’m glad we hired professionals. They used specialized tools I don’t own, and the job took them three days with several unexpected challenges along the way. Trying to do it ourselves would have been far more difficult. If you’re considering a DIY install, resources like One Project Closer offer step-by-step tutorials that make the process less intimidating.
In the end, the floor was installed, it looks beautiful, and our dog Burger is thrilled with his new play surface.
Image courtesy of Lumber Liquidators