The fourth couple we worked with were building an addition onto their 19th century house.
They had put concrete floors on the ground level, but were looking at wood as an option for the stairs and the upper floor.
At first, they thought they might like to put in blue-stain, beetle-kill floors. But they have a dog, and they were worried that the dog might scratch the floors. (Pine is a softer wood.)
So we took samples of different flooring (oak, pine, bamboo, etc.) and dropped rocks on them. White oak was the winner.
To be sure, the wood isn’t sustainably harvested or culled from a standing dead tree. But a solid oak floor will last a lot longer than other flooring options–carpet or linoleum, for example.
Wood floors can be refinished for years and years–and they generally look better, not worse, with age.
Ours our 130 years old and still going strong.
Tags: beetle kill wood, blue stain pine, eco-remodeling, floors, green remodeling, white oak
