Project Four: White Oak Floors

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.

Project One: Eco-Floors

The family who approached us with our first project lived in a great home on a hill above Leadville. From their living room, they had a view of the entire valley. Their house was historic and cozy. It had just one problem: wall-to-wall carpeting that was both ancient and full of just a bit too much dog hair.

They wanted something new, but they weren’t sure they wanted more carpet. They were pretty convinced they wanted wood floors–but they wanted to do them as green as possible.

There was only one problem: certified wood from sustainably harvested forests is expensive.

The solution: beetle-kill pine floors. Right now, across the mountains of Colorado, the pine beetle infestation is climbing higher and higher in elevation–wiping out whole forests. That dead trees have to be used (and as quickly as possible; the wood dries out fast). So the wood is local, and from a good source. Better still, beetle kill pine has a lovely bluish tint.

And, as floors go, it’s pretty cheap.

So the couple didn’t mind springing for the low-VOC finish (with fewer chemicals to breathe.)

One caveat. Pine, beetle-kill or otherwise, is not as hard as hardwoods. So if you really want your wood floors to look pristine in 1o years, it may not be the wood for you.

But if you’re wiling to endure a few scratches, it’s a great eco-wood to use right now. Especially if you live in the Rocky Mountains.

And as one of our installers said the other day, “How cool would it be if years from now people walked into homes like this and said ‘oh, this must be a beetle-kill era home’ the way we now say ‘Victorian’ or ‘Craftsman.’