Our home has two areas with red oak wood - kitchen and front "foyer" area. The rest is carpet which is trashed, and we want to put hardwood in everywhere.

I figured we had four options:

1) Go with a different contrasting wood in the new areas. (Wife says HECK NO!)

2) Go with prefinished red oak in the new areas, which may not match well to the ten-year-old stuff in color and finish.
Question: Could it POSSIBLY match well enough to keep it from being too obvious?

3) Go with unfinished red oak in the new areas, and refinish the old stuff at the same time so it all matches. Problem is the mess and expense. But we're still considering it.
Question: How messy is it? Do we need to remove everything from the cabinets and expect to find dust for the next five years?

4) Rip out flooring in kitchen and foyer, go with new prefinished everywhere.
Question: How do you rip out flooring without removing cabinets? Do you cut it off at the front edge of the cabinets, and then later install quarter-round moulding to cover the edge?


What do you recommend? We're in knots about it.

no!! do it right and remove all the flooring...if that's what you decide to do.

if the flooring is under the cabinets, then they have to be removed. how would you get a saw under the kick plate? (that's the recess under the cabinets) i'm not aware of any saw that would cut a perfect edge under the cabinets. it would be nice if there was such a thing, unfortunately....

as for the other options...that's up to you. my personal feelings is that it would be a shame to remove a perfectly good floor to replace with the same. having it professionally refinished by someone who knows what they're doing is a good option. they not only can match with your new floor, but they know how to minimize dust.

just my opinion

[/quote] i'm not aware of any saw that would cut a perfect edge under the cabinets. it would be nice if there was such a thing, unfortunately....[quote]

Crain makes a toe kick saw. Been around for years.

http://www.craintools.com/fs-specialtysaws.htm

I was reading that many hardwood floors only come up to the kickplate anyhow because they're installed AFTER the cabinets, and there are plenty of right-angle saws that can cut the wood off. Even a dremel attachment could get it done.

http://www.craintools.com/fs-specialtysaws.html

you forgot the "l" at the end. thanks for that link...i might check one out.

I would recommend to install a sand-on-site floor. There are good DCS (dust containment systems) made now, finding a good sand/finish man who owns one might be a problem. If you do find an installer get several references on similar jobs they did. The NWFA consumer site is a good place to search for a sand/finish guy in your area.

On rare occasions I have been able to install a prefinished next to a site-finished with acceptable results.

The toe-kick saw is what you need for the cabinets. It is a dangerous tool if you don't maintain a firm grip.

I think we're leaning towards removing the flooring and installing all-new prefinished. We have three cats, and the shorter installation time (and mess) may decide for us.

Update 13 months later

We finally get estimates after deciding the best thing for us is to simply add more unfinished red oak, and refinish the existing flooring to match. It's 9 years old anyway and figured this was the right way to go.

Of course, this has already led into more costs (like new carpeting, painting, etc) but such is the life of a homeowner.