Hardwood Floor Install

I am thinking of installing HW floors in my home office. The space is relatively small and I'm pretty handy so it will be a good project.
However, how do I match the flooring that came with the house? How do I find the brand and hardwood color/type? Is this kept on record by someone at VM or is it simply matching with sample from a flooring store?
Anyone do this? What store is recommended for hardwood flooring?
Thanks in advance.

 

Our hard wood is bruce hard wood and is easily available at home depot. When we need to get a material used in our home that we don't know we call the VM customer care. They generally have your contract information and can provide you with the manufacturer and product information. Some things used in our home have been discontinued though. We're having out kitchen redone and the tile we chose is no longer available in the USA. Always best to call. They have all of the choices and can point you to the distributers. Customer Care at Van Metre 703-723-2800.

 

LOstSOul: thanks. I called they had the model/series right there.

 

So, we bought the flooring (bamboo) and I'm going to install it in a few weeks. Anyone have a blind nailer that I can borrow? I know I can rent one at HD but thought I'd see if anyone out there has one I can borrow for a weekend.
Thanks in advance.

 

Did you check out the prices at ProSource? I had Tigerwood floors installed and their price could not be beat.

 

I have only looked at installation from the place I bought the flooring (CarpetOne). While it's not that expensive, I like doing projects and this is small enough to give me an indication if I want to do the larger set installs we are planning for next year.

 

I second ProSource!!! Their prices are great, and I guarantee they will be less that Carpet One;p far less.

 

Please let us know how this worked out. We are considering bamboo flooring when we get around to replacing some of the flooring.

Bamboo sounds nice but I would really like to hear some first hand experiences.

 

Right now the plan is to install this coming weekend. We have the office all cleared out, we're going to paint this week then do the floors this weekend, so we'll report back!

I do know that there are various grades of bamboo. Some are really soft and will wear quickly, others are harder and more durable. So not all bamboo is created equal.

 

Update: the bamboo floor is installed and it looks great! It really makes the room warmer and I get a refreshed feeling when I walk into the room. I was able to lay down the flooring in about 6 hours so it was an easy project.

Now the bad part - my initial impression is that the flooring is too soft. I've already seen a few scratches in the floor (that seem to go through the finish to the bamboo itself) from our cats and their claws are not the sharpest. Plus, they've only got the hind claws! I'll be calling the flooring store to figure out how to make some minor repairs to ensure the floor doesn't look bad in too short of a time.

I do know that our oak hardwood does have some surface scratches but very few of the scratches have penetrated the finish.

I will definitely give it more time to see how it wears but my initial impression is not that favorable. Check back in 6 months.

 

Please do keep us informed. Sorry you have to be the expermental case, but I am very interested in how this works out.

 

So how is it now? I'd like to put wood floors in our study and bamboo is an interesting idea from a renewable resource perspective.

 

We love the look, but it's just too soft and dents/scratches easily. I don't recommend it for high traffic areas. Especially for a person with kids/pets. It also fades quickly.