The staircase is a wow, wow, looks great

Geepers LugNut.
What is the riser height on those steps.

I have no advice for you buy wanted to add to the thread. I just had an 100 plus three room ranch home demoed. It had 3 inch pine strips solid wood flooring. It would have been nice to safe it but too much work to rescue it.

Good luck.

Two questions: 1) how long is "a lifetime"? 2) Are you comfortable with the amount you have saved for retirement?

I like the sound of hard wood way better when walking on it. The laminate flooring has an annoying “click” to me when waking on it. Imo.

That said, I just deal with the click in our cabin.

Solid hardwood all the way. Solid wood lasts a lifetime, engineered does not. It can be a real pain in the (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman) to keep engineered looking respectablely clean as well. I know 2 families that put in engineered when they built new homes thinking it was the way to save money. Both regret it now.

They are totally old-school with a rise of 8 inches or more. There wasn’t much I could do about that because of the limitations at the lower landing. I did put wider treads on, I extended the overhang to about an inch and a quarter. There had been little to no overhang before and it varied.

Here is another old-school staircase with a rise of about 8 inches and a tread depth not much greater than that. This guy had me replace them with a staircase of modern dimensions. In order to gain room at the lower landing, he actually had me build a foyer on the front of the house.

The original staircase.




The demo.



The foundation for the new foyer.



The new foyer almost completed.



The new staircase. I also refinished the 60+ year-old, hard pine flooring and had to match it in the new foyer.

Just put in solid red oak last year in the whole house except kitchen and baths. Did it my self, and enjoyed it.

Finished on site is a far better product than pre finished. It will look amazing and last a century. If you can afford it, that is the way to go. Just make sure he understands you want it perfect. You shouldn't be able to see any ripples when he's done. It will stink up your house for a few days, and you won't be able to walk on it for a week if memory serves me correctly.

Looks nice, but you still have the entire ceiling to do.

Yeah LOL.

A buddy bought this house (young guy in the back). He had me inspect it before he bought. One of the first things I commented on was the fact that someone had installed flooring on the ceiling.

There was probably a popcorn finish on the ceiling, that's what is on the bedroom ceilings.

Lugnut you do fine work !

Great job lug nut. Solid wood and never look back.... Which is better fake fur or real? Same thing.....

Love oak flooring, but after having a masonry tile floor I'm never going back....Sure it's not warm & cozy like a wood floor, but tile wears like iron & if you have inside dogs, it's a no brainer.

Nice work Lugnut

Lugnut, that is beautiful work, very well done!

Lugnut You do nice work Well in fact I should say very nice work

Personally what i’ve found after installing 3/4 inch french oak flooring 15 yrs ago, If you have a dog in the house i would not install solid wood. I would find an alternative.

We put down prefinished #2 solid Hickory down 16 years ago. I wish I would have had it finished on site. That micro-groove between each piece traps dirt. I will get them refinished at some point and add a little bit of stain.