Long before we ever built our home, I dreamt of gorgeous hardwood floors that would run throughout our space. After living in a rental for almost 7 years that had cheap carpeting throughout most areas except for the kitchen and bathrooms, I could not wait for the day I would no longer have to try to scrub out stains. With four children, no matter how many times we told them “only eat or drink in the kitchen”, somehow, someway, I always ended up finding food stains! One time, I had all our carpets cleaned and our neighbor’s little boy came over for the afternoon with a gallon-sized jar of pickles with him. I told him to put the jar in the kitchen and not to touch them without me. A little while later I heard a loud crash followed by a shriek coming from our carpeted playroom. Just as I rounded the corner, the little boy came running out of the room, broken jar in hand, pickle juice streaming all over my freshly cleaned carpet. At that moment, all I could think of was a day I would simply say “no problem” as I gently wiped pickle juice off my wood covered floors. Obviously, it was not my response that day!
When the time finally came to choose our flooring, it was a much harder decision than I thought it would be. You would think having a husband who specializes in flooring would make this decision easy. However, that actually made it harder because he was very picky about what type of flooring would be installed in his home. Many people have different opinions on this matter (I will delve into this more on a future blog post). For us personally, we felt LVP would not match the other high-quality finishes in our home. We also knew how difficult it is to get a flat floor with no toe-kicks using wood-style plank tile. Which is also a LOT of grout to keep clean! We knew engineered wood floors were the best choice for us. Why? Let’s get into that!
Engineered floors are more cost-effective than solid wood floors. However, it is rather hard to tell them apart; Thanks to the layer of real wood on top. Engineered floors are more resistant to the fluctuations in temperature and humidity making them perfect for Florida’s weather. We also built our home off grade and wanted our floors to feel like they were from an old farmhouse. Engineered wood gave us this feel!
So now we knew engineered hardwood floors were the right choice for us. Now how do we find out which company offers the best selection? I started researching online and saw several companies that intrigued me. I typically like to know what products my friends go with as well, so I asked my friend Brooke from @plankandpillow which company she used for her re-design.
She said she had used ADM Flooring Design and said she was incredibly happy with their product. This definitely drew me to them. Purchasing from a company that someone you know and trust has used and is happy with, allows you to be confident in the product you are receiving. Especially when it comes to flooring. Any product can be pretty in pictures and look good as a sample, but how easy is it to install? How does it wear over time? How does it hold up with kids? We planned on running it through our kitchen, so the fact that Brooke had ADM flooring in her kitchen gave me peace of mind. After speaking with Brooke and reading as much as I could online, I decided ADM Flooring Design was the best choice for us.
I contacted ADM and had them send me a sample of every color they offer (which was entirely free). Okay, maybe not that many, but it sure felt like it! Choosing a color when you still have studs on your walls is hard! It may look great then, but how will it look once your walls are painted and your cabinetry installed? We eliminated any color that was too dark, too light, too grey and too yellow. We also decided that since our main area is such an open space, we wanted to go with a very wide plank to keep the floors from looking too busy. So, we then narrowed it down to the colors that were offered in wider planks. From there, it was a pretty obvious choice. We went with their Vintage Beige 10-1/4”, which is an oil finished floor. We loved the rustic look! We knew from experience anything to smooth and shiny would reflect dirt horribly! Having a textured finish meant I would not be following my kids around with a broom all day long.
Once we received our order shipment, we made sure to let the opened boxes sit in our air-conditioned home for several days to let it acclimate. We then covered our subfloor with a sound barrier material, then began installing. It was a very simple floor to install with its tongue and groove system easily clicking into place. We made sure to lay out each section before it was installed to make sure we liked the pattern.
We have been so happy with our floors so far! We ran them through our kitchen and our powder bathroom. They are holding up beautifully. We make sure to wipe up spills quickly and sweep regularly. We have not had to clean our floors very often but we use WOCA natural soap when we do! You may have seen the infamous “spilled paint” story when our 6-year-old daughter accidentally knocked over a gallon of white paint and didn’t tell anyone for an hour. We were shocked at how beautifully that cleaned up! We simply added a refresher oil afterwards and it was as good as new!
If you are in the market for new flooring, I would absolutely recommend ADM Flooring Design. We have been incredibly thrilled with their product and customer service. They have countless colors available from low budgeted projects to high-end ones! If they can hold up to my four children, their friends and their countless antics, I’m sure they will hold up beautifully for you! Our wood floors are everything I dreamed they would be, even on the day I was cleaning up pickle juice!