Replacing the floors in a 1937 house

The project

Three jobs in one: new flooring in the living room, new flooring in an upstairs room, and fixing the squeak in the stairs. The house was built in 1937 and every floor in it is wood.

The catch turned up early: the living room floor has no subfloor under it. That changes the job from "lay new boards" to "build the floor up properly, then lay new boards" — more material, more labor, and a good reason to get real estimates instead of guessing.

Getting estimates

I contacted five local carpentry and flooring contractors in September and asked each for an in-home estimate. Four wrote back. One declined — too busy with a home builder to take on his own projects — and pointed me to a hardwood specialist. The in-home estimates started in early October.

The discontinued board problem

The flooring I wanted to match is a luxury vinyl plank that, it turns out, has been discontinued and can't be ordered anymore. So the choice comes down to the closest matches:

Virginia Oak — about $2.95 a square foot, 20-mil wear layer, the best value of the close matches.
SMARTCORE Langdon Oak — a premium option with a thicker 22-mil wear layer, if the color match is better in person.

Lesson one of old-house work: pick materials you can still buy when you need one more box.

Where it stands

Estimates are in motion and the material choice is down to two. Target is to have the whole job done by the end of 2026. Next update when the boards are picked and a start date is set.