Replacing carpets with oak flooring for a contemporary feel.

James and Catherine Aldersley called into the Oak by Design, Tockwith showroom in May whilst researching Engineered Oak Flooring.

They were in the process of replacing the carpet throughout their Victorian 3 storey home in Harrogate. The main areas were the spacious entrance hallway, living room, snug, landing area of the stairs and upstairs hallway.

The 'Before' photos can be seen at the bottom of this article.

After discussing the various options available to them with Joanne, they left with a few sample boards to take home, and look at in the rooms where the oak flooring was required.

Having sample boards in the home for a few days is a great way to get a feel for how the flooring will look at different times of the day, and in the different rooms.

After having the sample boards in their home for a few days they decided, unanimously, on the Chateau, oak flooring board.

This is a character grade board (lots of character such as knots, grain etc) that has a smooth, sanded finish.

They chose a 190mm wide board, at 15mm thick, in Natural colour.

As the Aldersleys wanted Oak by Design to install the flooring, Richard went to their home measure up.

Whilst he was there, they discussed changing their white painted softwood staircase. So, he also measured up for covering their existing staircase, as they wanted a more contemporary look to their lovely hallway, yet for it to still have a period feel.

They had initially thought that they wanted glass balustrades to the staircase, and around the landing area, but after looking at various Case Studies on the Oak By Design website, they felt that this would be too contemporary for their period home. They decided to replace the shaped and tuned spindles with straight ones with a stop chamfer finish to the edges.

By ‘covering’ the existing parts of the staircase, the original newel posts and main structural parts to the staircase, are still in position. ‘Covering’ or ‘cladding them in kiln dried oak creates the look of a new, contemporary oak staircase without the need to remove the existing staircase.

Joanne provided a quotation for the oak flooring, the replacement stair parts, and the installation. The quotation was accepted, their deposit was paid, and then the order was confirmed.

In September, after all the details for the flooring and staircases had been finalised and then manufactured, the Oak By Design installation team installed the floor and ‘covered’ the treads, risers and newels on the main staircase with solid oak.

New base rails, handrails and spindles were installed. A beautiful curved bullnose bottomstep was created, which has complemented the staircase beautifully.

Once this work was completed, the Aldersleys were thrilled, and loved their new look home. They then decided the staircase to their second floor needed doing too!

In February the second staircase was covered, as per the first one, and the underside enclosed. We managed to fit the work in over a weekend to ensure the flooring was done as soon as possible for the couple.

Catherine and James are extremely pleased with the finished project and have commented on how warm the flooring is, and how it has created a modern feel to their home.

Speaking to Catherine after the fit she said "The floor looks beautiful, so a big thank you so much for arranging the fitting over a weekend when you are so busy. The lads worked really hard in the heat and were all lovely.

The main bonus is that it is now much easier to keep clean than the previous carpet!"

The best way to care for a wooden floor is by regular sweeping/vacuuming.

This article has more information.

Their next plans are for some of the bedroom carpets to be replaced with engineered oak flooring! Watch this space!