Recently on Instagram the most common question I get is “what floors do you have?” I try to share as much as I can on there, but I thought it would be helpful to corral all the info in one post on my blog. I know how stressful it can be to choose a flooring – I was constantly asking myself these questions: How will it hold up to a dog and kids? How will the color look in person? Will I be happy with the lengths / width of the floor?
It’s been about 20 months since we had our hardwood floors installed, and I feel like I can give an honest review on their durability now.
Deciding on the flooring:
This was a pretty easy decision for me once I brought the sample home. I was looking for a “white oak-ish” looking floor – I wanted something light and bright without being too modern or sterile.
What I decided on:
French Oak Hardwood in Point Reyes by Malibu Wide Plank
FAQs:
Would I buy these again?
100% YES! I love these floors for so many reasons. The durability, the look, the feel.. I just love them. They totally changed the vibe of our house in the best way.
Do I have any complaints?
Yes. I would really like to have our stairs match the floors (right now they’re painted white), but I’m having trouble matching the flooring. I know it can be done, but Malibu Wide Plank doesn’t make stair noses, which makes it more challenging to find the exact match.
How durable are these floors?
VERY DURABLE!!! We have a doggy door and our girl Lucy is in and out all day long – the floor still looks perfect. Our babies are constantly spilling water and food on the floor, and clean up is totally fine.
We do have one scratch. It happened when Home Depot was removing our old dishwasher for haul away and they pulled the existing dishwasher out without lifting it up. See a picture of that below.
How do I clean the floors?
I’ve been using a vacuum + mop combo and I love it.
Some of the planks look really short. Is that noticeable?
This was my top concern with these floors. I was worried the shorter planks would look silly, but they blend in perfectly! I never would notice that some planks are shorter if I hadn’t seen them in the box that way.
What are the dimensions and details?
These are 3/4″ thick, 5″ wide, and varying lengths from 12″ to 59″. They are topped with 7 coats of ultra-low-gloss urethane finish with aluminum oxide, so they are made to last!
Did we install them ourselves?
NO, we hired this out through Home Depot and I’m so glad we did! They nailed down each piece of wood. We didn’t have the proper tools and wouldn’t really have a need for them after install. Also, since we moved cross country, it was a stressful time, and it was nice to just have the floors done in TWO DAYS so our newly crawling baby could get in the house and explore!!!
I really love how the floor looks with our wood kitchen cabinets!
Do you have any other questions for me? Let me know and I’d love to answer them for you!
