How We Installed Read Wood Floor for $1.50/sq Ft

Woodshop Diaries
by Woodshop Diaries
If you’ve followed along for very long, you know that I love a good remodel project. And you probably know by now that I try to be pretty thrifty (AKA I’m cheap). So when we decided to replace the bedroom carpet floor after the bathroom remodel, my budget was about $1.50/ sq ft. And I wanted real wood flooring. I know, I know…give me some of what she’s having because she is CRAZY, right?
Have you guys seen the prices of prefinished real wood floors? They’re high…like real high. Like higher than the Spice Girls’ platform boots high. And we just finished a bathroom remodel. So here we are, on a REALLY tight budget, but needed real wood floor for a pretty big sized bedroom (we are talking about 400 sq ft). What to do?
I’ll tell you what we did….we installed our own solid wood pine floor for less than $1.50 a square foot. And you thought I was crazy. First, we ripped up the old carpet. It was a messy job! Under the carpet, we found particle board--YUCK! So we ripped that up too.
We laid a new underlayment (details in the blog post link below), then got to laying the new floor! Isn't it beautiful?! The boards we used came in really long lengths, so laying it went super fast!
You can find all the details about the cost breakdown and where we got our flooring in the blog post below, but we bought our flooring unfinished...which is why we were able to keep everything at such a low cost. Once it was installed, I sanded and finished it and it turned out BEAUTIFUL! You can see more after pictures at the link below.
And don't be scared about finishing your own floor. It is a really good DIY project. AND, one of the many good things about finishing your own flooring, is that if and when it gets a scratch or a gouge, you can touch that spot up with the same finish and no one will ever know :) I don't know about you, but that gives me so much peace of mind. Be sure to click over and check out all the details in the link below!
Woodshop Diaries
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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  • Patricia Oldfather Patricia Oldfather on Nov 30, 2016
    Could you stain and finish it before laying it. It might take a little more time, but maybe less messy?
  • Marilyn Nelson Marilyn Nelson on Aug 26, 2017

    Amazing change! Looks beautiful. Question: What was the wood flooring you found under the particle board (that was under the carpet)? I have a room that has plywood under the carpet but I suspect there is a wood floor under the plywood. Would your floor under the particle board have been usable at all? (Though I know not nearly as gorgeous as what you put in!). Thanks!

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