Hey guys!! I’m so excited to finally share with you all the flooring choice that I made for our wood floor areas! If you missed my options, you can see them HERE!
I picked Woodland Reclaim/Old Original from the new Architectural Remnants line by Armstrong Flooring! It is sooooo gorgeous and guess what?? It’s LAMINATE! Can you believe it?! The average cost, nationally, for this florin is $3.50-$4.50 per sq. ft.!!!!
Everyone that has seen and felt it, since we installed it, cannot believe it when we tell them! I had several emails and questions on my first post about how this flooring feels/sounds. The main question being – “Does the floor have a squeaky sound like the laminate that I am used to”? I can say that after a week of walking all over it, it does NOT have a squeaky plastic sound at all. In fact, it’s very soft to the touch (much like a freshly sanded board) and it is very dense so it feels very substantial under your feet and it absorbs sound great! I am shocked that we don’t have an echo in the house after installing it.
We did choose to install the flooring ourselves, to save money, and the installation process was very easy! I’m going to share our DIY instructions and a final reveal of all of the rooms, with the flooring, very soon!
Here’s another sneak peak 😉 I just can’t get enough! You have to check out all of the colors in this new line because they are absolutely amazing! I had a hard time choosing just one but this one really stood out because it reminded me of the way we sand down our furniture pieces to get a reclaimed look – match made in heaven 😉
As I mentioned in my first post, about the flooring, we wanted wood flooring throughout the downstairs of our home but, with two boys and a toddler, it’s just not an option. I opted for laminate and my jaw dropped when I found this! I have the best of both worlds in flooring 😉 Reclaimed wood look and the easy maintenance of laminate!
Be on the lookout for my DIY installation and final reveals very soon! I can’t wait 🙂
What do you think?
~Ashley
I partnered with Armstrong Flooring for this project. I was given my choice of flooring to review. All opinions expressed are my own.
I am in the process of reading reviews for this flooring and came upon your blog. The floor is beautiful but I have one concern. Because its textured and grooved does it “catch” crumbs/dirt etc? We have 8 kids and 1 dog…and well I need a floor that hides everything. Lol! I love the mixed colors bc that hides well but I’m concerned about the grooves catching dirt…and thoughts? thank you~
I didn’t notice that being a problem. I think you would be very happy with it 🙂
What model # did you use please? L3102?
Hi- did you use any of the trim or mouldings on your install? I’m curious about the quarter round. Seems pricey and wondering if you explored any other trim options.
Hey!
We installed this as a new construction so, we were able to install the baseboards where they needed to be to slide the flooring and underlayment underneath. I prefer to remove the baseboards and put them back on an existing home so personally, I didn’t use any of the trim. I did you t mold strips for the carpet transitions. Hope this helps!
Every since I saw this post two years ago, I have been in love with this flooring. This past year we moved and I finally have a chance to pick new flooring for our house. I really want to go with the exact some flooring that you used, but first I wanted to ask you how it has held up?? We have a sample of the flooring and I see that it does have slight grooves in between each piece. We had a similar floor in our last house (but a cheaper option, from Home Depot) and I noticed that chairs sometimes caught on these grooves…it wasn’t all exactly even. So the edges of the grooves sometimes nicked and scratched. Maybe it’s also possible that it wasn’t installed correctly. So, has your armstrong floor had any problems with scratching, especially along the grooves between the pieces? Any other comments about it? I hope you still love it, but I also want your very honest opinion! Thanks so much!
Hey there!! I didn’t have any problems, at all, with the scratching. It sounds like the precious was an issue with the installation. If the tongue and groove aren’t fit together properly, the edges will pop up. Hope this helps!!!
Where did you buy the Armstrong reclaimed wood laminate flooring at?
Just stumbled upon this post! We used this flooring when we remodeled our kitchen last year. It has an incredible warranty, so it was a good choice for our family. The kitchen is a super heavy traffic area for us. Everyone that visits can’t believe it’s not real wood, always have to bend down and touch it. (Sorry the pic doesn’t have more of the flooring in it)
Jane did you use the warm color as well or the old original dark???
The old original dark.
thank you!
here’s some pics of mine during the process. i also changed directions twice. it came out pretty good and how i had it pictured in my head. i wanted it to be running long ways when you walk in the front door, but also down the hall way, so i switched directions at the hallway, as well as the entrance into my office, and both turned out great.
VJ are you able to tell me the color that you used?
L3101 “old original dark”
Thanks 4 sharing! The “warm” and “old original dark” look so similar in photos. We are building and want these floors. Hopefully you have been happy with them :))
how did you change directions, aren’t these planks all the same length? How did you deal with the locking feature if you cut them to new lengths? Please help…. Rich
I installed this floor recently in my home im remodeling and i love it. i however was stupid and didn’t follow instructions, and didn’t use a 5″ plank every other row. it turned out great regardless, and i just used random plank widths, i did not follow any pattern. this is hands down my favorite laminate floor i’ve ever seen!
I love this floor, but can’t decide which color to go with. Do you know which color you used? They have Dark, Brown and Warm. Were you able to see more of each of the colors than their typical little samples.
i went with the L3101 which is the “old original dark” color. the store I bought from had each sample on display, about a 1.5×1.5 foot section. I liked all the colors, the L3101 model matched the paints best IMO so I went with that. I liked the gray one, I may use that when I do my 2nd story addition since itll be a different room.
VJ, can you post a pic of your “old original dark” in its installed state? I am on the verge of selecting that exact laminate for a pretty ample space – kitchen, DR and LR – and it’s hard to tell from the sample what it will look like over the expanse. I assume the light blue color shows up only occasionally – which is nice – but is not repeated too often. Thanks.
Whats your email? Send me that or your phone number and I’ll email/text you whatever pics you need. It really does look nice installed. I love jt.
Thanks, VJ. The email that I should be using for this (rather than the one I’m sending from now), and to which you should respond with pic, is [email protected].
Another question I have is whether you purchased an additional sound dampening sub-layer, that is often sold with laminates (for anywhere from .35 to .65/sq. ft) to reduce the clickety-clack? Maybe the super-thick (12mm) laminate that you bought doesn’t require it. I am considering the one that you have and also an 8 mm laminate from Mohawk called Echo Canyon Oak, of which I’ve attached a photo. The Mohawk product is not as rustic as the Armstrong product, and has a smoother finish, which makes it bit less wood-like and realistic. I found your Armstrong product online for $2.93 sq. ft., which I think is a pretty good price. I am not a DIY guy, so will also have to pay an installer. But installing laminate is way cheaper than installing tiles or hardwood, since it’s all click ‘n lock.
Thanks in advance for the photos.
I’m getting ready to have this floor Installed in my kitchen, but I haven’t decided on a paint color yet. Do you mind sharing the brand and name of the dark gray color you used?
so just wondering why you chose laminate? We are refinishing our old farmhouse and I was going between wood floors or laminate, but have done little research so far on the pros and cons of each. If you could share you option that would be great! Thanks!
Hey Abby,
I covered this in one of the posts. My opinion is that laminate is zero maintenance and more durable, which was a good choice for our family!
Ok thanks!
I absolutely love the look of these floors, however, for the price, you could get hardwood flooring which is much sturdier. I have top quality laminate and it separates end to end after a year or two of being down. And yes, I do have the foam underlayment down in addition to the quality backing. I will be interested in knowing if you have the same problem after a year or two. Personally, I would not recommend laminate to anyone for that reason. I don’t know of anyone who hasn’t had the same problem with laminate. Altho’ the whole floor is suppose to shift as one piece in the winter, it doesn’t…. it separates on the ends if you live in a very cold climate as I do. Perhaps the hardwood flooring companies will come out with this kind of a pattern if people relly like it. As I said, I love the look and would very much like to have it, but in laminate….. no deal, not in my climate!
Omg these floors are beautiful ! This will definitely be an option for me.
We’re moving into a new home and getting new flooring. I’m wanting to do this but the house has the knotty alder cabinets (they’re very pretty). The floor sample hasn’t came in yet and I am a little nervous with the contrast between the two. Every example I’m seeing is with a white/cream cabinetry. Should I keep the knotty alder look or sand and paint white??? Please help! Thanks.
Hi Heather!
I have knotty alder cabinets that are stained Carrington (dark brown with a slight red tint). My cabinets do not touch the laminate but my stairs do and they are stained the same color. I think it’s a good fit without being matching but I would definitely look at it against the sample. Cream is a perfect color with the flooring if you are dead set on the flooring!
Thank you so much. I forgot to mention that this is for our kitchen (so the cabinets will be touching the floor). If you get a chance to post another picture of your kitchen choices that would be most helpful. Obviously, I really like your taste. Thanks again for everything you’re doing, it’s making my life a little less stressful right now.
Sure!! If you click on Ashley’s house build under our projects tab you can see my kitchen on the post about my cabinets!
Hey! I noticed it had been a few months–have you posted the next update yet? My husband and I were looking for something just like this!! We will be installing in a few weeks, and would love to read your post on how you did it. (Also, after seeing your raves on the KregJig–we finally bought one. LOVE IT! best purchase ever)
do these floors have that “echoey” sound when walked on by you or dogs? We have friends that bought pergomax, it’s beautiful but… the floors were so loud I immediately decided laminate was not the way to go and i’ll stick with concrete or tile. Im curious if this brand is better and less noisy. any help would be appreciated, thanks!
Are you able to tell yet how easily this flooring shows dirt? I currently have a lighter laminate that show EVERY spec! I am sweeping a couple times a day and want my next choice to be the right one!! Thank you!