Hardwood flooring in Creve Coeur, MO

Creve Coeur was built for hardwood and most of it already has some. The ranches and two-storys that went up along Ladue Road, Craig Road and Old Bonhomme between the mid 1950s and the late 1970s were laid with red or white oak strip as standard equipment. Carpet went over a lot of it in the 1980s. Pull a corner back and the wood is frequently intact, which means the best hardwood floor in your house may be one you already paid for.

Wood also suits the way these houses are laid out. Long sightlines from an entry through a dining room into a great room look better with one continuous floor than with three changes of material. Oak takes stain well, so a dark walnut tone and a natural matte finish are both on the table. And in a market where buyers along Conway Road expect hardwood on the main level, it holds its value better than anything else we install.

Most Creve Coeur homes are joisted with a plywood or plank subfloor over a full basement, which is close to ideal for solid hardwood. We check the subfloor for squeaks, refasten anything that moves, flatten high spots and confirm moisture content before a single board gets nailed down. Where an addition was framed at a different height, we build a proper transition rather than ramping a threshold and hoping nobody notices it underfoot.

Missouri humidity is the other half of prep. Wood arrives and sits in the house for several days so it can reach the moisture level it will actually live at. We leave real expansion gaps at every wall and vertical, hidden later by base and shoe. Skip that step in this climate and a floor that went down flat in June will cup or gap by January. It is the least glamorous part of the job and it decides how the floor ages.

Erik comes out, measures every room, looks at the subfloor and talks through what you actually want. You get a written quote with materials, labor and a schedule. Once you approve it we order the wood and let it acclimate. On refinishing jobs we spend real time on stain samples, brushing three or four options directly onto your floor so you are judging color on your own oak, in your own rooms, instead of off a chip.

Install runs with dust containment and dustless sanding equipment. We keep you posted with photos as the work goes, because most people are at the office on Lindbergh or over in the medical corridor while the crew is in the house. Coats need drying time, so we tell you up front which days the floor is off limits and when furniture can come back. Then we walk it with you before we call it finished.