I could have a nice hardwood floor if I were younger.

Sorry for my absence. I needed to concentrate on a lot of work and I haven't been doing much "not new" shopping. But today, I did finally get back to craigslist and found a perfect "not new" oak hardwood floor...if I were younger.

It's an 80 year old floor and there is going to be over 500 sq. ft., so it would fit my needs exactly if I had the strength to put i in myself. But, those days are past me. And even though the floor is nearby and only $200 total (what a bargain!), I'd have to pay someone to install and refinish it and that would be quite a bit of change (still has some nails in many of the boards...I don't even think I could pull those out efficiently). Wish I had come up with this going "not new" idea a long time ago...I could have a really nice bank account by now, not to mention how much I'd be saving old Mother Earth. Oh, well...maybe someone younger will read this and learn.

Wondering if you can mix wood flooring for a cheap, "not new" foor.

In my search for a "not new" wood floor, I've come across many people selling off the remains of their wood floor installation. I wonder if it would be possible to mix several of these remains of unfinished floors to make a whole? There certainly would be enough narrow width, 3/4" unfinished oak flooring. I would think if you let it sit in the room for a very long time, the humidity levels of the boards would even out so the shrinkage would be consistent. Perhaps if you took samples of one board to each purchase, you could ensure the tongues and grooves matched up...I would think the different milling of these might be the largest problem. Does anyone know if this would work? I cannot find any definitive info about this on the web. I'd also be interested in mixing different engineered hardwoods...possibly even different species as you'd likely not get matching finishes, so it might be best to buck consistency and go for a variegated type of look (though, I would think all lights or all darks so as not to make it busy). How do you think that would look/work? Photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/exalthim/4207906252/in/photolist-7pQBVN-5BD82W-5BD3PC-7PBUPc-7PFT6W-ejoaei-6YFQbe-e2BzNM-a4uEfL-oFQ2hD-6NP3wK-nVgUYj-8kSFH9-cELKWf-9yrw8P-8YBWy5-oewuHR-nVgGFw-ocB2UU-ocLff8-4Wc7rw-jJiJFs-8MQHo6-gGnFR7-cpEJVU-ocBJm5-nVgWVA-7BYghi-avpuKM-kuD1bS-a99rqC-78enag-ccVyzy-9W6LdQ-7W9zaX-dmxwKS-62ainT-kuAmpn-nVgoB7-ocLHyg-7BYgir-jPoUHD-6aAAXM-4W7PLD-epcgLY-nVg8Wp-4Rrg1E-e1qVM5-7PFTLq-boquRD

My dream of hardwood flooring is starting to seem unattainable

I have 25 year old carpeting in horrible shape due to a seemingly untrainable offspring. Seriously, as this kid has aged, it has only gotten worse. There are underlying "issues"...it's not likely to change. Thought I would be replacing those carpets now that said offspring is college age, but the "issues" mean college may or may not happen and the carpet-destroying offspring may be with us a long time yet. Which is okay. The kid is otherwise a pleasure and a help. Plus, the husband is only slightly behind the offspring in his ability to destroy a home interior.

In any event, when I first started my "not new" year, I was surprised to find some nice options on craigslist. I got cocky and figured I could wait for the perfect flooring. Well, the options haven't been repeating and I'm worried I missed my chance. Today I saw genuine used hardwood flooring at an unbelievably low price, but there was only 400 sq ft. and I need about 475. Plus, truth be told, the husband is being a donkey's butt about spending, so I think I may have to install the floor myself and I think solid hardwood will be too difficult. I guess, when I see the "not new" engineered stuff again, I'll have to grab it up whether it's perfect or not. Pretty sure the offspring and I can install it ourselves. Thinking if I go with a "dirt cheap" choice, I can always not worry about it getting destroyed...keeping it as nice as I can for us, then replacing with another "dirt cheap" choice when/if we downsize. (Downsizing planned if/when the offspring launches.)

How, you may ask, does one get "not new" engineered hardwood flooring? Well, on craigslist, there were folks selling it second-hand. It hadn't actually been used, just purchased and not needed. Sure hope some more comes up.