What’s the big deal about 2″ Wide, 1/2″ thick White Oak flooring you ask? It turns out that if you go to most mainstream flooring outlets, including places like Home Depot and Lumber Liquidators, the narrowest width hardwood flooring you’re likely to find is 2- 1/4″, and it won’t be 1/2″ thick. If you’re a regular reader of HomeFixated, you won’t be surprised that the notion of putting hardwood flooring a full 1/4″ wider and 1/8″ thicker than the original vintage flooring in our house was a distressing idea to contemplate. Oh, and be sure to read the Editor’s Update at the end of the article for more recent info.
In my mind, that 1/4″ expanded to several feet, and I imagined the new floor taunting me with its cruel obesity. However, after a couple months of unsuccessful tries to find flooring to match, and some obsessive soul searching, I decided to proceed with the 2-1/4″ by 3/4″ white oak. It pained me, but I made my peace with that spare 1/4″. . . . until one fateful day. That day, I had just finished a week of meticulously nailing the hardwood floor into place. I found a local flooring supplier where I went to pick up some applicator pads for the finish. As I was checking out, I glanced up on the wall by the register, and to my horror saw what appeared to be a match for our vintage flooring. When I fearfully asked the guy behind the counter what it was, he replied, “oh, you mean the 2″ by 1/2″ white oak?” I looked back at the sample piece, and I swear it was mocking me. Seriously, you could see a snickering grin in the wood grain. That, and a middle finger.
I of course played it off like I was just curious about the sample, and then proceeded to lay down in the parking lot and throw a concrete kicking tantrum that would have impressed my two year old. Actually I just cried and moved on. OK, honestly, I just let loose a series of rapid-fire profanities. I then decided I needed to share my painful 1/4″ tragedy, in the hopes I might spare one of you from being subjected to a similar bitter ending. So, if you have a historic home with 2″ wide, 1/2″ thick white oak flooring, please know matching hardwood flooring does exist and is available, however, expect to hunt for it. GoldenStateFlooring.com offers this size for a little over $3 a square foot. Tom Duffy Co also sells it, but only to the trade. If you’re having trouble finding it, try to find a similar hardwood floor distributor in your area and they can probably track it down for you. Keep the faith and stay authentic!
Editor’s Update:
After this early experience, I was determined to get it right on my next project. With a little help from a licensed contractor friend, I was able to procure the elusive two inch wide hardwood flooring on a kitchen flooring job (photos above) I recently undertook when testing a new Senco pneumatic flooring nailer. It turns out that Lebanon Oak Flooring Co is the manufacturer, and if you’re having trouble finding narrow strip flooring in your area, you can contact them via the link below. They also offer other widths, including the possibly more elusive 1 1/2″ wide strip flooring.
We sell it & we stock a small amount, mostly for repairs. We also sell 3/8″ which is more popular in our area. We are similar to some of the company’s mentioned in that we primarily sell to contractors and installers, but will work with as best we can.
HELP!!! We actually have 2 1/4 ” boards on our White Oak floors. However, they are 7/8″ thick. A little background information. Our “house” was built in 1870. It was originally a hotel. It went from single story to two story somewhere before 1932. It was purchased in 1932 and ran as a Funeral Home until 1992. The hardwood floors were covered with wool carpet. So far we have uncovered 3 of the 7 rooms downstairs and found 2 1/4″ x 7/8″ white oak flooring laid out in a geometric pattern. Along with two patches with GASP plywood. One in each of the front rooms. I want to refinish the floors eventually, but, don’t want to do it until the floors are actually patched correctly with 2 1/4″ x 7/8″ boards. So, do you know of anywhere to find any of these precious boards. They are tongue and groove on sides and ends. ???????
Hi Cynthia. 2 1/4″ oak flooring is extremely common, although I think most of it will tend to 3/4″ thick. You might be able to find 7/8″ somewhere, however I don’t know any off-hand. If you can’t find any that’s 7/8″ thick, you might be able to deal with the 1/8″ height difference by adding underlayment that is 1/8″ thick under the new 3/4″ thick flooring, or, possibly making a gradual transition from the 7/8″ to 3/4″ at any doorways where the old and new meet up (if you’re doing whole rooms rather than just a patch). Whatever approach you take, you’ll want to make sure the tongue and groove line-up where old meets new, and that may require some custom milling. Hope that helps and good luck with the project!
25/32″ would be pretty close to that and is actually somewhat common in maple, but not in oak.
Thank you, thank you for this article! I have been on the hunt for the mysterious 2″ oak flooring myself and you have ended my search. It is also nice to know that there are others out there who don’t want to settle for the 2-1/4″ answer.
So happy I found this!! We have been searching for months for 1 1/2″ wide by 5/16″ thick white oak flooring. The previous owners removed some of the flooring, filled it with plywood and covered it with carpet. Such a bummer. The rest of the floor is beautiful but we were missing two chunks! Thank you so much for posting!!
I am very grateful to find these postings and your site. I had given up and actually spent an hour today ripping the same 2 1/4″ flooring down to 2″. It wasn’t pretty. But I thought it was impossible to match the flooring I need to complete a couple of floors I am restoring. Thank you, everyone, and Merry Christmas.
I have aprox 2500 sf 2” hardwood flooring, what would this be in vaule? in came out of a building that was constructed in 1937 gppd con.
Hi Gary. . . it really depends on the condition of the wood and your local market. I’d recommend finding a nearby place that specializes in reclaimed wood and seeing what they’d be willing to pay. Or you can always price it retail and see what the market will bear on Craigslist. Good luck with it.
I called Golden State Flooring, SD location, and they had the 2″ wide oak flooring, but I live in Los Angeles. Their sister store is in Gardena, called S&S Hardwood Floors. I just called, and they have 2″ wide natural oak planks.
I thought i was nuts until i came across this article I live in Pa and can’t find it anywhere
Did you find any???
Right on Julie, glad we could help out in your two inch wide flooring search!
Just found that flooring.org sells 1/2 thick oak floor. They ship to east coast (from their mills in Kentucky and other states). They are a little expensive and shipping is quite costly.
Thank you for posting this! My husband has been saying for years that you can’t get 2″ white oak anymore. Golden State has it in stock and they have a Los Angeles location now. YAY!
Hi Mary. . . that’s great to hear! Glad we could assist you with what could normally be an insanity-inducing search!
Thank you! Like other posters, I thought I must be crazy. Even contacting places with salvaged wood, they assured me 2″ is not normal.
Thank God! I thought I was going crazy too! My house was built in 1924 and needs a few pieces replaced. No one seems to believe me that you can’t just go out and buy this stuff and have it match. I don’t know why, but you can’t. I’m so glad I found this helpful discussion. THANK YOU!
Glad we could help with your vintage hardwood flooring size search Kathleen!
Thanks every one ,, this is very helpful David, thanks again
Hi Jacquelyn,
Thanks for your vivid account of your own 2″ hardwood flooring debacle! Sorry about the patch and scary carpeting. I say don’t give up hope! Did you try contacting Tom Duffy (http://www.tomduffy.com/), and sweet talking them into a solution (maybe having them put you in touch with one of their flooring installer clients that might be willing to buy for you and then sell to you for a little mark-up?) I know for a fact that the store in San Diego carried the two inch flooring for the trade. I don’t want you to experience the pain that I did (finding a source right after you opt for a non perfect match). Plus, getting the old flooring out of the closets without damaging it can be a challenge too. The two inch wide hardwood flooring is definitely made and sold throughout the US, but I think your best bet is going to be to find a source that generally works with installers and finishers. Lastly, the 60’s are not vintage unless you’re discussing clothes, furniture or scary carpet! ; ) Good luck, and let us know how it goes!
Elusiveness has become more like “surely you jest” to me – I cannot believe the 2″ wide just doesn’t exist to consumers (my experience thus far). However, I find a slight bit o’ comfort reading your missive (especially the tantrum 🙂 knowing I’m not the only one growing cranky over what should be an easy fix/find. Additionally, I’m having a hard time digesting the fact that I should consider my hardwood floor “vintage” from my circa 1960 house….this would make me vintage given I was born the same year, sigh.
Regardless, my plight has been a 15’x4′ patch of flooring that was removed by the previous owner (dry rot repairs I think), and replaced by…gulp, plywood, then covered with scary carpeting. I pulled up said scary carpeting and did a premature happy dance when I discovered hardwood flooring, albeit clearly very mistreated and in need of significant TLC, only to discover the gaping/glaring/gross missing patch.
I’m at the point wherein I’m thinking of pulling up the flooring from the closets to use to replace the plywood patch and replacing the closet flooring with the dreaded 2″+ planks – think this the wrong path?
Thanks for taking the time to share your trials and tribulations – much appreciated.
Hi Eric,
Try contacting some of the folks at Tom Duffy (also linked in the original post). They primarily sell to the flooring installer folks, but they might be able to point you to a retail source, or can maybe even get a small quantity for you. If they stick to their “trade only” guns, see if they can recommend a local installer that might be willing to buy for you for a little extra for the installer? Let me know how you make out. I know first hand, 2″ wide vintage style hardwood flooring can be elusive! Grrrrr!
So I think the Golden State lead is fizzling out on me. Any other direction you could point me? Thanks again Marc…
Hi Eric,
I’m glad I may have provided at least one person with hardwood floor salvation! Don’t give up, the 2 inch wide restoration flooring is definitely out there! Good luck with your project!
I thought I was going crazy!
“don’t you mean 2 1/4? That’s a pretty standard size”
THANK YOU for posting this…hopefully golden state can help me with the small amount I need to finish my restoration!