My floor is a problem child. When my husband and I built our home, way back in the “Never Trust Anybody Over 30” era, we thought all we could afford was fir tongue and groove. That soft wood floor has taken and lost two finishes. Some folks say they love our charming floor. That is my opinion, as well. It is old; it has cracks, knots, and patina—okay, so it also has splinters. Others say, and probably more think, “You really need to do something about your floor.”

But the question is, What, exactly? Some days I want to paint my old floor or, for that aged, whitewashed look, pickle it with a semi-transparent stain. With so many options these days, though, I knew I wouldn’t be satisfied unless I investigated the choices. So I set out on a floor quest, a totally unscientific, anecdotal research project, for myself and for the good of humankind. Here’s what I learned.

The floor questionnaire
Before you decide what type of floor you want, you’ll need to ask yourself some searching questions. Such as: Do you drop things? A lot? Drop it on tile and it will break, but perhaps not on wood, bark, cork, or of course carpet. Do you wear shoes in the house? A sturdy, hard floor such as concrete or tile will happily endure the wear and tear, whereas more delicate floors such as cork and bark prefer bare, stockinged, and slippered feet. Do you stand a lot? Many hours a day in the kitchen has a bearing on floor surface choice, especially for the arthritic or elderly. Folks who live with brick or tile are always surprised at how, well, hard these floors are. Do you want radiant floor heat? Concrete, tile, brick, and bark are all radiant-heat-friendly, as are some species of wood. Cork will need special subflooring to accommodate it.

Other considerations: How many dogs do you have? Cats? Children? A low-maintenance floor that can take abuse will be your friend. Do you scoot around on your swivel desk chair like we do? If so, protect that lovely wood floor with an area rug or you’ll tear it up like we did. Do you sit down on the floor and play? Is your local dirt color Caliche Red, Adobe Dun, or Dark Bark Loam? Why not choose coordinating colors for your floors?

Wood
Gary Fisher, a builder with McGorty Enterprises, a well-established Santa Fe firm, sees the trend cycling back to wood floors of all types, from the most affordable laminate to clear walnut. And he is one in the lineage of wood. His great-great-grandparents, New Mexico pioneers, played fiddle for the dance party that celebrated the first “board floors” in the Four Corners. “Even in the kitchen, wood floors are in,” Gary says. “Bottom line is wood floors don’t go away. They go through changes but they come back.” He has done cork, mud, and mucho tile. They are all very cool, but right now, it’s wood. The real stuff. Keep your wood floor in great condition for years with regular applications of a floor protector and good floor hygiene habits (yes, wipe up that spill now, not after it dries). Whether plank, parquet, or strip, prefinished or unfinished, domestic or exotic, for use in a high-traffic area or a private nook, wood flooring comes in a dazzling array of choices.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mud
Dare I use the word “mystique” when speaking of the mud floor? In my neighborhood, Richard Connerty is a well-known installer of durable mud floors and a master plasterer who specializes in historical plaster styles. He is passionate about his mud. “Walking on mud floor is like a foot massage,” he says.

The most common flooring throughout the world, mud floors are traditional in New Mexico. The “mud” is actually a combo of clay, sand, fines (earthen composition), and a stabilizer, traditionally ox blood. Today we use turpentine and linseed as stabilizers, and polyurethane and waxes as finishes. “The floor is essentially a big, fat adobe brick,” Richard says.

Richard recommends making samples of the mud flooring in 12- x 12-inch wooden boxes. An alternative is to do a closet floor first. The cost of mud floor varies, from about $8 to $20 per square foot. Richard gets calls for resurfacing mud floors—they are temperamental creatures—so his caveats have credibility: “If you want to avoid cracks and have it perfectly level, you do not want a traditional New Mexico mud floor,” he explains. “You want instead a dyed concrete slab with control joints.”

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