The most demanding humidity in the county
Del Mar sits right on the water. Down in the Beach Colony and along the bluffs, the salt air and the damp never really let up.
Solid hardwood moves in that air. You can still make it work if you let the wood sit in the house first and leave it somewhere to go, but engineered is the safer bet. That is what we will usually put in anything near the water.
Up in Del Mar Heights and Del Mar Mesa you're above the worst of the marine layer, and those houses behave more like inland ones.
Pattern work belongs in these houses
Del Mar has more architect-designed and heavily remodeled houses than anywhere else we work. It is also where we get asked for herringbone and chevron most often.
Most flooring crews turn that work down, and we understand why. Get the layout off by a sixteenth of an inch at the start and the whole field runs crooked by the time you reach the far wall. Pattern work is a big part of what we do, so your floor is not where we figure it out.
Working in Olde Del Mar
The older streets west of Camino del Mar are narrow, parking is tight, and plenty of the lots are steep with awkward access.
All of that changes where the material gets dropped and how the day runs. Worth hiring someone who has already worked the street.
Del Mar flooring questions
Is solid hardwood a mistake in Del Mar?
In most Del Mar homes, yes. Del Mar holds the most demanding year-round humidity in the county, and wide solid boards expand and contract with it. Engineered hardwood has a cross-layered core that barely moves, and it can be glued directly to a slab. The exception is an older Del Mar home with a sound original solid floor already down, which is usually worth refinishing rather than replacing.
How long does hardwood need to acclimate in a Del Mar house?
Long enough for the boards to reach the moisture content of the room they are going into, which is measured rather than counted. Material trucked in from a dry inland warehouse can be several percent off. We take readings on the wood and on the subfloor and lay it when the two agree — laying to a calendar date instead is the most common cause of gapping in coastal homes.
Can you work in Olde Del Mar's narrow streets?
Yes, with the delivery and staging planned in advance. Olde Del Mar runs on tight lots, steep short streets, and very little parking, so a flooring pallet cannot simply be left at the curb. We agree where the truck goes and for how long before the first day, and handle the debris run the same way.