Ditmas Park, Brooklyn
Flooring for Ditmas Park Victorian houses
Modern Wood Flooring is a flooring showroom at 446 Avenue P in south Brooklyn, open since 2002, serving Ditmas Park. Most of Ditmas Park is large freestanding wood-framed houses from the early 1900s, built on wood joists with oak floors. Solid hardwood and careful refinishing fit those houses, and engineered wood and vinyl fit the apartment buildings nearby.
Our showroom at 446 Avenue P is about 2 miles from Ditmas Park. Get directions or call (718) 252-6177 and we’ll pull samples before you arrive.
Homes and buildings in Ditmas Park
The land that became Ditmas Park was rural until the 1890s. Most of the historic district's buildings went up between 1902 and 1914, with Lewis H. Pounds among the early developers, and the city designated the district in 1981. The houses are mostly large, freestanding single-family homes with gables and front porches, in Colonial Revival, Queen Anne, Craftsman, Tudor and even Japanese Cottage styles.
These houses are wood-framed with joists and board subfloors, and many still have original oak floors, sometimes with decorative borders in the front rooms. Kitchens, baths and back rooms have often been redone several times. Apartment buildings along Ocean Avenue and around Cortelyou Road, the neighborhood's main shopping street, add slab-built units to the mix.
Upstairs bedrooms in these houses often have narrower or plainer flooring than the front rooms below, and attic rooms may have softwood. When you plan a whole-house project, check each floor separately rather than assuming the same wood runs throughout.
What to plan for
- Refinish before you replace
- Original oak in a Ditmas Park house is often worth keeping. Check board thickness at a floor register or threshold, and look for cupping, deep stains and old repairs. Sound floors can usually be sanded and refinished, and damaged areas patched with matching oak. Replacement makes more sense where boards are worn thin or the floor has been heavily cut up.
- Settling and uneven floors
- After more than a century, floors in frame houses often slope or dip, especially near stairs, chimneys and bearing walls. Nail-down floors can follow gentle variation, while floating floors need a flatter base. A good installer checks flatness against the product's tolerance and shims or levels where needed before anything goes down. Old doors may also need trimming once the new floor is in.
- Big rooms and seasonal movement
- Large rooms with many windows see high humidity in summer, and heating dries the house in winter. Solid wood shrinks and swells with those swings, and wide boards show bigger gaps. Narrower solid boards or engineered wide planks reduce the effect. Keep indoor humidity within the range the manufacturer recommends. A humidifier in winter and air conditioning in summer help keep wood floors steady.
Floors that suit Ditmas Park
- Solid hardwoodThe natural match for Ditmas Park's wood-framed houses. Solid oak nails to joists and board subfloors, can be woven into original floors when patching, and can be refinished for generations.Browse solid hardwood
- Engineered woodGood when you want wide planks in a large room, or a floor for a kitchen extension or a room over concrete. It moves less with humidity than wide solid boards.Browse engineered wood
- Vinyl flooringPractical for basements, mudrooms and apartment units along Ocean Avenue and Cortelyou Road. Waterproof vinyl plank handles moisture and heavy traffic, floats over most flat subfloors, and is easy to clean.Browse vinyl flooring
Examples from the current catalog. We carry more than we show online.
Guides for Ditmas Park projects
Common questions
Do you serve Ditmas Park?
Yes. Our showroom is at 446 Avenue P, south of Ditmas Park, and we serve all of Brooklyn. You can take samples home the same day.
Can new oak be blended into my original floors?
Often, yes, by matching species and board width and then sanding and finishing the whole room together. Old oak has aged color, so expect a close match rather than an exact one.
Is it worth refinishing a 100-year-old floor?
If the boards still have enough wood above the tongue and are mostly sound, refinishing is often a good option. Our guide on refinishing or replacing older floors covers what to check.
What should go in a Victorian house's kitchen?
Many owners use engineered wood with a durable finish or waterproof vinyl plank in kitchens. Solid oak works too if spills are wiped up promptly.