How to Choose the Right Hardwood Flooring?

For a homeowner choosing the right flooring can be one of the important and fundamental decisions to be taken while constructing a new home or renovating the existing one. But, how to choose the right hardwood flooring?

Though various types of flooring options are available in the market still many people prefer to install the hardwood floors in their homes. But it is not easy to select the right hardwood flooring for you as they are available in different colors, finishing, and structures.

You will have to consider a few factors discusses hereunder while choosing the right hardwood flooring for you.

Choose between engineered and solid hardwood flooring

Conventionally the planks of solid wood were used as hardwood flooring but due to the increasing cost of solid wood, many companies have started manufacturing engineered hardwood floors to give the same look cost-effectively.

In engineered hardwood thin layers of hardwood are bonded on both sides of the layers of other types of timber. It helps in preventing the shifting of the floor during the cycles of contraction and expansion.

According to experts, engineered hardwood flooring can be the best choice for the apartments and basements with subfloors made of concrete.

On the other hand, solid hardwood flooring can slightly reduce the height of the ceiling as it is installed on 1-2 layers of plywood to avoid its shifting. However, you cannot refinish the flooring of engineered hardwood as a layer of hardwood on it is very thin.

So people usually like solid hardwood floors than engineered floors due to their durability.

Selection between site finished and pre-finished floors

The planks of the hardwood floor can be purchased with a prefinished face or raw face to be finished after installation. If you choose a prefinished floor then you can choose as per your choice as per the design and color of other things in the room.

Moreover, prefinished flooring can be installed quickly without applying any sealant or color. But if you finish it at your site after installing it then you will have to depend on the skills of the contractor installing and finishing it.

Still, many people prefer hardwood floors finished on-site as every small detail of the floor is finished in this case.

Choice of type of finish

According to experts, various types of finishing materials are used to finish hardwood floors whether they are prefinished or finishes on-site. But mostly polyurethane and oil finished are popularly preferred by homeowners.

Oil finish provides a natural, soft, and matte finish to the hardwood flooring whereas the coat of polyurethane on the flooring makes it stronger and flexible to deteriorations caused by food and children.

Though oil finished floor can be scratched easily, they are not much conspicuous. However, you will have to rebuff, recoat, or replace polyurethane finish if it is scratched. Still, the maintenance cost of oil finished hardwood floors is more than polyurethane finished floors.

Type of wood

Oak is considered by designers as very durable hardwood for flooring due to its attractive natural grains and reasonable price. The second popular choice in hardwood flooring is walnut due to its rich and warm deep color that gives a darker finish to your room.

Other options available for this purpose include cherry, hickory, ash, and maple from which you can choose as per your preferences for grain and color.

Pattern of grain

The planks of hardwood mainly have three types of grain patterns depending upon the ways they are sawn including plain, rift, and quarter sawn.

The traditional pattern of grain is undulating patterns of plain sawn whereas a consistently long and linear grain pattern is produced in rift sawn planks. The pattern of quarter-sawn boards may resemble a rift pattern with some irregular figures.

Normally hardwood floors with plain sawn patterns or mixed patterns of rift and quarter sawn boards are used. You can choose from them as per your preferences and suitability to the application.

Width of the plank

Earlier 2-3 inch wide planks were used for installing hardwood flooring due to the higher cost of wider planks. But according to experts, today standard planks for hardwood flooring are available in 4-6 inch width to use according to application and size of the room.

If you want to give a more luxurious look to your room then you can use even wider planks of hardwood. Wood floors with wider planks can be installed quickly and have fewer seams.

How to Choose the Right Hardwood Flooring – Conclusion

Thus by considering the tips discussed in this write-up you can easily choose the right hardwood floors for your home.