How to choose the right wood flooring
Hardwood floors are a beautiful addition to any home. When you choose hardwood flooring, you’re making a big investment. Although initially pricey, they are absolutely worth it as time goes on. If you take proper care of it, hardwood floors will last a lifetime! As such, it’s important to consider a multitude of factors before making a final decision. After all, it’s not just choosing a color of wood and having done with it. Hardwood floors are completely customizable now!
Type of wood
You can choose from a wide variety of species of wood, and each type has a different grain and hardness. The most common types of hardwood flooring are cherry, maple, and oak because of their hardness. They’re extremely sturdy and can stand up to a lot of abuse. More exotic woods, such as mahogany or Brazilian cherry look incredible, but they are not as durable.
Color
The color of your wood floors will vary depending on the type of wood you choose and the finish that’s on the wood. You can have anything from a brilliant blond floor, to a luscious cherry color, all the way to black. Wood can be stained to almost any color!
Hardness
If you have pets and/or children, you’re going to want the hardest wood floors possible, such as red oak. This species of wood withstands wear and tear much better than pine, which is a softwood and scratches easily.
Solid or engineered wood
An option that’s available today is engineered wood. Basically, instead of having solid wood planks as your flooring, you have thinner planks that have a layer of hardwood bonded to other layers of a composite. There are advantages and disadvantages to this, such as:
- You cannot sand scratches out of engineered wood, as the top layer is much too thin.
- You can glue engineered wood directly to concrete, whereas solid wood floors are typically installed upon a layer or two of plywood (which can interfere with doors or baseboards).
- Engineered wood is designed to prevent warping and shifting.
- You shouldn’t use solid wood on floors that are below ground as moisture coming up from the ground can cause issues.
Board width
You can do a lot with your floors, just by choosing different types of boards. Narrow strips that are less than 3 inches wide offer a more traditional appearance. Wider planks look rustic and make a space seem more open. Squares, rectangles, and other geometric designs are also options, and give a space a more formal appearance.
Texture
Do you want floors that look shiny and brand new, or floors that look lived in and rustic? One of the things you can do with your hardwood floor involves the wood being hand scraped – giving it a timeworn appearance. Not only does this look incredible, it very handily disguises heavy use as time goes on!
Finish
The finish of the wood is what protects it, and gives it its color. You can choose to buy prefinished wood, or have it finished on site. Prefinished wood tends to last longer, but you have more options with site finishes. Also, prefinished wood is much easier to replace when damaged.
Your hardwood floors are completely customizable, and you should consider all of your options before you make a final decision. And once you have decided, ask for a sample to bring home! That way you can compare the appearance of the final product to your paint and furniture.
My husband and I are looking for some new hardwood floors to install in our home, but we don’t know which type to get. I like how you explained how choosing a floorboard based on the texture is important to consider. I want a rustic look in my home, so I’ll look for a hardwood floor that looks timeworn.
I never realized how important it is to choose a flooring material that has a finish that can help the wood last longer. My brother just purchased an older home. Hopefully, he can use this info to choose a flooring material that can make the area feel warm and natural.
Great article, totally what I was looking for.
Thanks for going over some factors to consider in choosing the right kind of flooring. It’s interesting to consider that each type of wood is different, and that they have different hardness. To be honest, it would be interesting to learn what the specifics of these are. Perhaps there is a type of wood that is more ideal for specific rooms than others.
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My husband and I recently moved into an older home. We just finished painting the walls, and now we are ready to replace the outdated, old carpet with some modern, wood flooring. I like what you said about choosing a thin board width for traditional floors and wider planks for a rustic look. I also think that wide boards can look modern with the right finish.
Your advice to get the hardest wood floor possible if you have pets or children is a great way to ensure it can withstand the wear and tear. Considering everything that will affect the floors would probably be important to ensure you get the best option for your home and lifestyle. I’d imagine that making a list of the requirements you want, such as the type, color, and amount of hardwood that will go best with the room would probably be a good idea to make sure you like the end results.
Thanks for the tips on choosing floors. I like how you mentioned the color of your wood floors will vary depending on the type of wood you choose. My wife and I recently purchased a home and are looking to change the color of our kitchen floor. We want it to go with the cabinets but don’t want it to be too dark either. We’ll have to look into different color option when choosing and installing a floor.
My wife and I are renovating our living room at the moment but we aren’t sure what we want to do with the floors. I like that you suggest getting hardwood floors if you have kids and pets so it doesn’t scratch as easily. We have kids and pets running around constantly so this sounds like a great choice. Thanks for sharing!
I did not know that wood can be stained to almost any color! I am considering getting the wood floor and I’d love to have it in cherry color. Thanks for the information!
Thanks for recommending red oak if you have kids and pets because it’s really hard and won’t scratch easily. My son got a puppy for his birthday last month, and I want to make sure that our new house won’t get damaged by the dog’s claws. I’ll contact a hardwood installation service to see if they have red oak in stock.
Flooring is one of the important part which can give the new looks to your home. Variety of flooring materials are there i.e. vinyl, hardwood, natural stone, tile etc. But if you choose the wood flooring then it is one of the best option. Before selecting the wood flooring you should keep some important tips in your mind. Check the type of the wood. Select the proper color of the wood. Also check the quality of the flooring. In your blog the way you explain about the right wood flooring are really helpful to others.
Hi, I have a commercial property where sweet almond oil is used by remedial massage therapists. We are looking to replace carpet with vinyl and I’m not sure what the best option is? We have a limited budget and are looking at vinyl strips that will be glued down. My concern is that the supplier will compromise the preparation required in order to make a sale and keep the price within my budget. We previously had carpet which has left a glue residue on a concrete floor. Could you advise what preparation needs to occur for us to have a good outcome? Is it necessary for the floor to be troweled to ensure a smooth clean surface for the vinyl? Any other comments would be appreciated.
I was thinking about having our home’s floors changed to something better. That is why your advice to try out hardwood flooring as their colors can be very versatile depending on the kind of wood that will be used is something I am thinking about. Being able to find the best flooring company for my needs will be significant to make sure that the job will be done well. Thanks!
It all depends on the furniture color IMO.. dark hardwood floor looks great with light furniture colors
I did appreciate it when you said that engineered wood is a good option for floors that are below the ground since unlike their solid wood counterpart, they cannot be adversely affected by the moisture coming from the ground. I will make sure to note this down and mention it to my parents since they are planning to have the basement finished. Considering how they want wood for the flooring material, I think the best option is engineered wood. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for sharing! It really helped me choose Solid wood flooring companyin London which is Trade Flooring.
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Wood Flooring.Flooring product is essential for any type of home design. So, thanks for sharing.
I like the fact that hardwood floors make a good investment because it adds value and quality in your home while making sure that the material that you will be choosing for installation can withstand the possible wear and tear if you there’s more activity going on inside the home. My husband and I are looking to have our dream home built in a couple of month’s time and we’re figuring out the designs and materials that will be used to have a smooth-sail construction that is free of delays. In this case, I’ll make sure to talk to my husband to use hardwood floors so the kids can play without having the risk of incurring damages in it.
Thanks for mentioning how engineer wood can be installed directly on concrete. It is important to understand that doing some research can help you find the best way to get the floors your home needs. Personally, Iw ould want to check with a trusted contractor in order to get my floors installed right.
I appreciate that you say there are many different varieties of wood to choose from if you decide to install hardwood flooring. I have been thinking about remodeling my kitchen and the fact that there are so many different styles and color options of wood flooring is great because this way I can make sure the floor matches the kitchen style. Also, it makes sense that you say to choose the hardest wood possible because they will be the most durable, which is important for me because I have young children.
My husband and I have always dreamed of getting hardwood floors in our kitchen. Now that we are officially moved in it is time to get the floor we’ve always wanted to be installed. Thank you for suggesting that the color will vary depending on the type of wood we choose. I’ll have to look into finding the best flooring company to come and get the floors installed for us.
Thanks for sharing this amazing information on wood flooring I m looking for it and your blog gives me a good idea about it. It is very nice to have a comparison between two things it will really help to decide which should we select.
I want some dark color wood floor for my home. I have chosen hardwood flooring for its elegant look and durability. Now the selection of color is also another important task before I go to any shop. I found your tips for color selection is very helpful. Another thing you have mentioned is solid wood vs engineered wood. I loved the engineered wood features. Now I am little confused about the material selection. Well I live in salt lake, the engineered wood is best according to my climate.
Great Post!!! I really love the way you have discussed each and everything related to wood flooring. The above points are really very useful for the people who loves wood flooring. Jenny Deck builder Bellevue
With natural hardwood floors, the planks are entirely made from a piece of hardwood. Engineered flooring, on the other hand, only employs real hardwoods in the top layer. This layer gives engineered hardwoods the same look and feel as solid hardwoods but at a substantially-reduced cost.
Wood flooring is best for home interior because most of the people are making a wooden interior for home. I get the right information on this blog about right wood flooring. Great advice. Thank you so much.
That’s a great article and “You cannot sand scratches out of engineered wood, as the top layer is much too thin.” it’s what i kind of like to stress a lot to clients. It is very important to understand that.
I never consider that there were so many different varieties of wood to choose from. It’s great to know that engineered wood is a good option because it cannot be affected by moisture. With that set, we will consider an engineered wood floor for ur kitchen.
You make a great point about how sanding scratches out of engineered wood is not possible. I have a ton of scratches on my kitchen floor. I’ll have to make sure that a pro buffs them out.