Interior designers and builders agree that the first element to consider when beginning to finish a room is flooring, because it sets the mood.
More and more professionals these days are choosing wood flooring over tile and carpeting. What kind of wood should you choose? Beyond the basics of solid hardwood, engineered wood, and reclaimed antique wood, there are many options to choose from. But making the right choice for your tastes and circumstances is not as hard as it appears. Following are some important factors to consider when making your decision, as well as some helpful advice from the experts.
Which Wood-Flooring Type Should You Choose?
Solid Hardwood: Although solid hardwood expands and contracts and sometimes creaks, its natural beauty will always add value to your home. Even better, it can be re-sanded and refinished, so it retains its value.
Engineered Wood Floors: These floors are constructed of thin sheets of wood glued together and finished at the factory. The resulting product resists buckling and warping, make it more staple than solid wood. Although engineered wood floors were developed to be glued over concrete, they can also be nailed or floated, unlike solid wood, which can only be nailed to a subfloor.
Reclaimed Antique Wood: This is a custom made flooring option tailor-made one plank at a time according to the customer’s specifications. It can cut from the center section of a beam, which makes this flooring option very stable.
Finished vs. Unfinished
If you go with solid hardwood flooring, it’s available finished or unfinished. If you’re trying to match an adjacent floor, you’re better off going with an unfinished option and staining it to blend. Finishing the floor on site will insure a more uniform color and finish. An unfinished wood floor, however, may take several days to install, stain, and finish.
One of the benefits of finished wood, whether solid or engineered, is that it’s factory sanded, stained, and finished, so it’s much easier and quicker to install. You also avoid the mess of sanding and finishing on site. If you’re installing flooring in a high-traffic area, finished wood is the way to go because it’s so durable. Another plus is that it’s less expensive than unfinished wood.
Important Things to Consider
More and more people are installing radiant heating in their homes, where the heat source is under the floor. If this is your heating system, then engineered wood would be a better choice than solid hardwood because of its durability. The National Wood Flooring Association backs up this claim, recommending quarter-sawn or rift-sawn wood in this circumstance, again because of durability. According to the NWFA, strip flooring is preferable over plank flooring, since narrow boards expand and contract with changes in temperature and humidity less than wide ones.
If you live near the beach, Stoddard recommends an engineered wood. Not only is it scratch-resistant and less likely to be damaged by sand tracked in from the beach, it requires less maintenance. For cottages, summer homes, below-grade installations, and any other interior that’s not environmentally controlled, engineered hardwood flooring is a clear choice.
Some Simple Design Tips
When personalizing a room, understated detail is important. Use a lighter wood and add a dark border. Or drop in a maple medallion that looks like an area run.
Mixing woods from room to room is becoming more common. For a cozy room such as a den or bedroom, a dark wood like walnut or cherry would work well. But a lighter wood, like maple or birch, would brighten up any kitchen.
Darker wood is a better fit for homes that are formal, traditional, or historic, whereas country, casual, and contemporary homes are better suited to lighter woods. Design your floor to complement fabrics, furnishings, and accessories.
Current Trends in Wood Flooring
The latest trends in flooring include hand-scraped wood and “exotics” from far-off lands. Brazilian cherry, Santos mahogany, and Amendoim all boast delightful grains and colors, and conveniently are available in solid hardwood or engineered wood.
The old look and simplicity of woods such as Old Groove Eastern White Pine is becoming increasingly popular among owners of historic homes on the Eastern seaboards. For owners of historic homes on the Eastern seaboard, woods such as Old Groove Eastern White Pine are prized for their old look and simplicity. Walnut has fast grown in popularity as dark woods become more and more “in.”
DIY & Maintaining Your Wood Floor
Installing a wood floor yourself is definitely an option. Almost 30 percent of homeowners do it themselves. If you’re handy with a nail gun and saw, then you can do it. Many resources are available to help you with this project, including instruction books and information online.
One of the great thing about wood flooring is that it’s low maintenance. If you keep a step-off mat at any doorway to collect incoming dirt, then a regular schedule of sweeping and vacuuming is all you really need. One thing to remember is clean up any standing water immediately. It’s not a bad idea to keep an extra box of wood in case you need to replace a strip.
Natural hardwoods stand up to many household mishaps much better than any laminate or synthetic flooring, since the grain and pattern of solid hardwoods go all the way through. Even nasty scuffs and burns that would permanently damage a synthetic surface can be easily repaired.
Avo Barsoumian has been in the interior flooring and interior design industry for over 25 years. He owns and operates a home flooring company in California. The offer the largest selection of elegant hardwood flooring, beautiful laminate flooring and plush carpeting under one roof. It doesn’t matter whether your searching for white carpet for your new town house or carpeting stores to update your older house then Carpet Wagon has exactly what you’re looking for.
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