Showing posts with label Wood Flooring. Show all posts

How To Learn About Wood Flooring Types and Options

When constructing your own home, picking the right flooring is one of the most important things in making your own home look good. With countless options out there it can be hard for you to pick the flooring that best suits your needs. Many considerations should be taken when buying, and one of these is the quality of flooring.
A type of flooring that lasts for a longtime is wood. Wood flooring is affordable, easy to maintain and healthy for you and your family. Wood flooring lasts for a long time. Its problems can be mostly avoided with proper care and maintenance. Protect your wood floor by exercising proper care and maintenance. Avoid using chemical-based cleaners as chemicals can cause abrasions. You can use a wax floor cleaner to remove some scratches and stains. Wood flooring is a healthy alternative, as it does not accumulate dust mites and other allergens. Therefore, you and your family can enjoy a better quality of air inside your home. Here's how to choose the best type of wood flooring for you.
What are the types of wood floors?
  1. Acrylic impregnated floors. This type of wood floor is hard and durable and works well with unfinished floors. It is known to be resistant to scratches, and that is why restaurants, shopping malls and other busy establishments pick this type of wood flooring.
  2. Engineered Flooring. This type of flooring is made up of several layers (usually 3-5 layers) of veneer wood attached together. It is identified to be resistant to humidity and moisture, and that is why it's commonly used in kitchens, basements and function rooms.  It has fine grains, including oak or birch, which makes this flooring more stable.
  3. Solid Flooring. This type of wood floor is vulnerable to wetness. Installing it over a concrete slab is not suggested, unless acknowledged by manufacturers. But what makes it stand out from other types of wood floors is the wide array of options. 
You need to choose the right type of wood flooring for your home or office.  The National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA) can provide you the best information on wood flooring such as wood floor maintenance, wood floor types, styles, and wood floor design ideas. You can give your home or office a unique look by picking from the following wood floor styles:
  1. Strip flooring. It is linear flooring that makes your room look bigger.
  2. Plank flooring. It is also linear flooring like strip except for the width. The usual width of Plank flooring is 3"-14".
  3. Parquet flooring. Wood flooring pieces that can be formed in a geometric pattern. It will make your home or office look impressive. 
Any type of flooring brings a unique look to your home and office. But if you want a type of wood that is beautiful, affordable and environment-friendly, go for wood flooring. Choose the right color and pattern that can flawlessly match your home or office decor. Contact a flooring liquidator to get top quality wood flooring at an affordable price.
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How To Choose Wood Flooring: Choosing Wood Floors

What is in a floor? Well, a lot, actually. If you have decided to put new hardwood flooring into your home, there is much to consider. What type of look do you want to create? How much wear and tear do you expect on the floors? How much do you want to spend? What about color matching and quality of woods? Here are some guidelines and tips for how to choose a wood floor, geared toward homeowners exploring the hardwood option.


  • Window Shop. Before creating a budget, and before making a bulk purchase, do some window shopping for flooring. Head to lumber yards and stores that specialize in hardwood floor supply and installation for examples. See what your neighbors, friends and family have in their homes as well. Get samples and decide on a look that you want. Consider the shade, finish, and hardness of the wood.

  • Color. What shade do you want for your floors? Hardwood floors can be red-brown, mustard, cherry, chocolate, white-purple if you really want it. What goes best with your décor? If you have a dark home, consider lightening it up with some white oak or yellow pine. If you want to create a vintage look, consider the darker hues. Try to match the floors to your furniture and walls. If you are not "talented" with color matching, ask a professional or just get the opinion of several friends.

  • Width. Hardwood flooring comes in strip, plank, and long-strip varieties. The strips are the narrowest, while the long-strip is a collection of smaller planks fabricated together.

  • Hardness. If you have a household of five children who love to play ball and roughhouse indoors, soft pine is not the ideal choice for wood flooring in your living room. Certain woods dent more than others. The distressed look is desirable for some people, but for others, it is not practical. Ask about the hardness of the wood before making a decision. At FloorFacts is a chart you can use as a guideline.

  • Edges. There are three fundamental ways that individual hardwood floor planks and strips are married together-flush, beveled, and eased edge. In the flush installation, there is no visible gap between planks or strips. In the beveled edge model, there is a v-like shape that is formed in between each strip or plank. The eased edge option is a shallow version of the beveled edge, and tends to hide some of the unevenness that your flooring may naturally have. The flush installation gives a more modern look, while the beveled and eased look are considered, by some, to be more rustic.

  • Finish. There are pre-finished and unfinished hardwood floors. Go to a warehouse or showroom and see what option for wood floors suits you and your home. If you decide on unfinished flooring, you will need to apply a sealant and/or stain. The most popular options are a satin stain and a polyurethane oil stain. The first is a darker yet understated look, while the polyurethane gives the floors a "pop" or shine. There are many choices for wood floor finishes so be sure to choose one that will look best in your home with your other furniture.
  • Budget. Now that you've done some window shopping and comparisons, consider the price tags on some of these floors. In case you cannot afford installing three thousand square feet of Brazilian cherry wood, ask a professional what type of wood most closely mimics this type of wood. There are always more affordable options and compromises to be made. Hardwood flooring is priced per square foot and square foot installed, so make sure to get an exact quote from your supplier or flooring store before you commit.
  • Other options: Laminate flooring. One way people avoid the cost associated with new hardwood floors is to not put in hardwood floors. Laminate flooring is considered a nice substitute for hardwood floors because it looks like hardwood flooring but will not dent, stain or fade. They are more water-resistant and can handle scratches better. Make sure you are satisfied with the feel and look of the laminate compared to wooden floors, however, since laminate is an imitation, not an exact substitute for hardwood.
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