If you’re thinking of changing your home’s flooring from carpeted or terrazzo to hardwood, then you must first understand what a hardwood floor has in store for you. Keep in mind that your choice of flooring could affect not just the look of your home but also its functionality.
Not all hardwood floors are the same, and that’s one of the first things that you must understand. You have a lot of options available and the right one would be the kind that achieves the look that you want and suits your budget. To further help you find the right hardwood flooring for your home, here are some of the popular options:
- Solid and Engineered Wood Flooring
Hardwood flooring usually comes in the form of thick solid timber planks. These are referred to as the solid hardwood flooring and they’re widely available still. However, the more common choice is engineered flooring. These are the same hardwood floors, only they made of thin layers of hardwood that are bonded together to achieve the same thickness as solid hardwood.
This type of hardwood flooring is ideal for apartments and basements with a concrete subfloor. The sold wood will be installed over a layer of plywood to raise the floor height at the same time. Engineered floors are also ideal for floors with heating installed.
- Prefinished Hardwood
You have the option to purchase hardwood planks that are pre-finished, which means they are already stained and top-coated when they arrive at your home. However, there are also some that have to be finished on-site. Choose which of these options work for you. If you’re pretty sure that the stained hardwood works for you best because it simplifies the installation process, then that’s good. But if you want to make adjustments on the color of the hardwood floor, then it’s better to choose the site finish option.
- Oil and Polyurethane Finished Wood
Regardless if you’re choosing the site- or pre-finish options, you’re going to have to select what type of finishing to apply to the wood. The most common options are oil and polyurethane. Oil finish is soft, natural, and looks like a matte finish. Polyurethane, on the other hand, leaves a hard top coating on the wood’s surface, thus making it more resilient.
- Wood Types
There are different types of wood and this choice alone could daunt you. Nevertheless, oak wood is the most common choice for builders, and it is for a good reason. Oak is very strong, durable, and easy to maintain. It’s fairly easy to remove stains from oak than any other type of wood.
- Grain Pattern
Aside from the wood type, the pattern of grains on the wood is also a major consideration. Your common choices are rift-sawn, quarter-sawn, and plain-sawn. These patters can create a certain look to your floor, and the rest of your home. If you want to know more about this, please visit hardwoodflooringkansascity.com to get more information about hardwood floors.
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