For a flooring choice that has instant appeal and will boost any home’s appeal, look to hardwood floors. Although pricey, hardwood floors last a long time, are easy on the feet and look fabulous. Here’s all you need to know about hardwood floors, what your expectations should be, and the types of homes where this type of floor works best.
Swapping out your hardwood flooring simply isn’t a DIY job. Hardwood installation is often challenging. And when dealing with this kind investment in your home, you’ll want to rely on a flooring specialist to help you make the right choices and to finish the job properly. One of the major considerations is what to do with your old flooring once you’ve ripped it all out.
Contact At Home Pros to begin your journey to a welcoming home filled with the warmth that only hardwood floors can provide. But before exploring the facts you need to know about hardwood floors in general, here are some questions to help you determine whether or not your home will be a good fit for this flooring option.
Are hardwood floors a good fit?
If you’re considering swapping out your old flooring for an upgrade, it’s a good idea to ask yourself a few questions before hiring a flooring specialist to rip out all your existing floors. You’ll want to think about the foot traffic in the area, as well as the presence of pets, children and other considerations. All these factors and more will come into play.
Here are some questions you should pose before you make any permanent changes:
- Do you have pets with rigid nails, like dogs — or even iguanas? Their nails or claws can cause significant wear and tear on hardwoods.
- Will there be children regularly playing on the surface? Kids dragging toys across hardwood floors can often lead to a marred surface.
- Are you thinking about putting in hardwood in a place that sees constant foot traffic? This may be a mistake, especially in areas near frequented doorways, as doors open the way for grit, dirt, or small stones to scratch up your new floor.
- Are you placing hardwood floors in an area that is constantly exposed to sunlight? This exposure can fade your new floor, creating patchy and uneven coloration.
- Finally, what about water exposure? Avoid putting in new hardwood floors in any spot that might be prone to flooding or water damage, like near bathtubs, dishwashers or sinks.
Many of today’s hardwood choices come with a polyurethane coating that protects your new installation from both sunlight and wear and tear. But you will still need to be vigilant — and care for your hardwood floors using special products to really make them shine.
If you’ve considered all of these factors and still would like the classic look and homey feel of hardwood floors, your next step is to pick a type of flooring. There are many options that look like wood, but have unique appearances and qualities. Wood comes in all different hues, grains, and depth of dimension, but it goes well beyond that.
You’ll want to take into consideration how uniform you want your flooring to look, or if you appreciate the camouflaging ability of distressed wood. Wide or thin planks, as well as hardness, are all options to consider. Plus, some woods are better suited to certain rooms than others — for example, using engineered wood in moisture-rich areas like bathrooms or kitchens.
Here are some details about three common types of floors, and what you should know about installing and maintaining them.
Solid hardwood
If you’ve chosen a solid hardwood, your floor will be made of one piece of wood, cut into planks for your floors.
Your new hardwood floors will come finished from the factory or will be finished onsite. If you get the wood factory-finished, you can avoid some of the challenges associated with finishing the hardwood at your home. Some of these disadvantages include:
- Chemical fumes from the finish
- Dust from sanding
- A more lengthy installation
- A wait while the wood cures and adjusts to the climate of your home
- The delay before you can finally use the room
A factory finish is likely to be harder than a hardwood floor finished on site because, at the factory, the floors are finished under a UV light. The main draw of finishing your hardwood floors at your house is the ability to have complete control over the final look.
You’ll also need to think about the size of planks you’d like to put down. Solid hardwood comes in ¾ inch strips and are anywhere from 1½ inches to 2½ inches thick. You can also find solid hardwood planks that span 4 to 8 inches wide. There has been a recent trend in interior design leaning towards extra-wide planks, almost a foot wide, which gives a room an eclectic aesthetic.
Engineered wood
Many satisfied customers note how engineered hardwood looks just like the real thing. That’s because engineered planks are the real thing. If you are using engineered wood, you are looking at thin slats of hardwood glued to a super-strong piece of plywood or high-density fiberboard (HDF) as a base.
Engineered wood has a number of great benefits. For example, it takes fewer trees to make the planks, so it’s more environmentally sustainable. Also, the plywood (or HDF) creates an excellent structural base, so you can use engineered wood in bathrooms or over radiant heating elements.
Most engineered hardwood flooring is easy to install, often using click-lock planks. Additionally, refinishing engineered hardwood is a much less lengthy process than with solid hardwood. You usually only need to refinish once, depending on the veneer’s thickness. Plus, engineered wood is inexpensive enough that you can buy an extra box in case you need to replace a plank.
Engineered wood floors are available anywhere from ⅜ inch to ½ inch thick. If you like the look of wider planks, then engineered wood might be a better choice as it isn’t as prone to warping in wider sizes like solid hardwood planks are.
Reclaimed wood
Engineered wood is certainly a better environmental choice than solid hardwood, but reclaimed wood is probably the best choice of all. Like shopping vintage, reclaimed wood has had another lifetime, as the process uses wood that is salvaged from disused buildings and other sources.
One of the major benefits of this type of wood flooring, other than the fact that you don’t have to chop down any more trees, is that older buildings sometimes contain woods that can no longer be harvested or reproduced or harvested.
Most of the wood that’s used as a reclaimed wood flooring is made up of deconstructed homes, old piers or docks or old factories — and it needs to be processed and milled before being placed in your home.
Sometimes reclaimed wood is warped or cracked, and you should make sure that the newly milled planks are kiln-dried before being placed in your home, to prevent critters and insects like termites from feasting on your new flooring. You can find independent reclaimed wood dealers across the country, but make sure they offer a guarantee.
Care of wooden floors
Whether you’ve chosen engineered, solid, or reclaimed wood, the worst enemy of your new flooring is the dirt and grit tracked in with foot traffic.
Place entry rugs near doorways to catch a lot of the dirt. Ask people to take off their shoes (or swap them for slippers) when they visit. And be prepared to sweep or vacuum daily. When you mop or clean your hardwood floors, which you should do every week or so, make sure to use a wood-friendly product for optimal gleam.
At Home Pros can help you connect to reputable hardwood flooring experts right in your area. Contact us today, and you can see the beautiful warmth of wooden floors lighting up your home in less time than you ever imagined.