How to Choose Wood Flooring

How to Choose Wood Flooring

Wood floors are cozy, long-lasting and stylish. However, deciding on a wood floor can be overwhelming with the wide range of wood materials, styles, colours and finishes available today. In addition, when choosing wood for your flooring, there are many things to consider, and only some kinds of wood flooring are ideal for some homes.

1. Match your Interior

Select a style that ensembles and complements your current interior and colour design. For example, the colour of your wood floors should harmonize your home's style with your wall, furniture, cabinets, or other existing flooring types. 

2. Lifestyle

Consider your lifestyle before choosing a wood floor colour for your home. Dark wood floors are more prone to reveal scratches than lighter ones. Light wood floors may be the best choice if you have pets and children roaming the house. However, light wood floors are prone to show dust and dirt. It would be best to regularly clean your floors to make them look and feel clean. 

3. Grain Pattern and Size

Each wood flooring has a unique grain pattern, one of the essential factors when choosing wood materials. In addition, they create different designs based on how they were cut. Next to consider is the wood planks, which come in various sizes. Some planks are about 2-3 inches wide or around 6-7 inches. Wider planks create a more grand ambience and are more expensive than narrow ones. 

4. Finishing

The flooring finish will define how you maintain and clean your hardwood floors. You can buy prefinished or unfinished new wood floors. Prefinished hardwood floor finishes have varying content, durability, and glossiness, one of the essential aesthetic factors after picking your ideal wood. In contrast, unfinished wood floors are raw and undone. You can hire a contractor to apply the finishing layer after the floor installation. This process lets you customize and manage your wood floors' stains and finishing touches. 

5. Consider the wood type of flooring

There are mainly two wood flooring products; solid hardwood and engineered hardwood. Solid wood is a solid piece from top to bottom through its entire thickness. It can expand or compress due to the air's temperature and moisture contents, resulting in forging gaps between planks over time. Therefore, the environment is another crucial factor when you prefer solid wood. Before installing solid wood floors, consulting flooring professionals about your specific site is essential.

On the other hand, Engineered wood flooring comprises several layers of plywood and composite material with a top layer of solid hardwood. They are excellent for the basement, kitchen or bathrooms, where moisture and constant temperature fluctuations are always present. The difference between the two is their composition. Solid woods are usually installed on the ground floor or above grade because of their factor to swell or contract. In contrast, engineered wood can be installed on any level of the home because of its multiple layers of wood and stability. 

6. Other Materials of Wood Flooring

There is a wide range of options for wood flooring materials which can make a difference in the design of your house. Wood materials do not limit you from the colour or design; they also provide different benefits for functionality.

Oak wood flooring is tough wearing and has proven to be highly durable. In addition, Oak enriches its colour and gets better as time passes. They have beautiful natural grain that adds character to flooring and is insect-resistant.

Reclaimed wood is still solid; as the word implies, it is wood recovered or used from old houses or other structures. Reclaimed wood is a stylish and popular option for many business establishments and modern homes. It adds a rustic feel, character and charm, creating a conversation piece to their setting. Moreover, reclaimed wood is long-lasting and stable. Using quality reclaimed wood is not just for aesthetics; it also has many benefits. For example, it lessens the demand for newly-harvested virgin wood from forests; therefore, you help preserve forestation, and they provide sustainability. In addition, they are more economical and can be purchased at salvage lumber yards. 

7. Alternative Options

Other flooring products look like natural wood, but actually, they are not. For example, laminate and Luxury vinyl tile flooring are popular products that mimic natural wood's appearance and provide different decorative patterns and styles.

Our expert installers at Rachel's Floors can help you choose the right wood flooring and handle all flooring improvement projects throughout the home. We offer high-quality wood flooring products and installation services at affordable price ranges. For your queries and inquiries, you may call our friendly team at 571-316-1218.