How to Choose Hardwood Floors
How do you go about redesigning a room in your house? You may want to start with the walls or the furniture, but one crucial element you can’t forget is the flooring. The type of flooring you choose can make or break a space’s entire look and feel. And when it comes to hardwood floors, there are many options.
So, how do you narrow your choices and pick the perfect hardwood floors for your home? To select the suitable material and style, you must keep the overall design in mind, as it significantly impacts the outcome. You should also think about the durability and maintenance of the floors, as well as your budget.
This guide will help you understand all the essential factors to consider when choosing hardwood floors. By the end, you will know precisely what kind of floors will suit your needs the best. Let’s get started!
How do I pick the best hardwood flooring?
Below are a few factors to keep in mind while picking the best hardwood floors for your home:
Select Solid or Engineered Flooring
You first need to decide whether you want solid or engineered hardwood floors. Solid hardwood floors are made entirely of one piece of wood, while engineered floors have a plywood or HDF core with a wood veneer on top.
If you look forward to installing longer hardwood floors, you should go for engineered floors. However, solid floors are better if you want a classic look and feel.
Pick Your Grain Pattern
Mostly logs are cut in two ways to produce boards for hardwood floors, i.e., flat sawn and rift sawn. The log is cut parallel to the growth rings in the flat-sawn method, resulting in a cathedral grain pattern. This method is cheaper and faster, so most of the boards you see in the market are flat sawn. However, these boards are less stable than rift-sawn boards and are more likely to cup.
Rift sawn boards are cut at a 45-degree angle to the grain, resulting in a straight grain pattern. As a result, these boards are more stable and less likely to cup. However, they are more expensive and not as widely available.
Consider Wood Types and Right Finish
The king of hardwood floors is oak, but other options are available. Maple and hickory are also popular choices for hardwood floors. Each type of wood has its unique grain pattern and color.
Moreover, make sure to pick the right finish for your hardwood floors. There are a few different options, including water-based, oil-based, and natural finishes. Water-based finishes are the most popular type as they are easy to apply and dry quickly. On the other hand, oil-based finishes take longer to dry, but they provide a more durable finish. Finally, opt for a natural finish if you want something eco-friendly and non-toxic.
Consider the Janka Hardness Rating
The Janka hardness test is a way of measuring the hardness of wood. The higher the Janka rating, the more resistant the wood is to wear and tear. When choosing hardwood floors, you should always go for something with a high Janka rating. This way, you can be sure that your floors will last for a long time, even with heavy traffic.
Which Hardwood Floor is the Most Durable?
If you are looking for the most durable hardwood flooring, the only hardwood flooring that offers industry-standard durability is oak. With a Janka rating of approximately 1300, it is the most durable and readily available. There are two main types of oaks: red oak and white oak. The Janka rating for red oak is 1290, while that of white oak is 1360. Even though the Janka rating of oak might not be that high, it is still considered one of the most durable hardwoods widely used for flooring worldwide.
Another hardwood flooring that is known for its strength and durability is hickory. It has a Janka rating of 1820, meaning it has greater strength than the oak hardwood flooring. This is the reason why it is used in rooms where there is heavy foot traffic. However, it is slightly more expensive than oak hardwood flooring, which is why oak is more widely used as a durable oak hardwood flooring. Some other hardwood floorings known for their durability are ebony, cherry, live, and bamboo.
What is Good Thickness for Hardwood Floors?
The typical or standard hardwood flooring thickness is approximately 5/16 and 3⁄4 inches. This is the ideal thickness that is suitable for most of the buildings’ needs. Even though the engineered hardwood comes in various thicknesses, most have the same offering as solid hardwood. You have to consider the thickness of hardwood flooring as it is essential for installing a wooden subfloor with questionable integrity.
Whether you want a thick hardwood floor or not depends on various factors. Even though having hardwood flooring with ideal thickness has significant advantages in most cases, it will be a crucial decision if you have an underground heating system. Thick hardwood floors affect the efficiency of ambient heating systems; therefore, if you have a heating system, you will have to consider hardwood flooring with a different thickness.
Contact Richie’s Floor Service Inc. for Professional Hardwood Flooring Services
Who doesn’t love suitable hardwood flooring? Richie’s Floor Service might be the best option if you are looking for professional hardwood flooring installers in Massapequa, Nassau, Queens, and Suffolk County, NY. We have a variety of solutions for you if you want affordable hardwood flooring at your place. Our goal is to provide you with the best services at the best price.
As we are licensed and insured, we ensure that we deal with all the jobs with outstanding professionalism and dedication. Because of our commitment to our job, we have earned an excellent reputation as flooring services providers in the region. So, if you want to consult some professionals before you install hardwood flooring or want to get the job done efficiently;
