Hardwood floors have come a long way in the past thirty years. There is a hardwood floor for every room in your home, including those places wood has never gone before, like the kitchen, bath and utility room. There are more choices, styles, colors and even healthy finishes available today. These choices will make your floor one-of-a-kind!
To help you make an informed decision on what wood floor is right for you, keep reading!
Step 1 - Types of Wood Floors
Choosing the perfect floor for your home or office is simply a matter of having the facts, comparing the types and selecting an experienced wood flooring professional to do the job.
Let's start with the wood itself. There are three categories of wood flooring on the market today. Following is a comparison that will help you choose which wood is right for you.
Solid Flooring: All wood flooring, regardless of width or length that is one piece of wood from top to bottom is considered solid flooring.
Solid flooring gives you a great opportunity for customization. Your choice of species, stains, and finishes all contribute to the personalization of a solid floor. Adding borders, medallions, corner treatments, etc., can further customize a solid wood floor.
In most cases, solid flooring is nailed down to ¾" exterior grade plywood, and is excellent inmost area of a home on the ground level or above. Living rooms, dining rooms, bedrooms, and great rooms are excellent for solid wood flooring.
Engineered Flooring: Also know as laminated. Engineered wood flooring is available in a 3 and 5 ply. It is a wood flooring product that consists of layers of wood pressed together, with the grains running in different directions.
Laminated/engineered wood flooring is perfect for those areas of the house where solid wood flooring may not be suitable, such as basements. Because the grains run in different directions, it's a more dimensionally stable than solid wood. This means it will expand and contract less than solid wood during fluctuations in humidity and temperature. Usually this is experienced in such areas that are below grade, with a cement subfloor.
Many different species and colors of engineered wood flooring are available. While most engineered wood flooring products are finished at the factory, factory finished or "prefinished" solid wood flooring is also available.
Step 2 - Job-Site Finished or Factory Finished
You should next take a look at whether your prefer a finish that is applied on the job-site, or a flooring product that is finished at the factory.
Job-Site Finish
A job-site finish is one that is applied at the place of installation. The floor is sanded, and finished. You will not be able to walk on the floor after final sanding until 12 hours after final finishing. There is always some dust even though many systems are dustless, and there is the noise from equipment. A job-site finished floor does however result in a smooth floor that has been handcrafted in place in your home.
Prefinished
A prefinished floor is one on which the finish is applied at the factory. Most (but not all) laminated products are prefinished, and some solid products are available prefinished. Prefinished flooring eliminates the dust and noise factors (you will still get some noise), however your subfloor needs to be perfectly level to achieve the best results.
Step 3 - Choosing A Species
More than 22 domestic and imported wood species are used for wood flooring. The most common of these are:
* Red Oak
* White Oak
* Maple
* Pine
* Hickory/Pecan
Other domestic woods that make beautiful flooring are:
* Ash
* Beech
* Birch
* Black Cherry
* Douglas Fir
* Mesquite
* Walnut
If your looking for something more exotic, consider:
* Brazilian Cherry
* Australian Cypress
* Jarrah
* Mahogany
* Merbau
* Padauk
* Purpleheart
* Teak
* Wenge
Step 4 - Stains/Finishes
There are many ways to stain and or finish your wood floors, but we're going to focus on an environmentally friendly option: the Non Toxic and Low Toxic OSMO Polyx Hardwax Oil Finishes and stains. OSMO is a remarkable natural floor and wood finish from Germany, that is:
* As durable as polyurethane.
* Preserves the look and feel of natural wood, rather than masks it with plastic.
* Easy to spot-repair, so you can keep the finish looking great indefinitely
Not to be confused with traditional oil finishes, OSMO Polyx-Oil is an engineered finish made with plant oils and waxes. This remarkable finish offers excellent durability and renew ability with a unique lustrous finish. It will never crack, blister or flake off. Instead of forming a plastic film, like polyurethane does, OSMO Polyx-Oil has open pores that "breathe." This allows any moisture that does get through to get back out again without pushing off the finish.
Because it is micro porous, Polyx-Oil works well in rooms with high humidity, such as kitchens. It meets German standards for resistance to stains from wine, cola, coffee, tea, fruit juice and, of course, beer.
Spot repairs are easy. Make repairs regularly, and the finish will last indefinitely. If maintained, you will NEVER have to sand your floors again! This product provides no protection against ultraviolet rays from the sun, so it is not suitable for outdoor use.
Step 5 - Selecting your Wood Flooring Professional
Once you decided you want a hardwood floor, it's important to select the right flooring contractor to do the job. Make sure to choose a professional that has access to the most current information in the industry, the most technologically advanced products and systems, and a wealth of information and history. Ask for photographs of recent jobs as well as references who you can contact.
Installing wood floors in one of the largest investments you will make in your home. It can also add significant value to your home if you're trying to sell it, so make sure to choose your wood floors, and wood floor installation company contractor wisely.
Leblanc Floors is a green flooring contractor using low and non toxic finishes. We install and refinish hardwood flooring in Seattle; offering a full range hardwood floor installation services in King, Pierce & Snohomish Counties. We are the #1 recommended flooring contractor by Ecohaus (formerly Environmental Home Center) and OSMO Germany in the US. LeBlanc Floors leads the industry with experience in the application and use of the non toxic finish, OSMO Polyx Oil.
5 Steps to Help You Choose the Right Wood Floor
