If you’ve been wanting to replace the Houston carpet in your older home, or add a bit of class to a newer one, hardwood flooring is one of the best choices in terms of looks, durability, and improving the resale value of your home.
Hardwood floors are beautiful, easy to maintain, and if they become worn after years of use, they can be refinished and will be good as new. Thanks to innovations in technology and manufacturing, hardwood flooring comes in a wider variety of choices than every more. Your first four decisions are unfinished, factory finished, solid, and engineered wood.
With unfinished wood flooring, you choose your wood first, and the professional installer will sand the planks down and install the finish you’ve chosen on the job site after installation. Choosing unfinished wood flooring is an excellent choice if you have a specific color you’d like the wood finished, or you have existing wood flooring in the house you’d like it to match.
This is also extremely beneficial in making certain that your new wood floors will match your preferred amount of maintenance, and the amount of foot traffic going through that room.
The finishes you can choose from can make a huge difference, and you have a ton of choices! From water-based, oil-based, acid-cured, Moisture-cured, Wax, Acrylic impregnated, UV cured, as well as penetrating and hardening oils, you can customize your hardwood floor to be a one of a kind perfect fit for your home.
Factory finished wood flooring is exactly what it sound like; the planks of wood have already been sanded and finished in the factory, so your choices will be limited to what’s already done, and it will be much harder to match to any existing wood flooring you have in your house. However, the benefits of wood flooring that’s already been finished is the ease of installation, and the ability to walk on your new floors without waiting for the finish to dry. This is a fantastic choice if you don’t have a particular finish you’d prefer, and don’t want a lot of downtime for that room in your house while you wait for the finish to dry.
Solid wood flooring is just that – solid wood from top to bottom, that can be sanded and refinished several times during its life in your home. This is beneficial if you decide to change the color, or finish, at a later date.
Engineered wood is flooring made from pressing wood veneers together and compressing them tightly. The main benefit of engineered wood is that the grain of each veneer is running in different directions, increases its stability. This keeps the wood from expanding and contracting during changes in humidity and temperature.
At this point, it may seem like the choices in wood flooring is almost overwhelming, but the truth is that it’s no more difficult than choosing a new carpet, or vinyl flooring. The main difference is the durability, lifespan, and aesthetics in investing in a wood floor. The initial cost may seem high, but the long term payoff to the benefits of hardwood flooring are priceless. Let’s look at the top three;
It’s an Investment
It seems expensive in the beginning, but when you look at the long-term benefits, it’s money well spent. Hardwood flooring last the entire time you own your home, and is easy to maintain. Forget vacuuming the entire house ever again, Hardwood floors need no more than a quick sweeping every week, and a good mopping every once in awhile. Hardwood floors don’t have crevices or grout to attract or trap dirt like tiles do, so they stay cleaner, longer.
They’re Just Plain Beautiful
Let’s face it, real hardwood floors have a certain timeless beauty to them that makes them transform any room into a work of art. Wood that has settled into a home and become a part of what defines it makes that room seem somewhere more polished, more refined, and elevates your home from ho-hum ordinary, to something exceptional. In addition, hardwood floors improve the acoustics in any room, never sounding ‘hollow’ or echoing the way that vinyl flooring can. The absence of these discordant reverberations make the room feel more peaceful, and pleasant to hold conversations in.
It Improves the Indoor Air Quality
The flooring inside a home makes a difference when it comes to air quality. There isn’t any reason why some of your rooms should have Houston carpet and others, hardwood. The same is true for tile floors where grout has been collecting dirt, dust, and pollen…sometimes for years. Hardwood flooring has no fibers, embossing, or grout that can trap pollen, dust, particles, allergens, and animal dander. This makes it ideal for individuals with allergies or sensitivities to smell.
Hardwood flooring may initially seem expensive, but the long term benefits, beauty, and durability make it the best choice if you want to add a timeless look to the favorite rooms in your house.
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