When it comes to picking the ideal wood flooring for your home, there is a wide range of alternatives to choose from. These choices generally include trusty domestics, maple, oak, and even exotics such as acacia and tamarind. Other than that, there is also the choice of widths that include traditional narrow strips, wide rustic planks, and even stain colors. All in all, you have the option to choose the flooring that best suits the design and decor of your home.
However, with so many alternatives in the market, it can easily be challenging to find the ideal fit for your home. Therefore, here is a comprehensive guide to Hardwood Floor Installation in Bolingbrook to make the entire ordeal much simpler for you. Hence continue reading and learn all that you need to about hardwood floors.
The Basics Of Hardwood Flooring
Before you head out to get yourself the ideal hardwood floor, it is important you familiarize yourself with the basics of hardwood flooring. These basics include:
Length: When it comes to hardwood flooring, you need to understand that the longer the strips are, the fewer are the distracting end joints. Therefore, if you need to make a small room appear large, you should always go with shorter strips. This way, your room will appear more spacious, further contributing towards enhancing the appeal of the entire house.
Thickness: The thickness of your hardwood floor is much more important than you might realize. An excellent example of this fact is that using a solid board with ¾ thickness means you can refinish that board up to ten times and still derive value from it. Furthermore, thinner hardwood boards cannot be sanded to that extent. Therefore, it is recommended you top them with a durable coat to ensure they do not require frequent refinishing.
Hardness: The best way to determine the quality and durability of hardwood flooring is by examining its hardness. If your hardwood flooring is not hard enough, it will always remain vulnerable to gouges and dents. Therefore, whenever you head out to get hardwood flooring for yourself, always make sure to check the hardness of the hardwood.
Width: The width of your hardwood flooring tells a lot about the quality of the material. For instance, if you use a six-inch plank, you can get a distinct rustic appeal, but joints open wide during the dry spells. Furthermore, two ¼ might appear busier, but they tend to remain tighter for a more extended period of time. Therefore, it would be best if you could mix the widths of the hardwood flooring to get the best outcome.
Hardwood Floor Buying Tips
When it comes to your home’s flooring, it is not something that you will replace every month or even years. Hardwood floors are engineered to last for many years; hence you must buy the right hardwood flooring for your home. Therefore, here are a couple of tips that will help you get the ideal hardwood floor for your home.
Where Do You Plan To Use It?
The first thing that you need to be clear about is the area in your home where you plan to use the hardwood flooring. Therefore, let’s check out different spaces in your home and the considerations that are ideally suited for the area.
Kitchen And Entryway: If you plan to install hardwood flooring in your kitchen or entryway, it would be best to go for more robust and solid hardwood flooring such as hickory or oak. These materials are strong enough to handle the increased foot traffic in these areas.
Basement: When it comes to your basement’s flooring, it would be best to avoid using solid wood flooring below grade, especially if your house is in a humid location. You must approach experts to get help.
Bedroom Or Home Office: These are the areas in your home that do not have to deal with much foot traffic. Therefore, it is better if you could go for softer woods. Your options here could be something like black walnut or black cherry.
Bathroom: Installing hardwood flooring in your bathroom is a poor choice for everyone as water can damage the wood to a great extent. Therefore, it is better to opt for ceramic tiles for areas where the floor comes in contact with water on a regular basis.
What Is The Hardwood Floor Going Over?
The next important consideration when purchasing hardwood flooring for your home is where the hardwood floor is going over. Therefore, let’s check out your alternatives here.
Existing Wood Floor: If you are planning to install your hardwood flooring over the existing wood floor, it is better to opt for thinner boards that come with long-wearing factory-applied finishes. This hardwood flooring offers better safety with no trip transitions to the adjacent hallways, rooms, and stairways.
Radiant Floor: When it comes to installing hardwood flooring over radiant flooring, it is best to go for engineered flooring. These engineered floorings are ideal as they are thinner and more stable as compared to most solid woods.
Plywood Subfloor: If your home is already equipped with a plywood subfloor, there is not much need for thorough contemplation. All you need to do is find hardwood flooring that is flat and solid, and that is the only quality you need to take care of.
Concrete Slabs Or Ceramic Tiles: If your house is equipped with concrete slabs or tiles as existing flooring, it is best if you go for a click-together floating floor that can be glued down. Make sure to avoid floorings that require nailing of any sort.
Different Cut In Hardwood Floors
There are two different hardwood cuts available in the market. Each of these cuts is meant to serve varied requirements. These cuts include:
Quartersawn Boards: These are relatively more expensive and are known for their straight grain. The growth rings in these types of hardwood cuts are perpendicular to the face.
Flatsawn Boards: This is a unique technique to cut the hardwood board in a way that the growth rings are more or less parallel to the face. This is the reason flat sawn boards are known for leaving a distinct frame-like grain pattern.
Different Types Of Hardwood Floors
When it comes to Hardwood Floor Installation in Downers Grove, there are many alternatives to choose from. These alternatives include:
Classic Wood
Domestic or classic wood can also be segregated into different variants in terms of its grain patterns, color, and hardness. Some of these variants include:
White Ash: White ash hardwood is relatively expensive but certainly worth the cost. These types of hardwood are generally known for their prominent grain pattern that sets them apart from others.
Stained Red Oak: The next variant up on the list is stained red oak, which is very common in almost every flooring of every home in the US.
Heart Pine: Heart pine hardwood is as distinctive as it can get with a knotty and rusty appearance. It’s extremely hard, robust, and long-lasting.
Black Cherry: The final variant of classic wood is the black cherry that comes with a unique clear finish. The best quality of this hardwood is its cinnamon tint that will darken further as the wood ages.
Exotic Wood
The tropics have long earned a reputation for providing the world with some of the best quality hardwood. The hardwood from the region is known for its unmatched hardness and different colors. Some of their variants include:
Australian Cypress: If you are a fan of adding a rustic look to your home, then Australian Cypress is the ideal choice for you. These hardwoods are best known for their unique grain and profuse grains that add a distinct rustic appearance.
Brazilian Redwood: The Brazilian Redwood might be expensive as compared to other variants available in the market. The russet color of this hardwood paired with the subtle grain sets these hardwoods apart from others.
Brazilian Koa: In case you are on the lookout for a hardwood that catches the attention of an onlooker, then Brazilian Koa is the ideal choice for you. The blonde strips paired with the dark chocolate look make them easier to spot from a distance.
Black Acacia: The stained hardwood comes with a golden tone accompanied by unmatched finishing that sets it apart from all the other variants available in the market.
Distressed Wood
Distressed wood is ideal for adding an old and aged look to your house. Some of the well-known variants of distressed wood include:
Hand Scraped White Oak: As the name suggests, these are hardwood pieces carved using the utmost ingenuity. The random ripples carved throughout the length of every strip set hand scraped white oak apart from other alternatives.
Distressed Hickory: The other alternative on the list is the distressed hickory that comes with a unique rich coloration that is hard to find elsewhere.
Engineered Wood
Engineered hardwood has been gaining a lot of prominence in the last couple of years. This growing popularity can be accredited to the base of plywood coming with a pre-furnished wood veneer on the top. Furthermore, one can fasten or glue down the strips of these hardwood pieces or simply leave them to float. Some of the variants of engineered wood include:
Woven-Strand Bamboo: These are the hardwoods that interwoven strips that create an amazing flooring as hard as hickory.
Vertical Strand Bamboo: If you are looking for an eco-friendly alternative, it is best to go with vertical strand bamboo. This type of hardwood is generated from a slow-growing tree that reaches its maturity in six years.
Engineered Black Walnut: This is the type of hardwood that has been in use for ages. The natural-looking dark wood has been used by people ever since the Victorian ages.
Engineered Tamarind: This is the ideal choice for anyone looking to derive value for the money spent on their hardwood flooring. The visual appeal of engineered tamarind is easily available at affordable prices.
Engineered Red Oak: If you are in search of hardy and tough hardwood, then engineered red oak is what you need. The hardwood comes with a thickness of ⅜ thickness, making it ideally durable.
Different Flooring Styles
Now that you are familiar with the types of hardwood flooring available in the market, it is time to check out the flooring styles that would best suit your home. Therefore, whether you are looking for Hardwood Floor Refinishing in Bolingbrook or simply new hardwood for your home, here are some flooring options you need to know about.
White Pine: If you are looking for hardwood flooring that ideally complements the beadboard wall and the ceiling panel, then white pine is the type of flooring you need in your home.
Bamboo: Bamboo has long been the preferred flooring style for many homeowners as this green-looking flooring from Southeastern Asia adds a distinct contemporary feel to the entire house. Bamboo flooring comes with 3 ¼ inch carbonized horizontal planks that add a distinct appeal to your home.
Engineered Beach: If making a small space appear larger, the engineered beach is the type of flooring you need in your home. The dark-stained wood is ideally designed to complement the distinct look and feel of the house.
Distressed Heart Pine: Add some patina and character to your room with hand scraped flooring that comes in strips measuring up to five inches. This offers unmatched durability without compromising on the visual appeal of the flooring.
Brazilian Chestnut: In general, your kitchen flooring has to deal with foot traffic. Therefore, if you are looking for the ideal flooring style for such areas, you should go with Brazilian Chestnut that comes with unmatched density.
In Conclusion
This is more or less all that you need to know about hardwood flooring for your home. Therefore, leverage this information to get the ideal flooring for your home or workplace based on the unique requirements of your property. One last tip here is that always make sure to carry out Hardwood Floor Refinishing in Downers Grove every once in a while for enhanced life.