Shock your neighbors
with new wood floors this year. Whether you like
durable or dressy there are many types to choose
from. Learn all about the most popular kinds of wood
flooring used today.
Hardwoods
· Oak. A durable hardwood with a tight, dark grain,
Oak is the most popular wood flooring.
· Maple. The second most popular hardwood. Maple has
a lighter color and a less pronounced grain.
· Ash. Another popular hardwood known for its
uniform light texture and grain.
Softwoods
· Pine. A popular softwood often found in older
homes. In fact there's an 800-year-old church in
Brno, Czech Republic that still has its original
pine floors - a testament to the longevity of
well-maintained softwood floors!
· Birch. A softwood similar to pine. It tends to
have more knotholes.
· Fir. Another common softwood that has large
patches of dark grain. Specialty woods are more
expensive, however, they are often quite beautiful.
If you have an ample budget, you may want the
luxurious look of specialty woods. Walnut, teak and
cherry are popular choices.
Plank Widths
· Standard Width. 2 1/4-inches wide. Occasionally
you may find 1 1/2-inch widths. Strips are laid
parallel using the interlocking tongue-and-groove
edges to hold them together.
· Plank Width. Up to 7 inches wide. Often used to
give the room a different aesthetic feel - they want
the look and feel of wood floors, but they don't
want it to look like everybody else's! Random is a
popular choice that has a very custom feel. These
floors consist of planks of two or three different
widths. Homeowners often choose this type of floor
because it has a more energetic feel and lift.
Patterns
After you've chosen your wood type, and the width,
it's time to choose the pattern! Patterns are fun
ways to dress up your wood floors. Straight is the
most common pattern. It consists of wood strips laid
parallel to each other along the length of the room.
It's also the least expensive pattern.
· Diagonal. Diagonal is a nice way to dress up a
room without adding a lot of extra cost. It consists
of the wood strips laid at a 45-degree angle to the
walls. (NOTE! Any pattern besides a straight pattern
will be more expensive because you will need more
wood and the installation takes longer.)
· Parquet. Parquet is another popular hardwood
pattern consisting of individual square modules laid
in crisscross fashion. It looks like a checkerboard.
* Herringbone. Herringbone is a beautiful pattern
that's similar to parquet. It has individual square
modules with wood laid at a diagonal angle!
· Perimeter Border. Perimeter border is a design
accent that you can add to just about any wood
flooring. By adding a different pattern to the edges
of your wood floor, you give your floor a design
touch that helps to frame it. It works very well in
more formal rooms like dining rooms or living rooms.
It's also a nice way to separate adjacent rooms that
don't have any walls between them. Some homes have a
lot of free-flowing open space. By installing a
perimeter border between two adjacent rooms, you
give the visual impression that the rooms are
separate without interrupting the open flow.
Stain Colors
Modern wood floors can be just about any color or
shade you want. Different kinds of wood respond
differently to stains. Here are some options:
· Natural. Natural is "wood color" at its most basic
form. These kinds of stains have very little
pigment, so the natural wood can show through.
· Light. Light is a very popular shade of stain
because it darkens the grain and adds a subtle tone
to the wood. Many people are very selective of their
wood. This is a good choice of stain because it's
similar to natural ... only with a little more
punch.
· Medium. Medium is another popular choice. It's
darker than the light, so both the grain and the
wood will have an obvious pigment.
· Dark. Dark gives wood floors a very rich feel.
WARNING! Be careful with this choice. Dark floors
will make your room feel dark. If that's the design
effect you want, then great! However, if you want a
brighter room, you may want to choose a lighter
shade of stain.
· Custom. Custom is what you choose when you want to
play! You can choose from a wide selection of colors
and styles to fit any room. (A nice design choice
for a living room may be a natural wood floor finish
with a forest green perimeter border!)
Contact our Home Improvement Specialist today to help you with your home improvement needs.
