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wood flooring options
Wood Flooring Options
Wood floors are one of the most durable,
appealing and affordable flooring options out there. You
can choose between hardwood and softwood, with a wide variety
of colors, grades, cuts, finishes, species and styles to
select from. With proper maintenance, wood flooring can
last the life time and increase the value of your house.
First you must decide between hardwood
floors and softwood floors. Hardwoods come from leaf bearing
trees and softwoods come from needle bearing trees. If you
imagine your floor to take some abuse, hardwoods are your
best option. Softwoods are a wonderful choice as well, but
they are more susceptible to dents and scratches. However,
it is often said that the more abuse softwood floors undergo,
the better they begin to look.
Hardwood Floors
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Oak - Most common
choice for wood flooring. Durable, flexible, stain resistant.
Available in red oak and white oak, red oak is light
tan with a reddish tinge; white oak is light to dark
brown.
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Maple - Easily availability,
durable and resistant to marring. The color is light,
ranging from a pale, almost silvery white to a warm
light tan. Wonderful for heavy traffic.
-
Brazilian Cherry -
Deep red tones and the wide variability in coloring
from board to board. Durable, flexible, moisture resistant,
superior dimensional stability. American Cherry is more
rustic.
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Walnut - Considered
one of the most beautiful woods in the world. Ranges
from golden brown to nearly black, with a very fine,
even grain. Often used for borders.
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Ash - Very durable,
ranges in color from dark brown to creamy white. Resists
splitting and takes wear very well.
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Beech - Popular choice
for gymnasium and other athletic floors. Warm red tones,
resist splitting and damage.
Softwood Floors
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Yellow Pine - Extremely
durable and attractive with distinctive grain patterns.
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Fir - One of the softest
of all woods. Very delicate, prone to movement and squeaking
noises. Large gaps or cracks between boards, color differs
with each board.
-
Birch - Ranges in
color from creamy pale white to the deep. Durable, mildly
flexible, resists splitting and damage.
Wood floors can either be pre-finished
or unfinished. Pre-finished floors are equipped with a tough
factory finish and are very easy to install. Unfinished
floors are typically less expensive, but installation is
more difficult and because they are finished at the site,
dusty sand procedures leave behind a mess.
There are several unique patterns to arrange
your wood floors into. It is important, however, to know
the dimensions of your floor before selecting a pattern.
Always know the lengths, widths and thickness of the wood
floor you have chosen.
Patterns vary from straight (plank or strip)
to diagonal or to more complex designs such as parquet,
herringbone and perimeter bordering. Parquet arranges the
boards in a geometric design resembling a checkerboard.
Herrington is similar to parquet but instead the wood is
arranged diagonally. Perimeter bordering gives your wood
floor a fashionable frame.
Wood floors come in just about any color,
depending upon the stain you go with. Natural colors, such
as oak and maple, are the most popular these days because
they do not show the effects of heavy traffic as much as
other colors. Other stains include; light, medium, dark,
and custom. Keep in mind, every board is usually a bit different
in color because each one comes from a different tree.
Other considerations include the species
and grade of the wood. The species of wood is basically
the �type� of wood. There are an estimated 50 different
species of woods to select from, including domestic and
exotic. Each species has a certain grade. The higher the
grade the better quality of wood you will be receiving.
Grading measures the hardness of wood and its resistance
to wear.
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