Hardwood Flooring Types

If you are thinking about hardwood flooring for your home or business, you might think you only have a few different options – and you’d be wrong. There are many different hardwood flooring types to choose from, especially if you want to keep your options open.

Hardwood floors are beautiful and unmatched when it comes to performance. They match with many different styles of décor, and they can withstand quite a bit. Whether you like modern styles, traditional styles, or you want something breezy and beachy, there is a hardwood flooring type to match your style.

Hardwood flooring can go in almost any room of your home, including kitchens, bathrooms, and basements with special installation methods. So how do you choose the hardwood flooring types for you? It all depends on what you need.

Hardwood Flooring Types: Species

The first thing you want to think about when looking at hardwood flooring types is the species of hardwood flooring that you want. The best hardwood floors are made of woods that are easy to get and extremely hard. Softwoods don’t last as long – and are often farmed in ways that aren’t great for the environment. Oak, cherry and maple flooring are some of the most popular choices because they are hard, and they are beautiful. Increasingly, bamboo flooring, mahogany, ash, and walnut are popular as well.

If you want hardwood flooring types that are rare, and you won’t find in every home, but are still responsibly farmed and will last a long time, you may want to look at teak, mesquite, or Jarrah. You just want to look at the way the wood is farmed so that everything is responsible.

Another option is to use reclaimed hardwood flooring. Some companies have this option as a way to save some money and still get a quality hardwood floor. These floors will show signs of wear, but they can be repaired and look great. You will likely have to sign up for a waiting list, but it is a possibility. If you are working with an older home, it is a great way to bring some of the charms without having to settle for prefab flooring.

Hardwood Flooring Types: Finished vs. Unfinished

One of the first things you want to figure out is whether or not you want your hardwood flooring finished. Finished hardwood flooring typically comes from the factory already sanded, stained, and sealed. If you decide to go this route, the installation process will be much quicker, and you might be able to save some money. There isn’t any odor or VOC emission when you use finished hardwood flooring types. Everything is finished quickly, and you can live and walk on it immediately.

If you are looking to have a more personalized experience or you have a specific look or color that you want, unfinished hardwood flooring might be your best option. With unfinished flooring, you can apply custom stain before the final finish. This is a great option if you are picky about colors or if you have to join the flooring with existing flooring in your home.

This process does take quite a bit longer. After the hardwood flooring is installed and stained, the flooring then has to get several coats of finish. Of course, the floor has to dry completely between each coat.

Now, the choice is largely up to you and what you want. However, there are a few instances when one type of flooring is better than the other. If you have young children or pets, finished flooring is better because it doesn’t put those chemicals out into the air. However, if you are going to put hardwood flooring in a place where it will encounter water (kitchen, bathroom), you will want to put unfinished flooring because there is a special type of finish that can be used to seal the seams between the boards.

If you are confused, talk to a hardwood flooring company to see what your options may be – and which ones will be the best for you.

Hardwood Flooring Types: Solid or Engineered?

One more thing you want to think about is the type of hardwood flooring that you get – either solid or engineered. Solid hardwood flooring is made of all wood and is usually fairly thick. This wood can be sanded and refinished many times as the years go – but you will have to replace it eventually. With solid hardwood flooring types, you do have to be careful about changes in humidity. For this reason, solid hardwood isn’t recommended for basements, kitchens, or bathrooms.

Engineered hardwood flooring uses a veneer of real wood that has been attached to plywood or another engineered wood underneath. This makes the floor extremely hard and a great choice for almost any room in the home. If the hardwood veneer is thick enough, you will be able to sand and refinish the floor a couple of times.

Interested in Hardwood Flooring Types In Fort Worth TX?

Interested in installing hardwood flooring in your home? If you want to play it safe with the selection process, contact a professional for some help. Get in touch with us today, call (817) 585-8714 and we can help you to figure out the top hardwood flooring companies in Fort Worth TX that could address any of your questions about installation, maintenance, and care for all hardwood flooring types.