What You Need to Know When Shopping for Hardwood Flooring |
Posted: May 25, 2017 |
Take a look at a few hardwood flooring samples, and you may feel overwhelmed. There is a lot to consider when installing hardwood floors for the first time or upgrading from your current selection. It’s easy to get confused when the sales person starts talking. Here are a few essential things you need to know before you start shopping for a new hardwood floor.
Know the Difference
One of the first things you need to know before you start shopping is that just because it looks like wood, it doesn’t mean it is wood. There are also two different categories of wood. First, there’s hardwood flooring, which is a solid piece of wood cut into a strip or plank to be laid on the subfloor. Engineered wood is made up of real wood along with a plywood base. This type of flooring is ideal for use in bathrooms and kitchens or anywhere moisture may accumulate.
Modern laminate flooring can be made to look like wood, but it’s just a piece of printed paper that is attached to fiberboard covered by a clear layer. It’s less expensive than hardwood, but it isn’t real wood.
Understand Wood Species
You’ll see all kinds of options for wood floors, including the well-known oak and maple. However, other types of wood use these terms, but they can be misleading. For instance, Brazilian Cherry isn’t really cherry wood at all. It’sjatoba wood. Australian Cypress is really pine wood. Tasmanian Oak is eucalyptus wood rather than a type of oak.
Another popular option in hardwood flooring is bamboo. A lot of modern homes contain this type of flooring, but it is really just a grass found in tropical regions rather than a true wood. It’s still a beautiful choice, but you should be aware that it has some significant differences from hardwood. For one thing, it may have a shorter life than oak or cherry.
Prefinished vs. Unfinished
When you shop for hardwood flooring, you will find the option of either buying prefinished wood or unfinished wood. Unfinished wood flooring is cheaper because it hasn’t been finished. You will need to have it sanded and sealed once it has been installed.
There are two primary benefits for choosing unfinished wood flooring. First, it is less expensive as long as you can do the staining yourself. Second, it’s often easier to match with your existing floor or with other features in the home.
Prefinished wood may be the best option if you don’t know how to install it yourself or do the staining. It’s also ready to be walked on as soon as it’s installed. This type of flooring often has multiple coats of stain for long-lasting design.
If you’re ready to buy hardwood flooring for your home, make sure you understand the differences in products. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and even find out if you can take a sample home and see how it looks in your home before you commit to a purchase.
Canada's premier hardwood flooring store. Proudly selling Hardwood Flooring in Toronto since 1977. We have hardwood, laminates, engineered, and exotic flooring; we also provide hardwood flooring installation.
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