Ready to upgrade your home and get a great return on investment? Look no further than hardwood flooring! It’s a project that not only adds beauty and warmth to your space but also boosts your property’s value when you decide to sell. In this article, we’ll cover hardwood flooring types, installation tips, and costs. Get ready to enjoy stunning floors that impress and pay off!
Types
There are three categories of hardwood flooring
- Natural – These are real wood that shows the natural veins and is stained with different colors. They come in different thicknesses (1/4”, 3/8”, 1/2” etc.) They also come in various widths. These can be sanded and restained over any number of times. From a maintenance point of view, these require the most care, especially when there is a water spill.
- There are two types of installation
- Glue down – As the name indicates, one can glue these to the leveled floor.
- Nailed down – In this installation, you nail down plywood to the floor and then nail the hardwood to the plywood.
- Manufactured – There are two types
- Laminate – a highly durable material that is scratch resistant with many colors and textures. Most Laminates are floated on the floor and will need an underlayment is required to reduce the noise. From a maintenance point of view, these are relatively more straightforward when compared with natural hardwood but will get easily damaged when a water spill is left unattended or not cleaned immediately. Many of these laminates are scratch resistant and will maintain their texture and color for years to come.
- Luxury Vinyl Planks – These are relatively newer products that are similar to Laminate but offer water-resistant or waterproof. These products provide a rich wood-like texture and come in a plethora of colors. The installation of these products is much easier and can be attached to the flooring.
- Hybrid (Engineered wood) – It has real wood for 5 to 7 millimeters, which is then attached to a manufactured material. In all aspects, this is similar to natural timber except one is limited to how many times the wood can be sanded and restained.
Costs
In general, natural wood is the most expensive, followed by Engineered timber, luxury vinyl planks, and laminates.
In terms of labor cost, nail down is the most expensive, followed by laminate and luxury vinyl planks.
Conclusion
Wood flooring adds a great touch to one property. An excellent way to shop is to visit exclusive stores that do carry flooring material. Pick/buy some samples, bring them home, place them on the floor, and see how they appeal. Upon arriving at a decision, interview at least three flooring vendors, talk to their past customers, get quotes, and decide on a contractor that you are most comfortable with.