Installing Hardwood Floors

Without doubt, hardwood is one of the most beautiful, durable, and valued choices you can make. By installing hardwood floors, you breathe new life into your home with natural beauty, richness, and sophistication. Before you run out and just buy any hardwood floor, you want to consider a few things such as lifestyle, amount of traffic, the room in which the flooring will be installed, personal style, and so on.

As you begin the comparison process, you will find that hardwood floors come in two primary choices to include plank and strip. With plank, you have a wider floor, often as wide as seven inches. With strip, the flooring is much narrower, typically around two and three-quarters of an inch. You will also find that hardwood flooring comes in a wide range of wood choices. However, birch and maple are considered the top two choices for beauty, strength, and durability, following the number one choice – oak.

Since installing hardwood floors on your own eliminates the “professional”, you should do your homework to understand your options. For instance, all wood is judged by several factors. With “clear”, you would have beautiful wood with few character marks or flaws. For “select”, the grain of the wood is bright, the pieces generally match well, and the wood has few flaws. Next, you have “number one common”, which means there are a few marks and the wood has both light and dark pieces. Finally, “number two common” shows character marks, which would include discoloration, wormholes, and knots.

Installing hardwood floors is an exciting project, one that will produce excellent results and a ton of self-gratification. Another important decision you will need to make is on choosing finished or unfinished wood. With a finished product, the flooring would be delivered to your home sanded and sealed. Because of this, the wood will resist moisture while not swelling or shrinking much. Additionally, the messy process of finishing is done, saving you time and effort. However, you could save a little money by purchasing unfinished wood, which means the boards are raw. Yes, you would have to sand and seal them but again, you swap mess for savings.

One of the most important aspects of installing hardwood floors is following the instructions provided by the manufacturer. Although most manufacturers will have similar information, there would be differences. Therefore, rather than guess, you definitely want to pay attention to what the manufacturing company says. With this, you will find the process of installing hardwood floors goes smoother and with a much better outcome.