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A surefire way to improve the appearance of your home, regardless of the room, is to install hard wood flooring. This beautiful, rich look of this type of floor will completely change not just the appearance but also the feel of your home. The great thing about hard wood flooring is that if cared for properly, it should last a lifetime. Although real hardwood floors are more expensive than laminate, the investment is one you would get back should you ever decide to sell.
With hard wood flooring being such a popular choice for homes across the country, you will now find great options for wood, color, and even pattern. In addition, while hardwood floors had to be installed by a professional until a few years ago, this material is now designed so the do-it-yourselfer can have the same incredible results. Therefore, if you are handy and have time to install your own flooring, you can save tremendous money. Just remember that the installation process can be tedious so you want to allow adequate time and be patient during the process. The most exciting and difficult part of buying new hard wood flooring is trying to decide what works best for your home and needs. For this reason, we suggest you consider all your options. For instance, with solid wood, you have three primary choices, which are available in unfinished or pre-finished styles. With the unfinished type of flooring, the wood is sanded and finished after it has been installed whereas the pre-finished option is beautifully finished at the factory and installed completely done. With strip hard wood flooring, you would notice the wood planks are thicker and wider than other options. For instance, the thickness typically ranges from 5/16 to 3/4 of an inch and widths between 1 ½, 2, and 2 ¼ inches. Another option is plank flooring. In this case, the wood is available in two options for thickness although widths usually vary anywhere from 3 to 8 inches. Then, hard wood flooring comes in a parquet style, which is different, being made from geometrical patterns all made from individual wood slats that are connected with adhesive or some type of mechanical fastening system. You will also need to determine the type of wood you want for your new flooring. For this, there are beautiful variations in color, pattern, and price. Therefore, choose what you like and what fits within your financial means. The most popular types of wood include red oak, which is simply stunning, white oak that is actually brown in color with a grayish cast, birch that varies dramatically in color, and beech, a reddish brown with a beautiful, consistent grain. However, if you want something unique for your hard wood flooring, you could go with pine that has a yellowish brown color and lots of knots and swirls, cherry, a rich but light brown color, or Douglas fir, a wonderful yellow tan color.
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Wood Flooring by Type