To help the client to determine the design of the floor that they want, we need to take a small tour through all different kinds of wood flooring types.
Each tree has its own qualities and properties, including color and texture. With different sets, installing hardwood in your home can give you different sensations, and thus awaken different feelings! For example, a pale maple can help your children concentrate better while doing homework, and also help you with whatever project you are doing. Red-brown cherries help to relax you after a busy day.
If the client is fairly low-maintenance about determining the floor installation method, they will likely have difficulty choosing their design. Arriving at the shop for the first time, they probably won’t understand the wood flooring types and will see them only for their aesthetics.
So, let’s take look at:
Walnut is perhaps the most popular among the darker woods. It is much softer than oak or cherry. Also, installation is easy especially if you’re using the nail down method. If you have chosen a warm and beautiful cherry for your future floor, be aware that this wood tends to get darker year by year.
Oak has become a very popular flooring option in North America. It has a pronounced texture, is strong but not overly powerful, and comes in varying shades. Though, over time, the oak can become brittle and less hard and almost never rots. Matured for several decades in the water, the oak becomes black and very hard.
It is most often utilized as a prefinished engineered hardwood floor. It allows the client to put this material on a color stain, if they like. This type of wood is also one of the strongest.
Birch, due to it’s pale color, gives the illusion of more space to your home. Birch is a bit softer than oak. One of its disadvantages is that it is susceptible to cracking and warping. A certain level of humidity needs to be maintained in your home if you end up choosing birch to prevent the wood from shrinking or rotting.
The next type of wood was very popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Pine. Some customers want to create an antique atmosphere. To do this, pine is ideal because it can look beautifully aged with stain.
Another popular wood flooring type is maple. It has a beautiful texture, is strong, and thanks to it’s endurance can be used for a considerable length of time.
The color tones of the soft wood, Fir, range from pale yellow to light red color. It is perhaps the softest wood used for home flooring. The best place to install it is in low traffic spaces due to it’s fragility.
Ash has a clear texture, which eventually becomes brighter and deeper. It is often confused with oak, as their texture is very similar. This type of wood can be whitened, but can also be covered with stain at the request of customers. With this type of wood a homeowner should be very cautious of water and it’s effect on this kind of wood.
Another common kind of wood flooring types is beech. Beech is also a hard wood and has a fairly wide range of different shades from medium-brown to light-pink and is famous for it’s distinctive spots.
For more great tips on wood flooring types read our posts.