Why hardwood?
It’s hard to beat wood. Wood is a natural material that has withstood the test of time and design. If you are looking for a flooring option that’s healthy, easy to maintain, will last you a lifetime and stay in style for just as long, wood flooring is the best choice. Thanks to its natural characteristics it has many advantages over other types of flooring materials, including some of the more modern and high-tech alternatives. Hardwood flooring, be it engineered or solid, is made from real wood and guarantees natural warmth and authentic look for your living and working space. It’s simple but fashionable look will not only enrich your interior but also add value to your home at resale time.
Some of the most prominent advantages of wood floors include:
Affordability and Durability
Due to its luxurious appearance wood is often mistaken for a rather expensive material. However, in reality, the installed cost of wood flooring per square foot is generally lower than it is for tile, stone and other flooring materials. On top of that, it remains the durability champion among the flooring materials: With over 30 years of normal use, it easily outlives 4 generations of carpet.
Health Benefits
Hartwood is famous for being the most healthy choice for flooring material. It’s 100%/predominantly made of real wood and helps maintain good indoor air quality. According to the American Environmental Protection Agency, the air quality is one of the top factors for the healthy living environment. Hardwood floors, solid as well as engineered don’t trap dust, help avoid mites, mold or even artificial substances such as pesticides that can accumulate on some floor coverings. With natural material like wood, there is also no concern for the off-gassing of toxins that can come from synthetic materials used in some of the more current flooring supplies and cause chronic illnesses. Hardwood floors are 100% allergy free and greatly contribute to healthy environment in your home or office.
Environment-Friendly Nature
Hardwood is not only good for your health, it’s also good for the environment. Unlike most flooring alternatives, it comes from a natural resource that is easily renewable. The days of unsolicited tree cutting with the long term consequences on the nation’s forests remain in the past. Today the hardwood forests used to produce flooring products grow more than twice as fast as they are being harvested. This industry-wide commitment to sustainable wood made it possible to have 90% more hardwood growing today in the U.S. than there was half a century ago. Wood is also biodegradable, recyclable, and a great carbon sink.It’s also the least energy-consuming flooring material and consumes far less energy in the manufacturing process than floor coverings like carpet, linoleum or tile. ready for use.
Great Variety
Wood floors are timeless and always in demand. With today’s advanced technologies and manufacturers having the ability to produce the same quality product in less time using fewer resources, it seems like the range has become endless. Hardwood flooring today comes in all possible sizes, colours, styles and finishes making it easier for you to find the perfect floor for your living or working space.
Engineered Hardwood vs Solid Hardwood
HARDWOOD FLOORS
The richness and style every home deserves
Installing hardwood floor in the living room is a no-brainer. In any home, the living room serves as a multifunctional space.You should be able to fully relax there at weekdays and have people over for a flashy party on a weekend.
Hardwood can do both. Tested by the time it’s sophisticated enough to pull off any special occasion and it’s warm and homey enough to offer you enough comfort after a stressful day at work. Plus it’s high trafficked area that requires a flooring that can endure great “feet load” on daily basis. A hardwood floor can take anything you throw at it, from house shoes to high heels and beyond. It’s warm and pleasant to walk on without socks and easy to take care of. A simple sweep goes a long way with wood floors. It’s a piece of outdoors in the house you can admire without leaving your couch.
The bedroom is where we spend at least one-third of our lives. Sleeping fuels our body and gives us the energy to face a new day. With increased workload, longer working hours and a high number of commuters the length of sleep has significantly shortened in the last couple of decades. This is why having quality shut-eye time matters like never before. Sadly uninterrupted sleep is something not many of us know. Granted smartphones are a big cause for this issue but not the only one. Too often bad air quality is to blame. Installing quality hardwood flooring will not only provide a warm and organic support under your feet but will help you get uninterrupted sleep. Hardwood floor, be it solid or engineered, is natural and 100% made of real wood. This allows the material to “breathe”. When your floor breaths, so do you. There is no risk of setting free any harmful chemicals. Because it’s a hard surfaced floor, getting rid of dust and allergens is as easy as using a slightly damp cloth or even easier with help of a vacuum cleaner.
Carpet with its soft fibre surface is famous for being quieter than any other type of flooring. That said, correctly installed hardwood can be equally peaceful. The shifting and creaking of planks when walked across can be easily avoided when the laying down process is done by a flooring professional who knows his job.
The transmission of sound can also be damped by installing insulating underlayment beneath the hardwood. Installing hardwood floor in your bedroom doesnțt take away the choice to enjoy the softness of carpet under your toes once you wake up. Area rugs and carpets can be easily combined with wood flooring. This addition will add comfort to your chamber and help cancel the noise.
Installing hardwood floors in the kitchen can bring the best out of your space. Dark or distressed hardwood especially will create a beautiful contrast with more clean and bright looking kitchen cabinets and countertops. Despite the widespread opinion on wood floors and water not mixing well together, enjoying a hardwood floor in your kitchen is still very doable as long as you are up for the job and ready to treat the floor with extra care. Being careful in your ways while you cook, cleaning up spills immediately and keeping your humidity levels as steady as possible are some of the things you’ll have to sign on before driving to your nearest hardwood store.
Lucky for wood lovers, modern hardwood flooring companies recognize the high demand on timeless floors and offer plenty of solutions for the humidity related issue. Different ‘upgrades’ to the to traditional hardwood board floors as well as countless new coating materials can keep the water out more effectively. We do business with the finest hardwood suppliers and stores in the country and offer the newest flooring materials for all your home remodeling needs.
Hardwood floor is definitely not the first choice for a bathroom.
Bathrooms are famous for being humid and full of water hazards. Wood is notoriously known for having issues regarding moist environments. However, just like in the case of installing a hardwood floor in the kitchen, having a wood floor in the bathroom is still a possibility, only here it will require a higher level of maintenance than in other places.
While even the smallest spill of water can cause hardwood in its unprotected state to expand, warp, and stain beyond recognition, applying a finishing agent will create a clear coating on top of the floors surface to guard it against the water. This protects your floor not only from post shower dampness but also from direct spills on the surface.
Installing Hardwood floor as an investment
In this day and age of the global world and looming financial instability, it’s all too important to be aware of the value of your possessions. House is perhaps the most prominent entity most of us own and the biggest investment of our lives. There is nothing wrong with planning ahead and choosing a design that isn’t only comfortable but also profitable for the future.
Hardwood floors don’t only add aesthetic value to your home but also contribute to receiving a fatter paycheck if you decide to resale your property later on.
Hardwood gives you value at a later resale date without you having to sacrifice any aspect of your life. Accidents are part of our lives and hardwood floors embrace that like no other flooring. You can sand and refinish your floor multiple times and every time it will look just like when it was first laid down. By choosing a wood floor for your new home you’ll be able to live your life to the fullest and make the most of your space without having to be extra cautious.
In addition to financial profit, it also makes a great first impression increasing your chances to find a future owner for your house faster than usual.
According to the National Wood Flooring Association, the U.S. real estate agents report a correlation between sold real estate and existing hardwood flooring that’s hard to ignore.
Numbers don’t lie. 99% of real estate agent say that homes with hardwood floors are easier to sell, 90% back this up and add that those homes draw more money than any other type of housing, 82% report faster sales.
How much does hardwood installation cost
Deciding on your budget and being aware of the costs from the stars will make it easier for you to filter through the wide choice of floors hardwood suppliers offer and save you a lot of time in the process.
In addition to paying for the floor itself, you’ll need to pay for the installation.Unless you are skilled floor installer yourself, it still may be cheaper to hire pros. Not much gets wasted when a professional is at work. In contrast, trained floor specialists lay down one floor per day on average. On the other hand, you a DIY enthusiast may do it once or twice in your lifetime.
Hardwood suppliers and flooring companies sell their products and services on a square foot basis. Your total cost can vary significantly depending on what kind of hard floor you will choose and the type of hardwood you choose and your location, but the common price range is $5 – $8 per square foot.
Most of the wood flooring companies based in the US get their materials from national hardwood forests. If you live closer to a hardwood factory or a major supplier in the region, chances are you can get your hands on a variety of wood floors for less. Granted that there are less wood transportation and handling fees to pay for. Also, the common rule of market applies here aswell: The more you get the cheaper it will be.
Deciding on your budget and being aware of the costs from the stars will make it easier for you to filter through the wide choice of floors hardwood suppliers offer and save you a lot of time in the process.
In addition to paying for the floor itself, you’ll need to pay for the installation service. Unless you are skilled floor installer yourself, it still may be cheaper to hire pros. Not much gets wasted when a professional is at work. In contrast, trained floor installers lay down one floor per day on average. A DIY enthusiast, on the other hand, may do it once or twice in their lifetime.
The best thing about installing solid hardwood floors is definitely the durability. Being able to refinish your floor sometimes up to 5 times challenges you in the best and worst of ways. Damage is never terminal and redesigning options are always endless.
The cost for refinishing your hardwood floor depends on its type and state and varies nationally.
Desired stain and finish and weather you’ll need help to move the furniture can also cause fluctuations in the price. In general refinishing ranges from $2 to $5 per square foot.
You can certainly get new hardwood laid down for the same price but it will be hardly the same. Old floors are valued more than new ones. Having been installed decades ago they are drier than any fresh hardwood floor could be and thus more durable.
Finish matters too. While hand scraped hardwood is a unique piece you can get for your home and in general, is laid down the same way any hardwood floor is, it requires a lot more manual work and is going to be more expensive.