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Below we will explain the benefits of solid wood flooring over alternative flooring types and detail what solid wood flooring can do to enhance your home.
Why Choose a Hardwood Floor?
There are many benefits to solid wood flooring both practical and aesthetic. Primarily people choose solid wood flooring for their home because of its warmth and beauty. There are many different wood types to choose from, each with their own individual qualities that make them so attractive.
By far and away our most popular choice for solid wood flooring is Oak, which comes in both American red or white or French varieties. Oak exudes a natural warmth with it’s light golden brown colour sometimes flecked with a hint of red in the grain depending on the variety you choose.
Another popular choice for a light, almost white floor is Canadian Maple. Alternatively for those who prefer dark wood then the deep chocolatey Wenge or the rich red and browns of Merbau with it’s gold fleck, both create stunning results.
It’s not just wood types that make solid wood flooring beautiful but also the design of your floor. There are many types to choose from ranging from simple strip or engineered floorboards to mosaic panels and bespoke parquet designs in a choice of elaborate patterns like herringbone, basket weave and chevron. Different treatments of solid wood flooring can also add to its beauty and visual appeal. For those who prefer a rustic look, aged and distressed floors are an excellent choice. Here each individual floorboard or panel is tumbled and hand finished which gives a genuine lived in appeal to the look of your solid wood flooring.
Solid wood flooring is also very hygienic and easy to keep clean. Food and drink spills can be wiped up easily and you can sweep or vacuum the floor as required. Dust is visible and has nothing to become ingrained into so you always know your solid wood flooring is completely clean.
Durability and value for money is another big benefit of installing a hardwood floor. It depends on the wood you choose for your solid wood flooring but hardwood floors should last you a lifetime if looked after properly with only the need for a refresh of its finish every 1 to 2 years.
And because solid wood flooring is so desirable and is such a long lasting investment in the beauty and practicality of your home it can raise the value of your property if you wish to sell it. It is often seen as a key feature for estate agents to use in the house description.
Why Choose a Solid Wood Floor Over Laminate?
- Although good quality laminate floors are made to look like solid wood flooring they don’t have the same natural, beautiful appearance you only get with real wood.
- Solid wood flooring has a much longer lifespan than laminate flooring. Laminate floors will last at best between 10-20 years.
- Laminate floors cannot be restored or individual floorboards repaired. So once part of a laminate floor is damaged, the entire floor must be replaced. In contrast, wood floors can be sanded on average between 4-8 times, restoring an 'as-new' finish.
- Although solid wood flooring is no less dusty than laminate floors it is just as easy to keep clean and it will add more value to your property depending upon the kind of house you have.
- Laminate is only really a temporary solution to your flooring needs compared to the lifetime of pleasure you can get from solid wood flooring.
- For many years carpet was the first choice for flooring in most homes but as fashions and styles have changed there is now much more of a trend towards cleaner lines and natural materials. This means that solid wood flooring is an ideal choice as an alternative to carpet.
- Solid wood flooring retains it’s beautiful appearance for much longer than a new carpet. Carpet can soon look dull, tired and shabby with an average life of just 8-10 years. If properly maintained your wooden floor will last a lifetime.
- Once a carpet is worn or damaged then it needs to be replaced whereas a solid wood floor can be repaired or restored by sanding down and refinishing. This means once you’ve had the initial floor laid you don’t have the upheaval of having it done again.
- Carpet can trap dust and dirt particles you cannot see, which even a high tech vacuum cleaner cannot get to. Because any dust or dirt sits on top of the surface of the wood, hardwood floors are much easier to keep clean and more hygienic, especially in rooms such as kitchens and bathrooms.
- Solid wood flooring is a healthier option for Asthma sufferers.
- Vinyl flooring is often a popular choice in kitchens and bathrooms and can last up to 25 years but it is often not of the greatest quality and certainly has a very dated look in today’s modern home.
- It is a misconception that you cannot have solid wood flooring in kitchens and bathrooms. With the correct wood choice, finish and sealant then wood will give you a stunning natural look that will compliment any changes in décor over the years, and also be highly durable.
- In short, solid wood flooring looks better and lasts longer than vinyl!
Here is a guide to some of our most popular wood types used for flooring.
American Oak - comes in both white and red varieties and is of a medium hardness. Both American and French Oak types are among our most popular wood choices for flooring.
French Oak - can come in quarter swan, flat sawn, natural or rustic grades. They are all of a medium hardness and predominantly light golden brown in colour with a dark grain and some with large knots.
Canadian Maple - is harder than Oak but has a much brighter white colour with small black flecks in the grain.
Burmese Teak - is an exotic hard wood with a trace of yellow in its grain underneath a dark brown base colour.
American Black Walnut - is a very dark wood, almost black in parts from the colour of the grain. Although it’s hardness rating is soft to medium it is very durable and extremely resistant to moisture.
Wenge - an exotic wood from Africa that is almost black in colour. This makes a very dramatic statement for flooring and is ideal due to its hardness and resistance to denting and footfall.
Merbau - an Indonesian wood of medium to hard strength, this wood will give you a very different look with its red brown colour and yellow grain.
Beech - a very light, almost blonde wood with a modern contemporary feel, Beech is of a medium hardness and holds the colour of additional stains very well.
Solid Wood Flooring - click here to browse our range of products
