When it comes to selecting flooring for your home, nothing beats hardwood. Hardwood panels can be an elaborate way to update your house and boost its value. While some homeowners believe hardwood floors only work with certain interior designs, nothing could be further from the truth. Hardwood floors enhance any interior, from contemporary to traditional and everything in between. If you’re wary of the upkeep often associated with hardwood flooring, don’t be. Hardwood floors are compatible with any home style.

Personal Taste

Some people avoid hardwood flooring because they believe it will feel cold on the feet. However, hardwood floors can easily be topped with carpets, rugs, and other décor, making it fit warmly and comfortably into any home. It’s also quite beautiful on its own and can be warmed up with a new finish. Whether you prefer dark woods or light-colored woods, simple or complex designs, there’s a hardwood flooring option that can fit your personal preferences. Continue Reading →

When you pick out a wood floor, keep in mind that kitchen floors may have varying needs. The kitchen is a high traffic area that’s susceptible to dirt and liquid accumulation. Kitchen hardwood floors really require careful consideration.

Choosing Your Kitchen Hardwood Floor 

Hardwood flooring can add charm to any room and work well in the kitchen, but you may want to choose your wood carefully before having your hardwood floor installed. Oak, ash, maple, and other “hard” hardwoods are more resistant to scratches and dings than pine, fir, or cherry.

Many eco-friendly wood floor options aren’t actually wood, but are “wood-like,” and include cork and bamboo, which are considered tropical woods.

Solid Wood Floors

Solid wood floors are the most basic and typical type of wooden floors. Due to their thickness and hardness, they may not be suitable for kitchen wood floor installation. Continue Reading →

The beauty of your hardwood floor can be enhanced by the polyurethane coating that a professional wood flooring installer applies. If you’ve had the floor installed recently, you probably won’t need to refinish for at least 5 years, but it depends on the finish you have. Some can last seven years or more. That timeframe depends on how much traffic the floor undergoes and whether there are frequent stains from spills. The general rule of thumb is to schedule a hardwood floor refinishing every five to seven years. 

Wood Floor Maintenance is the Key

Other kinds of wood floor maintenance can be very beneficial. The winter months are usually drier in most parts of the country, but here in the Pacific Northwest it’s the summers that are dry, and the winters that are humid. Wood can react to excess moisture by swelling and then contracting, leaving gaps between the boards. This is normal, but it should be monitored because you won’t want the boards to turn up at the ends (cupping). The boards may then have the center move higher than the ends (crowning) when humidity increases and the wood naturally swells. This will require a hardwood flooring professional to come in and remedy the issue. Continue Reading →