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Types of Wood Floors

Hardwood Floor Strips

Hardwood strips in the trade name for full thickness (usually although there are various thicknesses) real wood floor. The biggest advantage is that it's the real thing. It is thicker than other floors so it is better for insulation, sound proofing and will last many years because it can be refinished several times. In the last five years there has been a great development of pre-finished flooring. This is an excellent system to use, because it eliminates the sanding and on site finishing process, therefore saving time and making the job cleaner. Wood floor is available also unfinished. The pre-finished strips are available with different stains. In order to make the best selection you must decide on the following:

  • Species
    You need to determine what your favorite wood species is according to your taste and budget. A popular trend in recent years is the pre-finished bamboo flooring. The most popular species are oak, maple, and cherry, but there are hundreds of possibilities available. The most beautiful are the exotic species from Africa and South America such as Zebra wood or Purple-heart. These are usually much more expensive.
  • Grade
    There are different grades. The better the grades, the less knots, holes and color variation. Some prefer a lower grade in order to show “character”, but most people like the higher select or clear grades. Grades may be determined according to your budget, since the better grades are most expensive.
  • Width
    The standard width is 2“. The wider the plank, the bigger the room would look. The wider planks are considered nicer looking, but are more expensive, because it is harder to find large pieces of wood.

Engineered Flooring

This product has become very popular within the last decade. Only the top part is the real wood, and all the rest is made of different woods or manmade products. The biggest advantage is that it is more resistant to changes in humidity or water damage. It looks perfect because, and the strips join perfectly together. Being manmade there are no imperfections, which is why the strips connect perfectly. It is thinner than hardwood and usually can be glued down. In many cases the reason for using it is to avoid installing a plywood sub floor. Eliminating the sub floor in addition to the thinner strips is a great advantage in cases that require cutting down the bottom of doors, because the new installation will raise the height of the floor. A big disadvantage is that because the top layer is thin, it can not be refinished as many times as a thick hardwood floor.

Laminated Flooring

The new brand of laminated flooring is PERGO, but there are many other brands available. It is fastest to install and does not require a plywood sub floor although it is recommended. It may be installed using a floating floor technique. This technique allows each strip to connect to one another, but not to be attached to the sub floor. The whole floor is one piece, which is floating above the sub floor. The advantages of this system is that it saves time and money on installation and plywood. The biggest problem is that if the floor is not perfectly level, you will feel it when you are walking on the floor. There will be pockets of air underneath you, and when you step the floor may sink. The biggest disadvantage is that it is not the real thing. The top layer is a high pressure laminate (like FORMICA), which is made to imitate the wood look, but is definitely far from the real thing.

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