Are hardwood floors worth it?
Over the past few years, the number of old home renovations and restorations have caused a surge in the housing market for DIYers wanting to duplicate the ‘Joanna and Chip’ look. That look includes white kitchen with lots of granite, stainless steel, open cabinets, and wall to wall hardwood flooring throughout the entire house, preferably all original.
What many of these DIYers are finding out, if properly done, hardwood flooring installation and repair isn’t as easy and fast as these television shows would lead us to believe. You have to consider they have a construction crew, and they are filming these hour long shows over a period of months, sometimes six months or longer. There is a lot of cut footage left on the floor somewhere along the way.
We don’t want to burst your bubble with this introduction, and yes, hardwood flooring is worthwhile. There are many hardwood flooring benefits, but there are also hardwood flooring disadvantages.
What are the pros and cons of hardwood flooring?
The Pros of Hardwood Flooring
- Durability – these have stood the test of time more than many other flooring materials. There are homes older than 100 years that have the original hardwood flooring in excellent shape because they were properly maintained. That maintenance doesn’t take as much effort and time as you may think either – basic sweep or vacuum, then use a wood floor cleaning product to clean it occasionally.
- Upgrade – Home buyers today are typically willing to make a top dollar for a home with hardwood flooring over homes with wall-to-wall carpeting, and hardwood flooring will sell a house faster too.
- Styling – Hardwood flooring can work with any décor styles, of decorating, from modern to traditional, the variety in the types of hardwood flooring with cherry, oak, and walnut, you can change the looks of the hardwood flooring to match your décor changes with a little sanding and staining.
The Cons of Hardwood Flooring
- Expensive: Hardwood flooring is an expensive option, as much as $12 or more per square foot, depending on the type of wood. It requires a sub-flooring and because it turns out to be a bigger job than most DIY homeowners realize, hiring somebody to do the flooring is expensive.
- Refinishing: Hardwood flooring can be scratched and scuffed if you don’t get the right type of wood. The softer the wood, the more prone to scratches and scuffing, and the more frequent it will need to be refinished. Refinishing hardwood flooring will create a lot of dust and the polyurethane coating it needs has strong fumes.
- Noisy: Hardwood flooring is noisy compared to carpeting as you walk across the room. Area rugs can muffle the noise and provide some warmth in the winter.
Which is better solid hardwood or engineered hardwood?
There isn’t any advantage or disadvantage to either one, it is all a matter of personal taste and budget. Solid hardwood flooring is solid wood, as the name suggests, every layer is wood. Solid hardwood flooring is typically made from oak, maple, or walnut. You can sand it and stain, refinished over and over each time you change your décor.
Engineered hardwood flooring looks like solid hardwood on the surface, but it is made with a thin layer of hardwood that is bonded over plywood. It is the less expensive of the two and can usually be sanded stained once.
What is the best type of hardwood floor?
When you decide you want hardwood flooring, your first steps will be deciding if you want engineered hardwood flooring or solid hardwood flooring. The choice is personal decision based on the household and the budget.
Solid hardwood flooring is the popular and traditional in recent years. It is good for areas where the atmospheric moisture content is relatively stable. The typical thickness is 3/4” thick and must be nailed or stapled into place.
Engineered hardwood is versatile and can be installed in almost any room. Subflooring isn’t required, so installing it over a concrete subfloor isn’t an issue. It can be installed over radiant heated flooring too! Contracting and expanding is minimized because of the cross layer construction used in manufacturing this flooring. I can be glued, nailed, stapled, or installed to float with a click lock design.
Let’s Take This Conversation To The Floor and Wrap It Up
Now that you’ve gained some information and insight on hardwood flooring, what is the most durable wood floor? We’ve talked about how installing hardwood flooring not only looks great in your home, but the investment is one you’ll definitely see a return on if you decide to sell your home. Hardwood flooring is to floors and granite is to countertops. You can’t go wrong!
So, which is the most durable of all the hardwood flooring choices? Bamboo! Yes, bamboo is technically grass, but it has earned its place among the hardwood flooring options. It has a classic appearance that we expect to last 20 years or more (check back with us in about 15 years, after it has been around as a flooring material.).
It is more durable than maple or oak because it is a harder material. It is sustainable, more than other woods because it can be harvested every three to five years versus two hundred years like other hardwoods. Call 817.861.3737 today for your hardwood flooring options.