So you’ve decided to transform your home with beautiful hardwood flooring. Which hardwood will you choose? Let’s consider the most popular varieties of hardwood flooring options and the pros and cons of each.
The five most popular hardwoods for flooring are oak, walnut, hickory, maple, and cherry.
Oak Hardwood Flooring
Durable, hard and easy to work with, oak flooring offers great water resistance and can be refinished easily. Oak is also affordable. Compared to other hardwoods, it tends to contract and expand with changes in temperature and humidity. It’s reasonably priced and versatile, with many finishing options.
Walnut Hardwood Flooring
Beautiful, rich and dark, Walnut offers the smoothest texture and is even resistant to humidity. In fact, it also has the unique quality of repelling insects. Walnut’s luxurious dark hues and interesting textures are well suited for larger spaces. It does require some additional care, as it will scratch easily.
Hickory Hardwood Flooring
It’s the second hardest wood among these fine options, yet it’s only purchased five percent of the time. Hickory is highly resilient to marring. Usually found in wide planks to show off the unique mineral streaks and knots, hickory is extremely expensive, super durable, yet performs poorly in humidity, even to the point of swelling significantly. It is not an option for DIYers to install, as it is such a strong, resilient wood.
Maple Hardwood Flooring
Tough, light, and neutral colored, Maple can stand the test of time. It is wildly popular because it is at home in most any décor style. It’s also very affordable! However, it is sensitive to humidity and limited in choices of stain colors it can accept. It will show scratches fairly easily.
Cherry Hardwood Flooring
Especially popular in the early 2000’s, Cherry remains an excellent choice for hardwood floors. It is a very hard wood, and accepts stains and color options well. Not a good candidate for DIY installation due to its hardness, yet it offers a beautiful finish and remains very popular.
Whichever species of hard wood appeals to you, rest knowing our knowledgeable team can help you choose what might best suit the needs of your lifestyle and the aesthetic of your home. We are passionate about hardwood floors, and we would love to help! Give us a call today or stop by our showroom and let us help you choose your new floor!
