How to Select the Right Wood Flooring for Your Needs

What are Your Flooring Needs and Preferences?

Floors have played a big and important role when it comes to home design. Once you make the decision, they will live with you for years to come. That is definitely a decision you do not want to mess up. Yet, with a wide variety of options, from carpet to terrazzo and tile. Hardwood is one of the acknowledged materials and is also what we will focus on in this article. 

Finding the perfect and the right flooring can be time-consuming, but do not worry, we have listed down some factors that you may consider before getting your wood flooring. 

The Factors to Help You Choose the Right Wood Flooring

The popularity of wood flooring is hinged on its practical benefits and diverse characteristics, which can only add to its undeniable visual appeal. Knowing these different characteristics will help you choose the wood flooring that best meets your needs and preferences.

Here are the factors to consider when buying hardwood floors:

1. Type of Wood Flooring
2. Wood Species
3. Colors
4. Design
5. Plank Width

Type of Wood Flooring

Decide on whether you would like to have solid or engineered hardwood flooring. Traditional hardwood flooring, coming in thick planks of solid timber, was once a very popular choice. People love its authenticity and real natural feeling. And engineered hardwood flooring is getting more and more popular nowadays for its special construction that allows the planks to prevent getting affected by humidity and temperature so easily as solid does. It’s much more stable and durable.

Wood Species

If you are set on choosing wood flooring, wood species can be another big decision. There is a wide variety of options for wood species, which will bring different feelings and atmospheres to your space. Every species has its own uniqueness and distinctiveness, providing your rooms with different styles. 

Oak is a wood species popular in North America for its excellent durability, natural grain, and staining. Apart from these characteristics, it is also reasonably priced as there is an abundant supply across the region. White Oak is a variant that remains a favorite by many flooring designers as it offers a lighter tone without the reddish hues of traditional oak.

Walnut is also popular, and even while it is a softer hardwood when compared to oak, its deep color offers a seamless look in moody spaces and darker finishes. It’s the natural wood flooring option if you want a richer and warmer tone in your home or commercial space.

Maple, Ash, Cherry, and of course, Hickory, are other North American hardwood species that are widely available as flooring products as well. Choosing among these wood species will largely depend on your preferences in the flooring’s color and grain pattern. 

That said, you can also choose wood species according to their strength and durability, as some species are harder than others. This is the option for you if functionality and foot traffic is your priority.

When choosing the species for your flooring, it's important to know that hardwoods and softwoods perform in unique ways. Hardwood flooring is best used in high-traffic areas since they are harder and more durable. Softwoods, on the other hand, tend to come in lighter shades and are ideal for high-traffic areas as well, but because of their uniformity, these floors can be gentler on the eyes.

Colors

Apart from species, color may also affect the feelings of the rooms. When choosing the color of your wood flooring, you may consider the size of the space, the style you would like to have, and if your furniture has the same style. Here are some tips to consider in choosing the colors of your wood flooring:

1. Use light colors for small spaces, as this gives a room the appearance of being larger than it is. Colors with tones closer to pale yellow, beige, and off-white hardwood are choice options.
2. Using dark colors might make a room appear smaller but it adds a sense of sophistication and elegance to any space. Dark charcoal, lacquered wood, and Santos Mahogany are some of the trends in colored woods.
3. Wood floors with intricate patterns like parquet or reclaimed wood offer a variety of colors in the wood for a range of textures. This might be the best fit for your home if you want to go for a more rustic vibe.
4. Take the amount of sunlight that the floors are exposed to, as it will naturally affect the flooring’s color over time. The sun's UV rays can also damage the wood.
5. Check some color samples and visualize the space. Before you commit to any color, take samples of your desired options to make it easier to see the outcome.

Design of the wood flooring

When choosing your wood flooring, it's also important to consider the design to make sure you are selecting the right one for your needs. Here are some common types of wood flooring designs to look for:

• The grain pattern and appearance of the wood floor can be determined by the way that the wood was cut. It can either be: plain sawn, rift-sawn, and quarter-sawn. Plain sawn offers traditional wood grain patterns that are referred to as cathedrals. Rift-sawn provides long and consistent wood grain patterns and is usually the most expensive. Quarter-sawn delivers unique, irregular, and textural grain wood patterns.
• You can also choose the type of finishing option for your hardwood floors, whether pre-finished or unfinished. The finishing of your floor can help your floors last longer, and depending on the type of finish, staining, or coating, they can be easier to clean and maintain. The advantage to getting unfinished floors is that while it requires extra labor after installation, it offers a smoother, more balanced look and more room for customization.
• There are many types of finishing products to choose from that can give your wood flooring a soft, matte, and natural look; or a layer of hard topcoat for protection against dents, scratches, and damages; or a finish that makes scratches less noticeable and maintenance is easier. The choice is yours!

Depending on your stylistic preferences, choosing the right design for wood flooring can greatly impact how your house looks.

Width

In choosing the width of your wood flooring, you might want to consider going with the trend these days, which are wider planks. These expanded widths of wood floors offer a luxurious feel that adds more beauty to any well-decorated space. 

Gone are the days of using two-inch and three-inch wooden planks, and with a wider room, it’s best to use wider planks as well. These wider wood floors come in at least four-inch and six-inch planks, which can go even wider depending on the application.

While it can be quite expensive, wider floors do not disappoint, as they look expensive and add a truly luxurious vibe. You’ll barely notice the seams in wider wood flooring.

Ua Floors is Here to Guide You Throughout the Floor-Shopping Experience

Depending on your needs, whether it's stylistic or functional, Ua Floors is here to help you find the right wood flooring solution. Given the range of unique benefits with every option, you'll definitely find the best wood flooring product for whatever application.

Through unparalleled service delivery and customer assistance, we make sure to provide you with the guidance and support that you need in all things wood flooring. And as a global supplier of eco-friendly and sustainable wood flooring products, we only offer the finest and most exceptional, which is why our customers know that we never settle for anything but high-quality wood floors.

Our carefully curated collection of custom-engineered hardwood flooring includes the Olde Charleston Standard, Olde Charleston Designer, Parisian Collection, The Classics, Grecian, Grecian Herringbone, Manhattan, Patrician Collection, Diamond Forever, and Wood Cube. Browse our products and take your pick!

Interested? Get in touch with us today.