Why Consider a Real Hardwood Floor for Your Home?

Hardwood floors vs. Carpets

It is true; some carpets are luxurious and expensive as are hardwood floors. Some carpets are cheap to buy, much cheaper than hardwood floors. Hardwood floors for example oak floorboards generally range from £28-£100 M2, depending on the quality of oak and the craft involved with the processing.

The key benefit in our opinion of a hardwood floor is one of health reason. No matter what grade of carpet you buy or what grade of hardwood floor you buy, a carpet over the years will become home to bugs and bacteria that are hidden within the strands, this can cause breathing problems for the young and the elderly. No matter how much a carpet is cleaned, bugs and bacteria will always remain present. Unlike a real hardwood floor, oak floorboards can be cleaned instantly, quickly, every day and for this reason you could literally eat your dinner on it if you so desired. When choosing a hardwood floor or carpet, such health issues should be considered.

Hardwood Floors vs. Laminate Flooring

People should not be confused between oak floorboards, hardwood flooring or laminate flooring. Laminate floors, generally represent the lower end of the scale for quality and are seen as a quick fix choice that will normally last till 3-6 yrs depending on the quality. A real hardwood floor made of oak floorboards will really last a lifetime or more. Thinking of all the old boards that grace today’s homes and old manor houses, these oak floorboards were fitted in the 16^th Century and as they grow old, change shape and color, their patina matures, just like how a fine wine matures. As these oak floorboards age they become sought after items, thus increase in value. Therefore, it is fair to say that laying a genuine hardwood floor or oak floorboards in a home can be seen as a real investment. Over time, the hardwood floor will age and a genuine oak floorboard patina will slowly mature. A laminate floor is a temporary fix that has no chance of developing a patina, increasing in value and increasing the value of a home. Given a choice, a solid hardwood floor is always advisable.

Where to buy a quality hardwood floor

When buying a hardwood floor the following points should be considered:

• Length of floorboard
• Depth of floorboard
• Straight edge or T&G
• Relief Grooves underneath for stability
• Grade of wood
• FSC certified
• Hard wearing finish

It is advisable to see more than just a small sample when choosing a hardwood floor; this is because natural products like wood changes texture and tone from piece to piece. The timber should be checked while observing the overall effect of each board when fitted. Up close, one small sample may not give a true representation of the chosen hardwood floor. Oak floorboards for example may contain many different features on one particular board and very little on the next, so it would be wise to consider all the boards together rather than individually.

A good quality hardwood floor showroom will display large samples of floorboards on panels that may measure 2mx2m. This would be ideal. If the sample board s too small, it would be a smarter move to ask them to prepare a larger sample board.

Attractive Pattern & Versatility of Oak Floorboards

Solid oak flooring became one of the most well known wooden floors to purchase nowadays due to its normal wood toughness as well as wood designs. Often some may be overwhelmed by a selection of patinas and shade variations, not necessarily to mention the standard of oak floors to buy. Frequently, the standard of oak floorboards is used as a base for producing many different designs of wood floor. The oak flooring finish produces the illusion of various types of timber when in reality the oak solid wood floor is only one flexible hardwood flooring types.

Barn wood, rustic grade, character grade are similar grades of oak floor. They normally are the foremost cost-effective to acquire as compared to the prime grades of oak. Here are a few samples of the natural character you can find in a good oak board (Guideline only):

1) Rustic, Character grade C

2) Knots, knotholes between .5-1 cm in diameter

3) Shakes feature at the end of the floorboard, 1-2mm width

4) Pippy marks- various clusters ranging from .5cm-2cm width

5) Burr marks- ranging from .5-2cm width

6) Sap wood- up to 15% board face

These types of spec might be used as a character guideline only, as different sawmills have unique character measurements that could differ from the above. From Rustic, character grade C boards through character B, character A, to Prime there will turn out to be less pure character present. Prime oak boards have the most valuable range in oak floorboards because these panels cut from the center of the woods where there are negligible faults.

When contriving a finish for a specific oak plank the quality of wood need to be considered first. This is due to certain normal compounds and also patina-adding strategies will make excellent use of these types of charm markings. In reality, these exclusive methods provide out and boost these kinds of character oak floor markings. They might turn into an important piece of the final finish. Prime grade oak boards with its clean layer do not suit many of the organic finishes created to bring out all the organic characteristics present in oak hardwood floors. Prime grade oak panels are greater designed for a traditional uncomplicated finish with less processing.

Whilst oak is found in virtually every shade tone and style, probably the most popular designs for wood flooring are usually European character grade, red oak and American white oak. Red oak is extremely well known in America, where it is famous for its pinkish/brown tone and the way it progressively changes colour gradually. American white oak can also be incredibly popular, generally due to its classic elegance, energy and strength, however probably the most popular option in the United Kingdom is European character oak in wide planks.

European oak floors are described as its comfortable and pure golden colour, which usually sometimes functions colors of grey. Naturally, in the appropriate hands these types of colours can be removed or enhanced. 

 Fitting Ideas of Oak Floorboards