Once you make the choice to have hardwood floors installed in your home, you’ll need to select a wood variety; there are dozens of species out there; several are more widespread than others. A few are less costly than others. Each assortment poses natural strengths and weaknesses with respect to its look, sturdiness, and viability for any given atmosphere.
Beneath, we will offer a bird’s eye view of the most common Denver hardwood floor varieties used in homes today. We’ll address each variety’s pros and cons, so you can make the very best choice based on your taste and functionality inclinations.
White Oak Hardwood
This variety is lighter brown to gold. It’s sturdier than red oak, long-lasting, and wetness repellent. Due to this last characteristic, white oak trees are generally harvested for materials with which to construct ships. This variety may furthermore resist the typical deterioration of continual foot traffic, making it an excellent choice for dwelling rooms and sleeping rooms.
The downside for a lot of people is the color. A lot of homeowners are less than enthused about the yellow hue of the boards. Additionally, since white oak is hard, it is more difficult to sand than much softer species.
Red Oak Hardwood
This wood is the most common range utilized for wood floors. As such, it is always accessible, regardless of whether or not you are installing planks, strips, or parquets
Red oak provides a reddish-pink tone that is displayed by means of a clearly pronounced grain. It is dampness resistant and wear resilient (though a little bit less so than white oak), and takes almost all types of stains well.
The disadvantage to utilizing red oak is that everyone does this; this suggests your hardwood floors may probably have a comparable look to some other folks’ hardwood flooring
Another issue is that this species has achieved mass production due to its enormous popularity. Mills are cutting corners, resulting in reduced-quality at the less pricey varieties.
Douglas Fir
This species is preferred by few people. It is a reddish and tan softwood with a distinctively delicate grain. While douglas fir may take most stains and finishes well, a clear finish permits its organic beauty to come out.
This range is a softer wood, which implies it is more vulnerable to nicks, dings, and additional types of wear deterioration; for this reason, it should only be set up in zones that get restricted foot traffic
It is furthermore really worth observing that the edges of the individual boards can very easily fragment. These weak points make looking after this wood high-maintenance compared to additional kinds.
Beech
Many property owners think beech is a nondescript wood, which causes it to be less popular than additional types. It’s tan with an orangish tint, but the colorations fluctuate in such a way that there is very little uniformity
Beech has a warm and appealing feel. It does very well in areas where light is abundant, for example a kitchen area, living room, or study. It’s also a shockingly hard wood, so it resists wear and damage.
One of the drawbacks to beech is that its firmness make it difficult to sand down. Also, because the wood’s pores are very small, few stains have a apparent effect.
Birch
This variety is available in colors running from light yellow to light brown. There are also deeper birch varieties that appear reddish-brown. It’s considered a fairly soft wood, but is nevertheless hard enough to resist wear.
Since birch is dense, many stains have little impact. Stains that do have an effect frequently turn out spotty and unattractive. Another drawback to this selection is that it doesn’t resist moisture as well as other hardwoods. Therefore, you might notice spacing as the individual boards broaden and reduce.
Cherry Tree Hardwood
Cherry hardwoods come in North American and Brazilian varieties; both offer a natural, beautiful appearance because of variations in the grain style and colors. Very few homeowners who have cherry wood floors installed stain them. There’s no need to do this because their organic beauty is so appealing.
Of the two types, Brazilian is a stronger selection than North American; but both are comparatively soft, making them a poor selection for high-traffic zones inside of your home.
There are dozens of additional hardwood varieties offered for your wood flooring. The types described previously, though, generally get the most interest; make sure you’re acquainted with each wood’s strengths and disadvantages to select a variety that accommodates your preferences.
