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Treat Yourself To
Hardwood Floors
Shock your neighbors with new wood floors this year. Whether you
like durable or dressy there are many types to choose from. Learn
all about the most popular kinds of wood flooring used today.
Hardwoods
· Oak. A durable hardwood with a tight, dark grain, Oak
is the most popular wood flooring.
· Maple. The second most popular hardwood. Maple has a lighter color
and a less pronounced grain.
· Ash. Another popular hardwood known for its uniform light texture
and grain.
Softwoods
· Pine. A popular softwood often found in older homes. In fact
there's an 800-year-old church in Brno, Czech Republic that still
has its original pine floors - a testament to the longevity of
well-maintained softwood floors!
· Birch. A softwood similar to pine. It tends to have more
knotholes.
· Fir. Another common softwood that has large patches of dark grain.
Specialty woods are more expensive, however, they are often quite
beautiful. If you have an ample budget, you may want the luxurious
look of specialty woods. Walnut, teak and cherry are popular
choices.
Plank Widths
· Standard Width. 2 1/4-inches wide. Occasionally you may find 1
1/2-inch widths. Strips are laid parallel using the interlocking
tongue-and-groove edges to hold them together.
· Plank Width. Up to 7 inches wide. Often used to give the room a
different aesthetic feel - they want the look and feel of wood
floors, but they don't want it to look like everybody else's! Random
is a popular choice that has a very custom feel. These floors
consist of planks of two or three different widths. Homeowners often
choose this type of floor because it has a more energetic feel and
lift.
Patterns
After you've chosen your wood type, and the width, it's time to
choose the pattern! Patterns are fun ways to dress up your wood
floors. Straight is the most common pattern. It consists of wood
strips laid parallel to each other along the length of the room.
It's also the least expensive pattern.
· Diagonal. Diagonal is a nice way to dress up a room without adding
a lot of extra cost. It consists of the wood strips laid at a
45-degree angle to the walls. (NOTE! Any pattern besides a straight
pattern will be more expensive because you will need more wood and
the installation takes longer.)
· Parquet. Parquet is another popular hardwood pattern consisting of
individual square modules laid in crisscross fashion. It looks like
a checkerboard. * Herringbone. Herringbone is a beautiful pattern
that's similar to parquet. It has individual square modules with
wood laid at a diagonal angle!
· Perimeter Border. Perimeter border is a design accent that you can
add to just about any wood flooring. By adding a different pattern
to the edges of your wood floor, you give your floor a design touch
that helps to frame it. It works very well in more formal rooms like
dining rooms or living rooms. It's also a nice way to separate
adjacent rooms that don't have any walls between them. Some homes
have a lot of free-flowing open space. By installing a perimeter
border between two adjacent rooms, you give the visual impression
that the rooms are separate without interrupting the open flow.
Stain Colors
Modern wood floors can be just about any color or shade you want.
Different kinds of wood respond differently to stains. Here are some
options:
· Natural. Natural is "wood color" at its most basic form. These
kinds of stains have very little pigment, so the natural wood can
show through.
· Light. Light is a very popular shade of stain because it darkens
the grain and adds a subtle tone to the wood. Many people are very
selective of their wood. This is a good choice of stain because it's
similar to natural ... only with a little more punch.
· Medium. Medium is another popular choice. It's darker than the
light, so both the grain and the wood will have an obvious pigment.
· Dark. Dark gives wood floors a very rich feel. WARNING! Be careful
with this choice. Dark floors will make your room feel dark. If
that's the design effect you want, then great! However, if you want
a brighter room, you may want to choose a lighter shade of stain.
· Custom. Custom is what you choose when you want to play! You can
choose from a wide selection of colors and styles to fit any room.
(A nice design choice for a living room may be a natural wood floor
finish with a forest green perimeter border!)
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