As you shop for hardwood floors to install in your new or existing home, you’ll discover quite a wide range of choices. You’ll certainly have no problem finding flooring that fits your taste.
As you consider these many choices, you’ll of course need to begin narrowing down toward your final selection. And one of the first decisions most people make is which of three basic types of hardwood flooring they will buy—the flooring structure (solid or engineered), customized finished onsite hardwood floors, or pre-finished flooring.
Custom Hardwood Flooring
This choice is for homeowners who want to specify every aspect of the flooring—species, grade, color, width, length, and finish. This control may be necessary to get exactly the look you’re after.
An important characteristic of customized hardwood floors is that they are finished onsite, a process that allows for the ultimate in customization. You choose the wood species, grade, width of planks, color, bevel or no bevel, and finish sheen.
Pre-finished Flooring
This type of flooring is finished before it’s shipped to your installer, so in a sense, you’re limited by a selection of pre-manufactured products. But there is nonetheless an extensive choice of all characteristics, including texture (e.g., distressed, bevel, wire brush). Although there are some low-quality pre-finished products on the market, “pre-finished” does not equate to “less classy.” It’s all a matter of taste, and homeowners have plenty of quality manufacturers of pre-finished products to select from.
Solid or Engineered
The structure of the flooring you choose is sometimes simply a personal choice, and other times the environment dictates which type is most appropriate for your home. If there are height issues with meeting up to existing flooring, an engineered floor is thinner, and an experienced installer can help you choose a quality product. In-floor heat or an environment where it is extremely difficult to control the humidity may also call for engineered flooring. In most situations, a solid flooring works very well. Both solid and engineered are available in customized site-finished and prefinished options.
Have Fun and Get the Floor You Want
Whichever option you choose, the process of selecting the floor that best fits your home can be one of the most enjoyable aspects of building or renovating, because hardwood floors can be used in so many creative and exciting ways to express your taste and help define your home’s “personality.” Visit a showroom today and get started!
