When you need to choose wood flooring for your home, it is easy to lose yourself in the number of options. You also have multiple considerations to think about, depending on each room’s traffic and use. Below, we look at the five most popular wood flooring materials and the pros and cons of each.
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Wood Flooring
Nothing is as classic as hardwood flooring. It is durable, natural and warm. It is also suited to a wide range of decors, thanks to the many woods and finishes available on the market today. Because hardwoods last so long and are easily refinished by the pros, you cannot go wrong if you choose wood flooring.
Where things get difficult is in making your final selections from oak, cherry, or other species. You also need to decide upon your plank style, parquet, or other designs. Will you install your own prefinished planks or have the pros do the work for you? To choose wood flooring made of real hardwood, it is usually best to seek advice from the experts at TriPoint Flooring for your Raleigh area home.
Luxury Vinyl Planks
If you want to choose wood flooring that most closely resembles natural hardwoods, but is less expensive, today’s luxury vinyl plank flooring is your best option.
Luxury vinyl planks consist of wood-based materials topped with a vinyl photographic image of your ideal hardwood species, then a protective finish. This means you get the beauty of hardwoods with the durability of vinyl flooring. It can stand up to the everyday demands of pets, children and other heavy traffic. On the downside, your senses notice the difference between luxury vinyl planks and real wood. LVP flooring does not feel or sound like real wood when you walk across them.
Engineered Hardwood Floors
Between natural hardwoods and luxury vinyl planks are engineered hardwood floors. Engineered hardwoods are made of several layers of plywood topped with a real hardwood veneer. They cost a bit more than luxury vinyl planks. But they have the authentic sound, look and feel of real hardwoods that vinyl planks do not.
If you want to choose wood flooring for its authentic look and feel, but do not want the higher price tag of natural hardwoods, engineered hardwood floors are a great option. They enable you to have floors with all of the traditional wood appeal, but on a budget. Even better, the pros can refinish your engineered hardwoods for an update at some point in their lifetime. This is an option not available for luxury vinyl planks.
Bamboo Flooring
Many people looking to choose wood flooring think bamboo is a real wood option. But this flooring is not from a tree. Instead, it is a woody grass. Still, it is a natural choice that offers exceptional strength, durability and resistance to climate issues like swelling or contraction from humidity. In fact, bamboo has strength equivalent to steel.
As you choose wood flooring options, consider bamboo. These floors are pre-finished and engineered. The planks offer tongue-and-groove joints, making them as easy to install as standard engineered hardwoods. But bamboo forests only take up to five years to reach maturity as compared to hardwood forests requiring 120 years on average. This means that bamboo flooring is far more sustainable and environmentally friendly.
Cork Flooring
Like bamboo, cork is an environmentally-friendly option for people trying to choose wood flooring for their Raleigh area home. But unlike hardwood, cork feels cushioned underfoot. This woody material has a honeycomb cellular makeup that, besides being soft to stand on, absorbs sound and vibrations. It can actually make loud spaces quieter.
Cork flooring is also easy to install. It comes in pre-finished, nonslip tiles ideal for any room, even wet ones like the kitchen or bathroom. You can choose wood flooring made of cork in a wide range of finishes, too.
Tri Point Flooring Will Help You Choose Wood Flooring
The experts at Tri Point Flooring in Cary, NC will help you choose wood flooring to ensure you make the decisions that best suit your home, lifestyle and décor. We can make the whole process less intimidating and easier. Call us today at (919) 771-7542 for a free in home consultation.
