Tri Point Flooring

If there is one reliable fact in this world, it is that the costs of energy will only keep rising. Homeowners certainly know this fact well as prices have risen significantly in the past 20 years and will keep doing so. Which is why it is very important to maintain energy efficient homes. Even when these costs temporarily drop, they inevitably rise again in summer months for cooling and wintertime for heating. With hardwood flooring being one of the top features home buyers look for in their next residence, many wonder, “Are hardwood floors energy efficient?”

While no type of flooring will substantially cut your energy costs, there are ways to improve home comfort and enhance energy efficiency with these surfaces. Below are some tips for that as well as to answer that question of, “Are hardwood floors energy efficient?”

Enhance Energy Savings through Draft-Proofing

Draft-proofing is one of the best ways to answer, “Are hardwood floors energy efficient?” You can save between $25 and $40 per year through this tactic. Couple draft-proofing with other methods likes turning off lights, appliances and electronics when you are not using them and your energy bills will decrease slightly.

Draft-proof for energy efficiency by installing door sweeps at the base of each door in your home. These sweeps block drafts, whether from the outdoors or inside draftiness. They can help each room retain its own heat or cooling to cut down on lost energy and your ultimate heating or air conditioning costs.

Another draft-proof method is use of area rugs to keep your rooms warmer. Area rugs also help with acoustics, keeping sounds from bouncing from the hard surfaces.

Fill Gaps In Your Hardwood Flooring to Make it More Energy Efficient

Filling gaps in your hardwood floors is another great tip to answer, “Are hardwood floors energy efficient?” You can save between $75 and $90 each year on your energy bills if your wood floors and skirting have good insulation. Of course, old hardwood floors typically have gaps. Suspended wood floors typically have no insulation, as well.

Hardwood flooring needs space to expand and contract according to environmental conditions. This is why you should never fill every gap. But after ensuring your flooring has a good expansion gap around the perimeter, you can fill drafty gaps. This is true for even historic hardwood floors.

To fill gaps in your hardwood flooring, use a natural resin filler mixed with sawdust from stained wood of the same species. This color matching will prevent visible flaws. Of course, you can also call upon your hardwood flooring pros at Tri Point Flooring in the Raleigh area to do this work for you. After filling your floor gaps, your floor feels less drafty and offers better energy efficiency.

Ensure Your Hardwood Floors Are Insulated

Insulation’s primary purpose is to provide energy efficiency, sound absorption or both. In the case of hardwood flooring, insulation fulfills both objectives. When you want to install new hardwood floors, it is important to ensure you first install an insulating underlay over the concrete foundation or other subfloor.

It is important to note one issue related to insulating your hardwood floors, however. If the room is above a heated room, not insulating the floor enables heat to rise from the lower room into the upper one. This can actually reduce your energy costs. For a second-floor room with hardwood flooring over an unheated space like a garage, insulation is the right choice.

In this answer to “are hardwood floors energy efficient,” floor insulation can save you about $45 to $90 per year, depending on the structure and size of your home.

Heat Your Hardwood Floors

Part of the answer to “are hardwood floors energy efficient” comes from custom features, such as whether you have under-floor heating. An under-floor heating system lies beneath the hardwood flooring to keep the surfaces toasty underfoot. Because heat rises, these systems also help heat the entire space in which you have wood floors. Obviously, this is a choice you have to make when installing your new floors. It also requires an upfront investment for a long-term savings on your energy bills.

Additionally, under-floor heating works best under engineered hardwood floors, not natural hardwoods. This is because the heat and cool-down effects cause natural hardwoods to expand and contract. Engineered hardwoods will not buckle, warp or cup under these conditions.

Make Your Hardwood Floors the Most Energy Efficient They Can Be

If you have questions like “are hardwood floors energy efficient,” talk to your Raleigh area professionals at Tri Point Flooring. We enjoy helping our current and new customers get the most from their hardwood floors. We will also help you select the best flooring for your home’s ideal energy efficiency and aesthetic appeal. Call us today at (919) 771-7542.

If you are thinking about installing hardwood flooring in your home, you have many quality options to choose from including the latest designs, finishes, and colors. Obviously, the type of wood you choose will have the greatest impact on the look and feel of your rooms. Another option to consider is the texture of the wood floor planks. Textured wood is a popular choice that can further enhance the look of your home. Texture can add depth to your floor as well as adding a luxurious feel when you are walking barefoot on it. 

What is Textured Wood Flooring?

You may wonder what it means to have a textured wood floor. All wood starts out with a natural texture, but as it is transformed into flooring it is sanded into smooth wood strips or planks that are the same thickness. This smooth wood can be textured in several different ways, which can add depth and dimension to your floor. Most wooden flooring can be textured, including solid and engineered woods. Luxury vinyl plank, also known as LVP is also available with texture. Textured flooring doesn’t tend to show scratches as easily as a smooth wood floor can. Therefore, many busy families or homes with pets, prefer textured wooden planks.

There are several types of texture that can be added to wood flooring, including: 

• Hand-scraped wood
• Distressed wood
• Wire-brushed wood

Hand-Scraped

One of the most traditional surface textures is hand-scraped. Hand-scraping makes your new wood floors look distressed, aged, and weathered. Originally done by hand using a flat blade, modern hand-scraped boards are achieved using machines to mimic the look with less cost. 

A hand-scraped texture is perfect for a rustic, country or historical design scheme. Despite the slightly worn appearance, these floors are popular and will remain highly stylish for decades to come. They feature knots, exposed wood grain and scrapes to give the appearance of an older floor. Several woods work well with a hand-scraped texture including oak, pine, hickory, pecan, and walnut.

Distressed

Distressed wood is another option when you want the old world character of historic hardwoods. With distressed hardwood floors, your entire home appears warmer and cozier. With this surface texture and finish option, you can expect visitors and guests to ask if you repurposed your planks from an older property, a very popular feature among homebuyers today. 

You can expect distressed floors to remain popular among interior designers and homebuyers for many years to come. Younger buyers, in particular, love this textured design aesthetic and seek it out when looking for their next property. Although it is a popular look, the distressed texture is not as widely saturated on the market as some other textured wood flooring. This means your home will have some instant credibility for “those floors” when compared to other available properties.

Wire-Brushed

As with hand-scraping, a wire-brushed surface texture also provides a weathered appearance and more texture than smooth hardwoods. If you want wood flooring with more character, yet a beautifully finished appearance, wire-brushed hardwoods are a great fit.

This surface texture is typically created by scraping the wood planks with a hard wire brush prior to the application of the top finish coat that seals and helps to protect the wooden floor.

Wire-brushing adds a different dimension and unique character to floors, with a slightly more subdued look. Oak and Hickory lends itself well to wire-brushed  wood flooring and is typically done with a matte finish.  A wire-brushed finish can hide scratches well. 

Textured Wood Flooring Costs

Choosing a texture for your wood flooring is usually more expensive than a simple smooth surface. Overall pricing will depend on the plank width and length, and whether you choose solid hardwood or engineered wood. Engineered wood is usually the least expensive choice, but there are premium texture options that can be more. 

Call Tri Point Flooring for Quality Textured Flooring 

Explore the complete line of textured wood products for your hardwood project. Call Tri Point Flooring serving Raleigh, Cary and Apex, NC at (919) 771-7542 for a free consultation and more information.

Hardwood floors provide an instant upgrade to your home interior. These floors warm each room’s appearance and provide upscale quality that enhance your home’s resale value. But at the same time, having hardwoods where you once had carpeting can make a huge difference in how your home sounds. Yes, a room with hardwood floors can be noisier. That is, unless you know how to decorate to quiet the room with hardwood floors.

In a room with hardwood floors where you once had carpet, some new noises you might notice include:

• Clicking heels
• Dog or cat claws tapping and scratching
• Squeaking floorboards
• Carrying voices
• Louder atmospheric sounds

A Room with Hardwood Floors has Increased Volume Because of the Sound Waves Bouncing Off of the Hard Surfaces…

… such as the floors themselves and nearby cabinets, countertops, walls, ceilings and hard furniture. You need to interrupt these sound waves to quiet your room. Because your new floors added hardness, your next task to turn down the volume is to add more soft surfaces.

By adding textiles to your room with hardwood floors, you can break up the sound waves.

In turn, you can enjoy greater quiet and serenity than you might expect. At the same time, you do not diminish your ability to hear conversations or your favorite television show. Instead, you enhance the sounds you want to hear while quieting the ones you need to filter out.

Below, we look at some specific ways to quiet a room with hardwood floors.

Windows and Walls

You can easily create an environment that absorbs unnecessary sounds in a room with hardwood floors. Start by adding pillows and chair cushions to seating. Place one or more woven area rugs on your new hardwood floors.

Hang cloth draperies or curtains at each window to disrupt the sound waves. Using thick materials like tapestry, suede and velvet will work better for sound absorption than thin materials like linen, cotton or lace. It is also better to line your drapes with fabric for greater sound absorption.

If you still have too much noise in a room with hardwood floors after the above enhancements, try adding fabric wall hangings. You can suspend a woven rug, quilt or tapestry to reduce the sound bouncing from the floors to the walls.

Furniture

It is best to use upholstered furniture in a room with hardwood floors. These types of pieces immediately reduce sound levels. Consider adding a comfy chair, ottoman, sofa or upholstered headboard. The best pieces for sound absorption are those wrapped in heavy fabrics like microfiber, velvet, corduroy or chenille.

To the upholstered furniture, add throw pillows and blankets. If you have a metal, glass or wooden table in the room with hardwood floors, consider adding a tablecloth.

Floor Treatments

If you are about to have your wooden floors installed, ensure your flooring has a quality underlayment. This material provides cushioning to make standing and walking on the floors more comfortable. At the same time, the underlayment can reduce atmospheric noise in a room with hardwood floors.

If the wood floor you select is LVP flooring, then the underlayment is built into the flooring planks.

Once you have had your hardwoods for awhile, you might notice a squeaky floorboard here and there. These squeaks typically occur after the boards have had time to settle and one rubs against an adjacent board. Have your flooring professional fix these squeaks as desired to keep the room quiet and peaceful.

Other Tips for Quieting a Room with Hardwood Floors

Having a room with hardwood floors where you once had carpeting can mean making some slight lifestyle changes for noise reduction. For example, you may wish to invest in some soft-soled slippers to reduce the sound of shoes on your floors. Or, simply embrace how great hardwood feels on bare feet by kicking off your shoes when indoors.
Also keep your pets’ toenails clipped to reduce their traffic noise.

Benefits of Having a Room with Hardwood Floors

Despite the potential noise associated with having a room with hardwood floors, this flooring provides so many benefits.

Benefits of having hardwood flooring include:

• Visual appeal
• Low maintenance and easy cleaning
• Strength and durability
• Home resale value
• Improved air quality
• Timelessness and versatility
• Long-lasting and cost effective
• Can be refinished
• Improved acoustics

Yes, improved acoustics are one of the major benefits of having a room with hardwood floors. While you can also hear some atmospheric sounds you would rather avoid, you will enjoy hearing clearer conversations. With all of the other benefits hardwoods offer over other types of flooring, accepting some noise is a no-brainer.

If you are considering having hardwood floors installed in your Raleigh, Cary or Apex, NC home, schedule a free consultation with one of Tri Point Flooring’s hardwood experts. Call us today at (919)771-7542.