Tri Point Flooring

In the Raleigh area of North Carolina, homeowners have always embraced hardwood floors. In fact, this type of flooring remains a top choice for new home construction and renovations. This is true even centuries after the first residents of this area made the same choices. In 2021, builders and residents will keep embracing hardwoods. But some wood floor finishes will prove more popular than ever before.

Below, we explore some of the hottest floor finishes for 2021. These include fumed wood and smoked wood, satin finished, matte finished, site finished and oiled finishes. Shiny wood floor finishes are less popular for 2021. More people want a flat or matte appearance for their hardwoods.

Fumed Wood and Smoked Wood

Fumed wood floor finishes, also called smoked wood, come from the wood’s exposure to ammonia gas. This gas reacts with the wood’s natural tannins to create a dark finish with a gray tinge.

Around Raleigh, Cary, and Apex, North Carolina, fumed wood and smoked wood floor finishes are most popular for light shades of flooring, such as white oak. Using white oak allows the ammonia to emphasize the grain color in the wood. Smoked wood creates an even finish for your flooring with each plank consistently colored through this method.

If you want a modern, yet vintage look for your flooring, fumed wood or smoked wood makes an excellent choice. This look will remain popular for years.

Satin Finished

Satin finished wood flooring provides an alternative to a super-shiny finish and a matte look. As the middle ground between these two other options, you can still have some shine while more easily keeping your floors looking clean. As most homeowners with glossy-finished floors quickly learn, this older-style finish shines a spotlight on dirt, scratches and dings.

Satin wood floor finishes rate at about 40 percent shine when compared to a glossy finished floor at about 80 to 100 percent. With satin finish, your floor still has some shine, albeit more subtle than with gloss.

This is a look you can expect to remain popular for years. In fact, it will likely never become unfashionable. This makes satin wood floor finishes a great choice for your long-term flooring selection.

Matte Finished

Matte wood floor finishes have not yet gotten the full credit they deserve. Satin has lingered as the most frequent choice in the past several years and glossy has remained top-of-the-list for many homeowners, too. But matte finished wood floors should take over in popularity in 2021 and through at least 2028. You can expect them to remain in style for the lifetime of your newly installed hardwood floors.

To envision how matte wood floors will look in your home, you must understand that this finish is neither flat, nor dull. The term “matte” typically makes people think that is the case. Instead, the matte finish provides a contemporary appearance that easily catches the eye. But for your floors to look their best with a matte wood finish, you need to have good quality flooring, to start. It will not provide the best results if your floors are not already in good shape.

Site Finished Wood Floors

Among 2021 top floor finishes, site finished wood flooring provides the most control over style and appearance. For this option, your contractor installs raw hardwood flooring or works with existing hardwood floors. They sand and refinish the floors after installation. Through the site finished process, you can ensure the greatest color consistency across your flooring. You will not see any color changes at the edges of the planks.

This type of wood floor finishes also enables you to see how the flooring looks in your own home and your actual lighting. Site finished wood floors remain one of the top finishes for 2021, just as they have for generations. This option will continue to be a top choice. However, you should seek the help of professionals. Trying to DIY your own hardwoods takes a ton of work, requires professional care and necessitates some quality controls.

Oiled Wood Floors

As far as top floor finishes for 2021 go, oiled floors are among the most interesting. Oiled finishes differ from traditional polyurethane top coats. The oil finish seeps into the wood and coats it, layer by layer. Polyurethane only coats the top of your flooring. Through oiled coating, your wood is made stronger and more durable.

An oiled wood finish also provides a matte finished look, like the one discussed earlier in this article. It also looks organic, suiting your natural or environmentally in-tune aesthetic quite well.

When refinishing oiled wood floors, you do not have to sand. This differs from the laborious process of refinishing most wood flooring. Instead, you only need to add more oil to the wood for a refreshed appearance.

Although there are many benefits to oiled wood floors, there are drawbacks, too. One such drawback is that the flooring is more prone to scratching and water damage. This means you must refinish more often than with traditional floor finishes.

Raleigh Area Hardwood Flooring Experts

If you want to install hardwoods or prefinished wood flooring in your home or commercial property, you only need to call the local experts at Tri Point Flooring. We provide the highest quality of wood floor installation, refinishing and floor finishes. Call us today at (919) 771-7542.

When is it time to replace hardwood floors? Hardwood floors increase the value of your home by providing beauty, durability, easy maintenance, and livability. These floors hold up very well to high traffic. But eventually, as for all things, your wood floors will see their end. When they do, it is time to look for a replacement.

How do you know when to refinish and when it is time to replace hardwood floors? Below, Tri Point Flooring of Cary, North Carolina provides some tips for knowing when you need to replace hardwood floors in your home.

When you decide to replace your floors, popular options include:

• Solid hardwood floors
• Engineered hardwood floors
• Prefinished hardwood floors
• Luxury vinyl plank floors
• Lifecore Flooring
• Mullican Flooring
• Triangulo Flooring
• Bruce Harwood Flooring

Your Floors Squeak and Creak

When you have hardwood floors, you can refinish them by buffing out scratches, nicks and dents. But you cannot make your hardwood floors quiet again through sanding and resealing after they develop squeaks and creaks. These noises are typically indicative of warped or contracted planks that rub against each other. The nails play a role in the noisemaking, too.

You will need to replace hardwood floors in your home if they are irritatingly noisy. That is, if you want to silence them. At the same time, you will probably need to replace the subfloor too. Subflooring can contribute to the orchestration in your boards.

You Have Refinished Your Floors in the Past

You can only refinish solid or engineered hardwood floors so many times before you need to replace them. If you have had your floors sanded and resealed once or more in the past, you may not have enough wood to do this again. In these circumstances, you should replace hardwood floors in your home unless your local expert tells you they can endure another refinishing.

The Floors Play Host to Tiny Creatures

You should replace hardwood floors if they host an infestation of bugs, particularly termites. Otherwise, you risk dangerous problems because of how these creatures compromise wood’s integrity. Keeping your infested hardwoods can also cause the termites to move to walls, ceilings and even your wood furnishings. Ants can also indicate you need to replace hardwood floors.

Your Floors Are Not Sound

Obviously, if your floors are not sound for holding weight, they have to go. You cannot risk anyone falling through your floors. This is a sure way to break bones and experience other injuries.

If you feel your floor planks individually moving beneath your feet, call your local hardwood flooring expert for help. They will assess the issue and determine whether your floor is still sound. If not, you probably need the subflooring replaced, too.

You must replace hardwood floors like this as moving boards prohibit sanding and refinishing. Without replacement, you will be on edge in walking across this area of your flooring. Also, where some boards and the subfloor is compromised, the rest of the floor is likely damaged, too.

How to Replace Hardwood Floors

Your floors are the largest surface in your home. You need these surfaces to be stable, sound and safe, as much as they are beautiful. Really, if your floors have the above types of damage, it is only a matter of time until you will need to replace them.

Learning whether you need to replace hardwood floors in your Wake County or Chatham County home is simple. Just call Tri Point Flooring for an in-home review and estimate. In some cases, hardwoods do well with refinishing. If that is what your floors need, Tri Point Flooring can provide beautiful results. If it is time to replace your hardwoods, we offer a broad range of solid hardwoods, engineered hardwoods, luxury vinyl plank flooring, and prefinished hardwoods to suit your décor and budget. Call us today at (919)771-7542.

Even where your home experiences the most traffic, hardwood floors keep looking great for years. Hardwoods hide scrapes and dents very well. They are also resistant to spills and stains. When bigger dings occur, you only have to call your prefinished hardwood flooring experts for help. More often than not, restoration is possible for most prefinished solid and prefinished engineered hardwood.

As you can see, these are some great benefits of prefinished hardwood floors, particularly when compared to carpeting. This is also why so many homebuyers seek hardwood floors as a top consideration in where they live. Homeowners love prefinished hardwoods as they make adding value to their home and creating a healthier and more attractive living space easier. Below, we look more deeply at some major benefits of prefinished hardwood floors.

Prefinished Hardwood Floors Quick Installation

These floors are made outside of the home by a manufacturer. Which means that as soon as they are cut to proper length and put into place, the wood floor is finished. This is very much like how homeowners purchase their tile, precut, and finished for installation.

Through this pre-finishing and quick installation, you avoid higher costs associated with the installation of new unfinished solid hardwoods. You also enjoy having your flooring quickly installed and your wooden flooring complete and ready to immediately use in a matter of just a couple days!

Higher Quality Finish

When compared to in-home finished hardwoods, your prefinished hardwood floors have a higher quality finish. This is true because the manufacturer precisely applies the finish in a controlled environment. The lasting finish is strong. It prevents the elements, spills, and stains from causing damage to your floors like traditional hardwoods.

Lasting Beauty

Prefinished hardwood floors are incredibly beautiful, besides being resilient. The factory-applied finish has a more consistent and balanced appearance than hardwoods stained in place. That said, the wood grade used for your prefinished hardwoods still determines the final appearance of grain patterns and color depth. Overall, in comparison to finishing hardwoods on-site, prefinished flooring provides greater aesthetic appeal.

Wait-Free Use of Your Flooring

After the installation of your prefinished hardwoods, you do not need to stay off of your floors. Because they are factory-finished, there is no sanding or finishing that takes place in your home. This means you can immediately enjoy the use of your floors and do not have to wait for the finish to dry. There is also no strong odor of stains or finishes to breathe for weeks!

Warranty-Backed Beauty

Your prefinished hardwoods are made to exacting standards. Because of this effort by the manufacturer to provide the best product, you can expect your floors to last decades. Even with heavy foot traffic in your home, you can enjoy your prefinished hardwood flooring for years. You only have to keep the floor clean and protected against spills and the elements. Leading manufacturers back their prefinished flooring with extended warranties, for these reasons.

Prefinished Hardwood Floors in Raleigh, NC

Tri Point Flooring is your top resource for prefinished hardwood flooring in the Raleigh area of North Carolina. For many years, we have installed prefinished hardwoods for customers through the Triangle Area, including Raleigh, Apex, and Cary. Our high attention to detail and customer satisfaction shows in our wonderful online reviews. Check these out and talk to us about options for your home’s most beautiful flooring. Call us today at (919) 771-7542 for a free in-home consultation and price quote.

If you recently refinished your hardwood floors using a dark color, you may feel unsure about how to decorate your house for the most beautiful effect. Dark wood floors are actually quite sophisticated, providing a rich appeal to any space. But if you use too many dark colors in your furnishings and other décor, you risk making your rooms appear heavy.

Below, we explore some tips for decorating your home or commercial space to suit your new dark wood floors.

What Décor Works Well with Dark Wood Floors?

Whether you chose natural hardwoods for your space or had luxury vinyl plank floors installed, you have many years ahead to enjoy their durability, beauty, and low maintenance appeal. But with dark wood floors, it is important to not darken your space too much with poorly chosen upholstery or wallcoverings. Instead, you should decorate to brighten the space and make the flooring a warm foundation.

Consider decorating by following these tips:

• White walls with light wood furnishings
• Furniture legs stained to match the flooring
• A mix of wood colors with white
• Rich wall colors with a patterned kilim rug
• Dark floor coverings with light walls
• White marble, white surfaces, bronze and wood
• Bright colors with white
• Urban layered textures and muddy hues

White Walls with Light Wood Furnishings

Select wood furnishings several shades lighter than your dark wood floors, but similar in warmth. Add sumptuous white rugs, such as a fluffy faux fur selection. Paint walls a sharp white to contrast against the hardwoods or luxury vinyl plank floors. The result is a chic look of harmony very in-step with the times.

Furniture Legs Stained to Match Flooring

For an elegant and well pulled-together look, ensure your sofa and chair legs match the color of your dark wood floors. This removes the distraction of oddly colored legs seeming to peer out from beneath upholstered furnishings. To suit this cohesive approach at the foundation of the room, use a significantly lighter color on your walls. This directs the “weight” of the room downward and creates a breezier feeling for the rest of the space.

A Mix of Wood Colors with White

Instead of matching your furnishings with your dark wood floors or luxury vinyl plank floors, consider creating a more curated look. This look can take on a similar feel as the tree variety you find in a forest. Thinking along this woodsy theme, consider how many different trees of multiple colors and tones exist alongside each other in their natural habitat. You can recreate this palette through your own wood furnishings using light wood seating, for example. Add white walls and lots of green foliage as part of your forested theme.

Rich Wall Colors with a Patterned Low-Pile Rug

If bright colors are your favorite style, go with a richly pigmented hue on your walls. Select a patterned flat-weave rug, such as a stylish kilim, to marry the dark wood floors to your brighter walls. Through this type of combination, you can create an upbeat yet relaxing space.

Dark Floor Coverings with Light Walls

Light walls, white ceiling and dark wood floors can form a foundation for more creative use of color in patterned rugs. If this is your style choice, consider narrowing your wall color choices from almost-white pastels to stark white.

White Marble, White Surfaces, Bronze and Wood

Many homeowners today are choosing dark wood floors or luxury vinyl plank floors for their kitchen. If you make this choice, consider infusing some light by painting walls white and installing white cabinets with white marble or stone counter surfaces. Integrate bronze drawer pulls and hardware. Throughout the space, add subtle wood accents only a couple of tones lighter than your flooring.

Bright Colors with White

If you want a fresh, crisp look, use a bright hue on your accent walls. A modern choice is celery green, but any color can work. To balance the strength of the floor and wall tones, refrain from using other colors in the space. Instead, break up the color with lots of white for rugs, furnishings, accent pieces and surfaces.

Urban Layered Textures and Muddy Hues

The urban look is very chic and modern, particularly for city dwellings. For your urban space, integrate multiple textures as layers. Good options include leather, velvet, metal and hide for pillows, accessories, throws and decorative accents. Work with a color palette of sage, taupe or gray for these pieces and your walls. Choose dark wood and steel furnishings to complete the city-chic theme.

Install or Refinish Your Own Dark Wood Floors

Are you ready for a change in your Raleigh, North Carolina area living space or commercial property? Perhaps installing hardwood flooring or luxury vinyl plank floors will add the modern sophistication you seek.

Tri Point Flooring has provided customers with hardwood flooring installation and refinishing services for years. We would love to add you to our customer family! Our service areas include Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Cary and Apex. Call us today for a free in-home estimate at (919) 771-7542.