Understanding Your Hardwood Flooring Selection
By Billings Farnsworth

As your old floor has become harder to clean, matted, and simply ready to give up, there is a practical alternative to restoring life back into the room. Hardwood floors add a certain type of warmth and style to any room that other floors can only try to imitate. But as you make the decision to install your hardwood floor, you must first understand how and why some types will last longer, are easier to install, and why it is a fitting choice for you.

Fortunately, hardwood floors are better produced with quality finishes and more advanced construction today than ever before because the consumer demand for them has increased.

There are three types of hardwood flooring: solid hardwood, engineered, and long-strip hardwood. Because solid hardwood is moisture-sensitive, it is not used directly over a concrete slab, but rather nailed down. There are many finishes that are available to recoat your beautiful solid hardwood floor over and over again which adds to their attractiveness for their long life span. Remember, some solid hardwood floors over 100 years old are still in thriving condition.

Engineered hardwood flooring is manufactured with sheets of wood laminated together after being stacked on top of each other to form one flexible strip of wood. Because engineered hardwood uses a cross-ply construction, it does not shrink and expand with humidity like solid hardwood does. Engineered floors of most types can be nailed down, glued, floated, stapled, and installed over concrete.

Longstrip plank floors have similarities to the engineered floors in that there are several wood strips glued together. One plank of longstrip is bigger and wider than the other types to give the appearance of multiple rows wide and several planks long. This type of floor is available in a wide variety of wood species and if damaged is easy to replace.

Understanding the hardwood flooring options will help you be a smarter shopper when it comes to the exciting time of replacing, remodeling, or adding value to your home.

Big Bobs Flooring (http://www.mybigbobs.com/) is a flooring outlet. Billings Farnsworth is a freelance writer.

Picking the Right Solid Hardwood Flooring to Improve the Overall Appeal of Your Home
By Sam Lewis

If you do not pick the right type of flooring, installing solid hardwood flooring can turn into a costly and ugly ordeal. When you do it right, you are increasing both the appeal and value of your home. This is why it is very important to do some research and really get to know the product before you purchase it to install.

One of the very first things that you have to consider as you start this project is where you live and where the flooring is going to be installed. If you are familiar with wood at all you will know that it almost acts like a living creature in certain ways. When it gets dry, it shrinks and as moisture is added to it, it will expand again. When you are dealing with flooring, this is not a good thing and it needs to be addressed during the purchasing process.

There are different qualities of wood that you can look at that can deal with this and also products like laminate hardwood flooring that will not succumb to these conditions. If you insist on using wood, go with something better like a Cherry wood instead of the cheaper Maple wood products.

When solid hardwood flooring is taken care of, it will last for the life of the home. It may have to be refinished every now and again, but the original wood should hold up. However, we once again fall back to the climate issue as you can give it the best care, but with the wrong type of flooring your will be fighting an uphill battle.

Solid hardwood flooring is something that in most cases you will truly get what you pay for. The more you are willing to pay, the greater variety and quality you are going to see. The same is true even for the laminate hardwood flooring as the high pressure laminate is much better than the direct pressure and much closer to the actual look of real wood. If you live in an area where humidity is a problem, you are better off spending the money now than having to replace a cheaper product a few years down the road.

Another contributing factor is all of this is going to be if you are doing this yourself or not. If you hire someone, they may not have knowledge working with certain products or may actually know of a place where you can get the same thing much cheaper than you are already being quoted. Doing it yourself may also lead you down a path of using engineered hardwood floors as they are already finished and you run less of a risk of making a mistake during the finishing phase. This is usually the area where people make mistakes in not taking their time to carefully apply the polyurethane. Take all of these factors into consideration before making your purchase and you are sure to end up with a spectacular new look for your home.

Solid hardwood flooring can instantly increase the value of your home and completely transform the look and feel. By choosing the right wood, you'll end up with a beautiful, warm home interior.

Wood Flooring Offers Warmth, Beauty and Durability
By Caitlina Fuller

Oak flooring that was laid centuries ago is still going strong in many homes and structures around the world. Oak floors maintain their strength and color for years and years and they blend inviting warmth with long-lasting durability that many people find very appealing.

If you want to transform your home into a modern-day, warm and dramatic dwelling then you should take a serious look at solid oak flooring. Oak floors are quite easy to maintain and clean and they can take the daily abuses that live throws its way as it is very hard wearing and robust. Oak flooring is the flooring of choice for those who are looking for a feeling and sense of permanence-be it in a home environment or an office setting. Oak flooring adds an air of class and sophistication to any room as well as adding strength, as it withstands daily usage remarkably well.

If you are unsure of the difference between solid oak flooring and engineered wood flooring, the difference is really quite simple. Engineered flooring is made by bonding a layer of solid wood-the top layer, to a base made of plywood. This type of flooring is not greatly effected by humidity and can be installed in a basement, ground floor or top floor levels. The solid oak floors are made from one piece of solid oak and it is available with a variety of finishes such as brushed, oiled, lacquered, or unfinished. A solid oak floor is advantageous in the fact that it can reduce dust within a home, it is very durable and robust and it will always look beautiful. The disadvantages to solid wood flooring is that since it is a natural product, it can change dimensionally if subjected to a lot of variations in heat, moisture and humidity. Solid flooring must be installed using a type of flexible adhesive so that the floor is able to adapt to these temperature and moisture variations.

A wood floor adds an incredible amount of warmth and charm to any home. Not only is it very easy to care for but it is hypo-allergenic and environmentally sound. Adding wood flooring to a home can greatly increase its resale value and make the home's interior appear much more welcoming.

When selecting wood flooring, keep in mind that not all hardwoods are equally hard. In rooms that get heavy foot traffic, the harder woods like oak, maple and ash make the most sense. Wood flooring comes in widths ranging from strips under three inches wide to planks. If you decide to install a custom floor, planks can be cut to any width you choose and the width of your boards are all dependent upon what type of look you are after.

Caitlina Fuller is a freelance writer. If you want to transform your home into a modern-day, warm and dramatic dwelling then you should take a serious look at solid oak flooring. If you are unsure of the difference between solid oak flooring and engineered wood flooring, the difference is really quite simple.

Solid Wood Flooring - Improving the Look and Value of Your Home?
By Chris Smitts

Solid wood flooring or hardwood floors are something that can add a lot of value to your home. However, there are a lot of things to consider when buying your solid wood flooring. From the type of area that it will be installed in, to the types of people that live in your home and even where your home is located.

One of the first things that you will want to consider before purchasing your solid wood flooring is where you are going to put it. This will actually dictate what type of flooring that you will use. For instance, a basement will be a little damper so you will want to avoid solid wood flooring. Instead of using this, you can use engineered flooring or laminate flooring.

You may also want to use the alternatives in areas like the kitchen and bathroom because of the possibility of getting wet. The kitchen can have a lot of spills and possible water leaks and the bathroom speaks for itself. These other types of flooring will offer you the same look without the danger of having your solid wood flooring ruined.

Once you leave those areas, your options are much more open where you can use solid hardwood flooring. From there, you can pick your favorite type of wood and choose to have your floor done with it. Now there are varying depths of solid wood flooring and that will dictate the method that can be used to install it as well as how expensive it is going to be.

Regardless of the type of hardwood floor that you choose, there is no mistaking the fact that it will dramatically improve the appearance of your home. Instead of having dingy, worn out carpets, the look of shining new hardwood floors is sure to increase the overall value of the home as well.

While it may cost you a little more to install, it will more than pay for itself over the years. If you are intimidated by the upfront price, all you need to do is sit down and look at the one-time cost versus the cost over the years of having carpet in your home. Solid wood flooring will more than likely outlast the homeowner. Carpeting not only needs constant care such as vacuuming and cleaning, it also wears out in about 5 years. By the time you install it a second time, you have probably surpassed the cost of installing your hardwood floors.

Hardwood flooring presents you with many options to improve the look of your home. Even if you decide to go with one of the less expensive alternatives, you are assured many years of a quality looking floor that will surely stand the test of time. If it is cared for properly, it will be the last floor that you have to install in your home. Just remember to avoid installing solid wood flooring in damp areas and use engineered or laminate flooring in its place.

Want to learn more? Click Here for Cheap Wood Flooring!

Solid Wood Flooring and Parquet Flooring Maintenance Guide
By Daniel Hooker

First thing to remember after installation of a new solid wood floor is don't drag furniture across your brand new floor as this may scratch it. Please don't destroy the natural beauty of it and put felt pads on all large or movable furniture where possible. Paruet flooring or solid wood flooring all come from trees which are living things. As a result of this they take in water and expand, so when cleaning a floor don't put excess water on the floor and don't leave water on the floor after cleaning.

When cleaning the floor it is best to use a damp cloth which is well rung out. You can use cleaners such as Bona cleaner or other cleaners but make sure the cleaner you use is suitable for the finish of your floor. Make sure the cleaner is suitable for lacquered floors or oiled floors as they are not usally suitable for each other.

If you have a lacquered floor and the lacquer is not to old you can use a screen machine. This will take most of the dirt off and take the top coat of lacquer off with a light sand. Then you can apply a new coat of lacquer with a roller like bona mega or bona traffic for hard wearing areas. This process is a quick solution to floors that have been well maintained and don't have too many deep scratches. If your floor does have lots of deep scratches then your only option is to do a full sand.This process requires all furniture to be removed form area and lacquer requires over night to dry preferably.

If you have an oiled floored the process is similar you can use a screen machine to give it a light sand and remove the dirt. Then apply a coat of hardwax oil like Osmo with the machine or with a cloth. This can be done many times and will prolong the life of your floor also it is recommended that you apply a maintenance oil every year. This will aslo prolong the life and makes your your floor look brand new. When applying a maintenance oil, clean the floor properly then apply the oil with a cloth and wipe the excess oil off with another cloth.

If you need any more advice please check out our website and don't hesitate to ring us for more help and advice http://www.parquetflooringandcarpentry.co.uk