Types Of Hardwood Floors
As your local hardwood floor expert, Artistic Floors by Design doesn’t just sell you a floor choice. There are many types of hardwood floors on the market. Our job is to match your design goals with your lifestyle. Our concerns are aesthetic but also logistical. We look at high traffic areas and existing wear and tear to recommend the most appropriate flooring for your home. Do you have kids? Do you have dogs? Do you wear shoes inside? Do you frequently host large gatherings? Where do you spend most of your time inside your home? How often do you clean? How often should you clean?
We want happy customers! We know that managing expectations, not just selling a product, is one of the best ways to guarantee your satisfaction.
Engineered Hardwood Floors
Engineered hardwood floors and composite engineered wood flooring are two different types of hardwood floors. The difference is that composite engineered wood flooring only has hardwood on the wearable surface and composite materials makes up the remainder of the thickness. Traditional engineered products have a wear layer and various plies glued together below that wear layer (usually between 1/2″ and 3/4″ thick). The wood wear layer on top can vary in thickness also.
While these products are becoming more common, engineered hardwood floors are not warrantied in Colorado’s climate. How could this be? When you make a big investment, the best thing to do is read the warranty for your purchase, right? You get your car’s oil changed regularly. You send suits to the dry cleaners. You care for expensive items by following the manufacturer’s recommendations. Manufacturers of engineered hardwood floors warranty their products between 40-55% relative humidity. Unless you have a separate steam humidifier in your Colorado home, you are voiding the manufacturer’s warranty on your new wood floor. Additionally, the warranty may have been void on the day the product was installed, unless it was raining on that day. Ask your installation company for documentation regarding the warranty parameter and the installation documentation that was collected at the time of installation.
Engineered hardwood floors perform well in climates with a higher relative humidity, which may include your Colorado basement but probably not your Colorado main level or 2nd story There are perfect candidates for engineered hardwood floors. They live in Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, and other humid regions where homes are built on a slab. Even with a humidifier attached to a furnace, Colorado homeowners risk delamination and other damage due to our dry climate. Delamination is a separation of the wear layer from the plies underneath it. Engineered hardwood floors do not perform like solid wood floors. They weren’t built to perform like solid wood floors. They have an ideal location, just not in Colorado.
Solid Hardwood Floors
Solid hardwood floors perform well in Colorado homes. Some solid wood floors are already finished at a manufacturing facility. A manufacturer-finished solid wood floor has some advantages but be cautious of the beveled edge. Those edges, and some of the finishes used, can be very challenging for a contractor to sand off if you ever want to change the look of your floor. We prefer to install raw wood flooring so that our customers can choose their level of customization.
Your local experts at Artistic Floors by Design will ensure your solid hardwood floors are appropriate. We only install double kiln-dried flooring that has acclimated to your home environment. We follow technical standards for all of our work to guarantee your investment.
Many of our customers want to replace their wood floors with a wider flooring plank or a different species of wood. Before you replace your solid wood floors with another type of flooring, contact our Certified Professional Wood Floor Sales Advisor. There are cost-effective ways to make your floors look new and different and change the whole look of your home.
Oak flooring is common in Denver, but there are plenty of wood species exhibiting all kinds of grain patterns and variety of colors. Some species, like Brazilian Cherry, have a very high resistance to indentations in finish and scratches through to the wood. Others, like American Cherry, are almost as soft as pine and can be easily distressed. Both Brazilian Cherry and American Cherry change color quicker than other species over time and have a very dramatic natural color.
We are happy to help you with the many aspects of choosing a solid wood floor for your Colorado home.
Contact our Certified Professional Wood Floor Sales Advisor today to set up a consultation.