Hardwood Flooring Review

Before buying hardwood flooring know what you are buying...
Hardwood flooring is real wood and will act like wood, which means it can be affected by too much moisture or humidity in the air, as well as the lack of humidity. Hardwood flooring can also be scratched, dented and gouged. These floors are not indestructible, they do require some care and regular maintenance. That said, today's hard wood floors are more beautiful and the wood finishes are better than ever before. Gone are the days of only a few choices of wood species and having to wax wood floors.

Although hardwood flooring comes in cartons no two wood planks will be exactly the same in color or markings. Both solid and engineered wood planks are cut from real trees, thus each wood plank will be unique in color and markings, which adds to the beauty and charm of wood. Planks are also cut from the wood logs in different ways, such as rotary or sliced, which will affect the plank's overall visual appearance.

The shopping experience...
If you haven't shopped for hardwood flooring lately you will probably be amazed at all the choices of wood species as well as the many different wood styles, plank widths and colors. Hardwood flooring manufacturers realize that today's homeowners have many different tastes in decorating and in lifestyles and have answered this with a wide selection to choose from. This can make it more difficult to decide which is the best hardwood floor for your decor, family lifestyle and situation. Hopefully, by reviewing these hardwood flooring pages we can help you to better understand your wood flooring options and make your shopping experience a little easier.

Comparing apples to apples...
Not all wood floors are the same, so when shopping from store to store, or website to website, be sure you are comparing products that are similar. For example: if you are looking for a pre-finished 3/4" solid red oak wood floor in a 3" wide plank be sure to that each store is giving you the same comparison. An unfinished 3/4" solid red oak floor is not the same as a 3/4" prefinished solid wood floor and neither is a 3" wide by 1/2" thick red oak engineered wood floor. Each will have a different price point and have different installation requirements and associated costs. Also, getting a quality installation means less hassles in the future and will assure the flooring manufacturer's warranty is not voided. So be sure to ask questions and review with the store how they plan on installing the hard wood flooring.