What you have to gain from hardwood flooring

Hardwood flooring is a floor covering that just keeps on giving. With a lifespan that can easily offer 100 years with proper maintenance and care, you’ll find these floors durable, hard-wearing, and simply gorgeous. The benefits you’ll receive from this material make it well worth the time you’ll spend researching it, and what you find might just surprise you. It isn’t often that you shop for brand new flooring, so when you do, at least consider all your options. You won’t regret it.

You’ll have two main categories to choose from while shopping hardwood flooring. There’s the solid variety which is 100% real wood through and through, and the engineered variety, which features a veneer of real wood within layers of other materials. And each one has its characteristics.

Solid hardwood has the longest lifespan, at well over 100 years. The fact that the flooring is extremely durable is one reason for that lifespan, but you can also refinish this material several times as well. Refinishing allows you to get rid of decades of wear and abuse and start fresh with the new layer that is revealed as a result. This is a good time to change stain color and finish type if you prefer. Solid flooring can never be installed below grade in areas such as basements. It doesn’t react well to moisture, humidity, or temperature changes and can create massive problems.

Engineered flooring is an excellent alternative for all the places the solid variety cannot be installed. It has a wear layer that is made up of real wood, attached to a core that is constructed from up to twelve layers of wood materials. The thickness of the wear layer determines how many times the flooring can be refinished, if any. With wear layers ranging from 1mm to 4mm thick, refinishing can happen as many as three to five times at the thickest. Keeping up with required maintenance is the best way to get the most from your hardwood floors.

Ontario Carpet Store is proud to serve the areas of Painted Post, NY; Big Flats, NY; Horseheads, NY; and Elmira, NY, all from our showroom in Corning, NY. There you’ll find a great selection of floor coverings, design and material advice, and professional installation services that put the finishing touches on any flooring project. When you’re ready to get started on your project, feel free to visit us.