 | Patrick Goebel has been involved in the home improvement industry for over 10 years and is currently director of retail flooring of the Flooring & Decorating Division of Star Lumber & Supply Co., Inc. You may contact Patrick by email at pgoebel@starlumber.com or by phone at (316) 942-2221. |
Carpet, Tile & Floor Covering
2005-12-29 10:52:00
Are hardwood floors still an option in today’s homes?
: I read your articles all the time, but I haven't seen much written on hardwood floors. Are they still an option today?
ANSWER: Absolutely!Hardwood Flooring has experienced a revival over the past several years. During the Golden Age of carpet, hardwood flooring experienced an unprecedented reduction in market share. Cost per square foot, sustainability of forests, and the durability of hardwood finishes, all became primary influences in the consumer's flooring purchase decisions.Hardwood always has been one of the most beautiful flooring options and durability was really never an issue, since basketball courts, bowling alleys, and many skating rinks were constructed of hardwood. However, the scratch resistance and quality of finish coatings were highly variable and many consumers opted for lower maintenance flooring options. The idea of sanding and refinishing hardwood flooring every few years to maintain the beautiful finish was less than attractive to homeowners.Advances in the quality of today's flooring finishes has been one of the primary reasons for the revival in hardwood usage in residential applications. While numerous surface finish types can be found, each of these finishes offer superior scratch resistant properties as compared to the finishes of the past.The choice of flooring is typically one of the most important design elements in a room and is a primary focal point for secondary design elements. New design trends have made the implementation of hardwood floors into the design element a key ingredient for a balanced design palette. Complementing the hardwood flooring with area rugs, contrasting paint colors, and various lighting levels can manipulate any mood desired. The choices of hardwood flooring types have expanded as well. Once upon a time, the selection of hardwood flooring amounted to the tree-type of hardwood plank you wanted. Various widths were seldom available, a variety of surface finishes were limited, and color choices were limited. Today, hardwood flooring choices appear to be near limitless and this flexibility has been a primary reason for the resurgence in hardwood flooring as a key design trend. There are three predominate styles of hardwood flooring available today: Parquet (pronounced par-kay) hardwood plank flooring , and hardwood strip flooring. Parquet Flooring - Parquet has remained fairly popular throughout the Golden age of carpet and parquet flooring is generally square wood tiles that utilize a geometric pattern. Parquet comes in both glue-down and nail-down options. With the increase in popularity of laminate or engineered flooring, Parquet is experiencing a revival of sorts. Parquet is available in multilayer, solid parquet, lamparquet (Teak - Pyinkadu - Merbau - Kempas) and mosaics. Hardwood Plank Flooring - Hardwood plank is a linear floorcovering in that the length is longer than the width is wide. Hardwood plank can be found in various widths, although widths of 3", 4" and 5" are the most commonly found. Hardwood plank flooring comes in two primary thicknesses 1/2" and 3/4" although some variations may be found. Hardwood Strip Flooring - It is difficult for most hardwood buyers to distinguish between Hardwood plank flooring and hardwood strip flooring, but the width of hardwood strip flooring is generally narrower and are generally found in 1.5" to 3" strips. Hardwood strip flooring comes in two primary thicknesses 5/16" and 3/4" although some variations may be found. In essence, Hardwood strip is both narrower in width and smaller in thickness than hardwood plank.
