WOODCARVING & ACCESSORIES

Buying Wooden Flooring For The Home

Timber is good-looking and fantastic for flooring. It looks classy and natural, and there are lots of different varieties of hardwood for you to choose from. From light coloured woods to dark, there’s always a hardwood out there to suit your home and style

Any hardwood that you use for flooring will certainly have been tested using the Janka scale. This checks the hardness of the wood and therefore determines its appropriateness for use on the floor because the wear and tear it will get from individuals walking on it and putting household furniture on it. At the top end of the Janka scale are hardwoods such as Brazilian ebony and Bolivian cherry and at the bottom end are the softwoods such as Balsa and Eastern White Pine.

Without doubt the most popular is oak flooring and oak is available in two types: red oak and white oak. The red oak is still the most popular because it is warm colour and widely available, but the white variety is gaining in popularity with trends for paler colours. White oak is also good for areas of the house that may get wet such as the kitchen because it is comparatively impermeable to water. Oak is an enduring flooring favourite and the flexibility makes it easy to lay. Furthermore , it takes colour stains well if you want to change the shade.

Maple is a popular solution if you need something dent and scratch resistant. It isn’t as stable as oak so may potentially require a perimiter boundary to protect it from damage because it expands and contracts. The grain of this wood creates appealing patterns and if you decide on this wood it will be to some extent because of this. The wood will not take a stain well so be certain that you’re completely satisfied with the shade and grain before you lay it in your house.

Warm coloured woods for the floor include cherry and walnut. Cherry, like oak, is available in two varieties: American and Brazilian. The Brazilian is the darker of the two and is very hard. The American is a delicate pink and one of the softer hardwoods. Both will alter colour after being exposed to sunshine so don’t count on it to remain the exact shade as when it was laid.

Walnut is a stunning wood but also very expensive. It is improbable that you would lay an entire floor in walnut but it can be used as an accent in small areas. It is actually very strong and flexible with an even, fine grain. If you can afford walnut on your floor, you won’t regret it.

Should you be more in to paler wood, ash or birch may be your answer. Paler woods are especially good in smaller rooms because they make the room seem to be much bigger. If you couple this with a pale wall, the room will look much bigger compared to if you used darker colours. Ash is long-lasting and very strong. It isn’t susceptible to splitting and has great shock resistance. An additional advantage is that it also takes a stain well should you wish to vary the colour.

Birch can be creamy in colour but is also available in redder tones. Young birch will be at the creamy end of the spectrum, whereas the older birch (the heartwood from the middle section of the trunk) is at the redder end. It is actually a particularly good wood for high traffic areas of your property.

If reclaimed wood is more your thing, beech may well be a good choice. It is one of the most popular reclaimed woods used for recycled flooring and it will certainly take a lot of wear and tear. It’s strong and resistant to splitting. You will frequently find floors of beech with a clear urethane covering to help protect it. The grain is straight as well as being fine, giving it a uniform overall look. You will find it available in dark brown to pale white.

You will never go wrong with a timber floor, but be sure that you select something that is suitable for your property and financial situation. So why not find a hardwood flooring supplier now?
carving question #2