Home Floors:
Advantages of
Wood Flooring
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Wood Floors 101
Megan Cherry
Many homeowners today are replacing their carpeted areas with
wood flooring. Some of the advantages of wood flooring over
carpet are ease of cleaning, wood floors do not hold allergens,
wood floors will not mold or mildew, they can last the life of
the home and they look great.
When looking to choose a wood floor there are several options
to pick from the main choices are laminate flooring that is
actually a cover that is applied to a thin piece of pressed
wood product like plywood. The two biggest advantages of
laminate floors is cost and ease of installation. Laminate
floors in general can run from around $1.99 a square foot up to
around $5.00 per square foot for some top end laminates.
Installing laminate flooring is extremely easy, first it can be
installed over many existing floors as the finished laminate
floor actually floats on the old surface this allows for some
expansion and contraction of the floor. Most any handy home
owner can easily install a laminate floor the only special tool
needed is a chop saw which is fairly common tool today it can be
borrowed from a friend or rented for a small charge. An average
size room can easily be installed in one day.
The major disadvantages of a laminate floor are they can not
tolerated getting wet the pressed wood backing on the laminate
floor will soak up water and expand this will cause the floor
to buckle and the affected area will need to be replaced. The
other problem with lament flooring is if it is scratched or
dented the affected area will also need to be replaced the
laminate flooring is very tough and does not scratch or dent
easily but care needs to be taken to prevent scratches and
dents. In a solid wood floor scratches and dents can be sanded
and refinished without replacing the floor.
Solid wood floors can be either be prefinished or unfinished
when they are installed. The prefinished floors are finished at
the factory so once you install a prefinished floor you can use
it right away. A prefinished wood floor is an ideal choice for
replacing a floor in an existing home as no sanding dust is
created nor any fumes and waiting for the finish to dry. Solid
wood floors are harder and more time consuming to install than
the laminate floors each piece of wood flooring is nailed in
place a special air powered nailer is used for this step it an
be rented at a tool rental store.
Once the unfinished wood floor has been installed you will
need a floor sander to even out the floor a wide belt sander is
used for the main part of the floor and a smaller sander is used
around the edges. After the floor is prepped it can be stained a
color of choice or left natural this a matter of preference
after staining a clear urethane is applied creating a
protective finish for the floor
About The Author: Megan Cherry writes articles for
http://www.pegandrail.com
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