Are your carpets starting to look tired and worn out? Are you dreading the thought of picking out and paying for new carpet for your home once again? Does it feel like you just replaced your carpet a year ago (when in fact it may have been well over 10 years, if it’s looking really worn out)? Maybe you’ve considered going a different route for your home flooring but you’re afraid of the cost involved with putting in wood flooring. Well, the good news is that not only is wood flooring a beautiful addition to any home which adds to the ambiance as well as the overall resale value, but it is actually much more affordable than you might think, when you consider the big picture. We’ll take a look at the secret value of wood flooring and why you may want to seriously consider it for your next flooring project.
For the most part, real hardwood floors come pre-finished from the manufacturer, where they do the work at the factory. Usually they will have applied at least 4 coats of ultraviolet protective, heat cured urethane resin. With this kind of finish, not only will your floors look beautiful, but they will be considerably easier to clean up than a carpeted floor. Using a simple damp dust mop can suffice in many cases, though you are still able to use a traditional vacuum if you prefer (just remember to set it to “hard wood” setting, which brings the unit down closer to the floor).
The actual variety of wood you choose for your new flooring will depend a lot on the style of your house and of course your own personal taste. The general rule of thumb (which you do NOT need to follow if you don’t want to; after all, it’s YOUR house) is that the lighter woods such as white ash, sugar maple or southern yellow pine are best suited for casual, contemporary or country type decors. The darker woods such as mesquite, beech, birch, red oak and heart pine are more of a formal, traditional setting (think of an old university library, for example).
Besides the color and general decor genres, the other thing to consider about the different varieties of wood have to do with the hardness of the wood. Typically the darker woods are harder (with mesquite being the hardest of them all), and the lighter shades are softer. This will play a role in how durable and scratch resistant your new floors will be.
That is the one thing that you do need to be careful about regarding wooden floors; scratching. While wood flooring doesn’t “wear out” the way carpeting inevitably does, it can get scratched. Some simple precautions such as placing area rugs under your bigger furniture can help minimize the risk of this happening. And if you know you’re going to be moving something heavy across the floor, make sure to put it on something that slides while protecting the floor, such as a big towel. This will also make moving whatever it is much easier on you!
And this is where the ‘secret’ value of wood flooring comes into play; you may not need to replace them EVER if you don’t want to! There are homes that are well over 100 years old with original wood floors, and they only get better with age. Sure, scratches and such eventually occur, but it just helps to build character. If you do find your wood floors eventually look a bit worn, they can be refinished. Granted, this won’t be cheap or easy, but it is no less of a hassle than replacing carpet, and you will be able to go much, much longer between wood floor refinishing than you would between new carpets. In the long run, you’ll not only have a beautiful wood floor, but you’ll have saved yourself money too.
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