Tree Species Options For Residential Hardwood Flooring

Nothing makes a home feel more warm and cozy than hardwood floors. Hardwood floors are timeless, and having a hardwood flooring contractor install them is a great way to make a cold, impersonal house feel like a well-loved home. 

Solid wood hardwood flooring always feels lovely under your feet in any season. And, as an added bonus, hardwood floors can be refreshed repeatedly, making them a fantastic investment for your home that will last for decades.

If you have already decided to install solid hardwood flooring rather than engineered hardwood or luxury vinyl flooring, then the only choice you still need to make is the wood species you want the floors to be made of.

The most popular wood species for solid hardwood flooring include:

  • Cherry
  • Oak 
  • Walnut
  • Maple
  • Mahogany
  • Teak

Maple Hardwood Floors

Not only is maple a fantastic tree species for making cabinets, but it also makes beautiful flooring. Maple flooring is very hard and is fantastic for staining. Maple has a very fine grain and looks great in more modern homes because it is naturally very light in color.

Oak Hardwood Floors

A large percentage of the hardwood floors in America are made of oak. This is because oak trees readily grow in the United States. 

Both red oak and white oak species are used to make flooring. White oak is light-gray with a uniform grain, while red oak is rust-colored with a lot of grain character. Besides their appearance, both red and white oak tree species produce flooring of the same hardness and durability.

American Walnut Hardwood Floors

American Walnut is a popular tree species for hardwood flooring. Although not as hard as oak or cherry wood, American Walnut Wood is a beautiful dark chocolate brown color with exceptional grain.

Walnut hardwood floors are considered a luxury as they are one of the higher-priced options.  However, walnut floors are so beautiful that once installed, you will quickly see they are well worth the price. 

Mahogany Hardwood Floors

One of the most popular hardwood floor species in luxury homes is mahogany. Mahogany is an imported, exotic wood species that does not naturally grow in the United States.

Mahogany is naturally red and has a wavy grain pattern. Mahogany was used frequently in the past in old European mansions, so many people still associated it with luxury and wealth. 

Teak Hardwood Floors

Finally, one of the hardest and only waterproof hardwood flooring options you can choose is teak wood. Teak is fantastic for use in bathrooms and kitchens because it is naturally waterproof. However, since teak is an imported product, it can come with a hefty price tag. For this reason, many homeowners choose to install teak in the bathroom and in the kitchen and then use another wood species in the rest of the home.

Reach out to a company like Floors Plus to learn more about hardwood flooring options.

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All The Better To Walk On

Have you ever walked across a certain floor and thought to yourself, "wow, this floor feels nice to walk on." Chances are, that floor was cushioned in some way. Yes, the surface may have been made from tile or some other hard material, but there was probably some sort of padding underneath the outer tile that gave the floor some "play" and made walking over it a more comfortable experience. Flooring is like that. Its comfort really depends on its construction. You can learn all about flooring, how it is constructed, and more on this blog, where we publish regularly.

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