Choosing The Right Hardwood Flooring For Your Home

Many homeowners turn to hardwood when selecting the type of flooring for their home. 

Hardwood flooring is durable, it comes in a wide variety of colors and finishes, and it offers an elegant and timeless look to any space it’s installed in.

If you’re seriously considering adding hardwood floors to your home (and you should), we’ve created this guide to help you choose the right type of wood flooring for your needs. 

In this article we’ll discuss the different types of hardwood flooring, their durability, installation methods and costs, and the price range for various hardwood species.

Types of Hardwood Flooring

Solid Hardwood

Solid hardwood planks are made from a single, solid piece of wood. The benefit of solid hardwood is that it can be sanded and refinished up to 10 times, meaning these floors can last for many decades. 

The downside of solid hardwood is that it’s quite prone to moisture and temperature changes, which makes it unsuitable for humid environments. 

It’s also susceptible to water damage, so you should avoid solid hardwood floors in kitchens and bathrooms.

Engineered Hardwood

Engineered hardwood planks are multi-layered. They consist of a top layer that is made of natural hardwood and several underlying layers of plywood or high-density fiberboard (HDF). 

This construction makes it more stable and resistant to moisture and temperature changes compared to solid hardwood. 

Engineered hardwood can also be sanded and refinished, although not as many times as solid wood.

Durability and the Janka Scale

The Janka Hardness Scale is designed to measure the durability of wood. 

The scale works by measuring the force required to embed a steel ball to half its diameter into the piece of wood that’s being tested. The higher the Janka rating, the harder and more durable the wood.

Each wood species has a different Janka rating, so you should really take hardwoods with high Janka ratings into consideration if you have pets or kids running around the house.  

Hardwood Species With Exceptionally High Janka Ratings

• Brazilian Walnut: This exotic wood species has a Janka hardness rating of 3680, which makes it the most durable flooring species you can get. 

Effectively, this means that it can withstand a lot of damage from heavy furniture, dents from dropped objects, and general wear and tear better than other wood species.

• Hickory: If you’re interested in domestic wood species with exceptional hardness, look no further than hickory. 

Hickory’s Janka rating is 1820. This means it can withstand a lot of heavy impact, which makes it a great option for living rooms.

• Maple: Hard Maple has a Janka hardness score of 1450, while Soft Maple has a hardness score of 950. 

Just like with hickory and brazilian walnut, you can’t go wrong with maple if durability is a determining factor in deciding the type of hardwood you’re going to get. 

In addition to the hardness of the wood species, a strong protective finish, such as polyurethane will go a long way in helping you maintain the pristine look of your hardwood floors for years to come. 

Installation Methods and Cost of Installation

While DIY installation can save money, it requires a significant amount of time, effort, and skill. 

Mistakes during installation can lead to gaps, uneven surfaces, and other issues that may compromise the integrity and appearance of the floor. 

Professional installation, on the other hand, ensures a perfect fit and finish, especially for more complex installation methods. 

On average, professional installation costs range from $4 to $8 per square foot. 

Installation Techniques

• Nail-Down: Suitable for solid hardwood, providing a secure and permanent installation. ($6 to $8 per square foot, including labor and materials)

• Glue-Down: Used for both solid and engineered hardwood, offering stability. ($5 to $7 per square foot. The cost includes adhesive materials and labor)

• Floating: Ideal for engineered hardwood, allowing the floor to expand and contract with changes in humidity. ($4 to $6 per square foot)

Price and Budget Considerations

It wouldn’t be a hardwood floor buying guide if we didn’t talk about dollars and cents. 

Solid hardwood flooring cost can vary widely between wood types. Rare and exotic wood species like brazilian walnut can start at around $12 all the way up to $22 per square foot, while more common wood species like oak and maple can range between $3 and $10 per square foot.

Engineered hardwood is usually less expensive than solid hardwood until you get to the premium collections, which can cost up to $16 per square foot. 

With that being said, the long-term value and ability to refinish solid hardwood can justify the higher initial cost for common wood options.

Long-term Value

One of the lesser known benefits of hardwood flooring is that it can increase the value of your home due to its consistently high demand.  

On average, you can expect to see anywhere from 70-150% return on investment from installing hardwood floors.

Conclusion

Hardwood flooring is an investment that can add warmth, comfort, and value to your home. No one flooring type will suit everyone’s living style and budget, however. 
If you’ve carefully read this guide, weighed the pros and cons of hardwood, and have decided that the benefits outweigh the costs, then we say dive right in!