4 Types of Wood Floors For Your Home

Wood floors are one of the most popular types of flooring. It's a timeless choice and can fit into any home or setting. However, a Manhattan Beach homeowner who wants a wood floor still has a choice to make. There are several different types of wood floors homeowners can pick from. They each have different features to suit different homes better or worse than others. Here are some of the different types of wood floors and what sets them apart from each other.

Hardwood Floors

Hardwood is the type of wood people think of first when wood floors are brought up. Some of the different types of wood used for hardwood floors include oak, mahogany, walnut, and maple, with oak being the most popular due to how commonly it grows in America. The price of hardwood floors depends on the species used. Hardwood floors are durable, but they can still be damaged by things like dropping heavy objects or a dog's nails scratching along it. If a hardwood floor is damaged too much, it can be refinished to make it look like new instead of requiring replacement.

Bamboo Floors

A common alternative to hardwood floors, bamboo floors have a similar look, but they are more affordable, and they're better for the environment. This is because bamboo matures at a much faster rate than trees that produce hardwood, so deforestation isn't an issue for bamboo like it is with other types of wood used for floors. Bamboo is a softer wood than hardwood, so it can be damaged more easily than those woods. However, it is still a durable type of flooring, and it can stand up to most everyday damage.

Cork Floors

Cork is unique compared to hardwood and bamboo because it isn't the actual wood of the tree that's used—it's the bark. Cork comes from the cork tree, and it's another green option for people who are trying to be environmentally conscious. In many species of tree, removing the bark can kill the entire plant, but that isn't so for cork trees. The bark can be safely removed, leaving the tree completely unharmed, and it takes about four years to regrow. Cork is a soft material for floors, more comparable to vinyl than hardwoods. This can make it a good choice for homeowners who like soft floors but can't have something like carpet due to allergies.

Reclaimed Wood Floors

In recent years, reclaimed hardwood flooring has become a popular alternative to normal hardwood floors. The difference between the two is reclaimed hardwood is made from repurposed wood previously used for something else, like a deck or a building. This makes reclaimed hardwood yet another option for homeowners who want to make their home greener. Reclaimed hardwood is also more affordable than standard hardwood, and it can be up to 50% less expensive. That is a huge savings when the national average for a hardwood floor is just over $4,500.

Wood floors have always been popular, and there are no signs of this changing. However, what has changed is the variety of different wood floor materials available to homeowners to purchase for their homes. These are just four of the different types of wood, but there are others. For more information about these and other wood floor types, be sure to consult a flooring expert at a local hardware store.