Wood and Wood-look flooring Options

There is nothing that brings warmth and a feeling of home quite like wood floors. They aren’t for everyone but with recent advancements in flooring technology you can probably find something that fits your budget, style and desire for maintenance. This week we will discuss the different options for those looking for the perfect wood, or wood look, flooring for their home.

1. Solid Hard Wood Strip Flooring

This is the most common option in this category and has been used for many years. Types of wood include oak, maple, cherry, ash, bamboo, walnut, teak and mahogany. The last few are quite a bit more expensive but due to their hardness and beautiful appearance are often used as a luxury finish. The most common being oak, the flooring is simply thin strips of timber (no more than 3-4 inches wide) fitted together and attached in some fashion to the floor. You can get it pre-finished with a warranty, or raw which you must sand, stain and finish yourself. Either way the installation is fairly straight-forward.

2. Solid Hard Wood Plank flooring

Basically, the same as the category above with wider boards. While strip flooring is made of thin strips, plank flooring uses planks of wood 5 to 20 inches wide. Plank flooring is more expensive as it must be harvested from the larger sections of trees and contains much more heart wood.

3. Solid Softer Wood flooring

Available in both strip and plank, these boards are made from faster growing, softer and less-expensive types of wood like pine.

4. Engineered Wood Flooring

Available in all the previous finishes, this product has a thin veneer wood glued to a sheet of plywood. As you probably guessed, this product is quite a bit cheaper than the solid variations it can also be laid in basements and bathrooms as it is more resistant to swelling from moisture. There is a trade-off though, while the solid wood products can be repeatedly sanded and refinished, engineered floors do not offer that option due to the thinness of the facia.

5. Luxury Vinyl Flooring

LVF is available in all sorts of finishes, including stone and wood looks. Because the material is moisture proof and very durable, it is a popular choice for wet areas like kitchens and bathrooms as well as high traffic areas. Depending on the brand and finish hardness, some come with lifetime warranties. There are endless style possibilities with LVF because it is completely manufactured and comes in just about every conceivable color, pattern and size.

6. Vinyl Flooring

Same as the above category, but less expensive and less hardy. The look is consistent, but the texture is not as true to what it is imitating. Still water tolerant and available in many different finishes. It is available in strips, planks or sheets.

7. Linoleum Flooring

While it lost popularity over the years, this is an eco-friendly option that is making a comeback because of the finishes available and, of course, the cost savings. It is a forgiving surface and actually has a bounce to it, making it much more comfortable to walk or stand on for long periods of time. It is like vinyl in texture, price and versatility, but is made by mixing linseed oil and cork powder and is quite a bit stiffer. Also available in strips, planks or sheets.

8. Wood-look Ceramic Tile

The name says it all. This is the same ceramic tile you are familiar with, it just looks like wood. You can have it in just about any color, texture, style, size and shape you want. The main drawback is the grout lines will give it away as tile and it is a bit harder on your joints than the other options discussed above.

You probably know more about flooring now than you will ever need to. There are some more exotic options that folks are using on the DIY sites, but these are the production options available to most of us. You can make flooring out of just about anything. Shoot, dirt will keep you from falling through to the center of the earth, but some surfaces make more sense than others. Let us know if we missed anything.