Oak Flooring: Oak has a heavier grain throughout it than most other wood flooring products. This gives your room a more rustic aura with its mixture of ‘tiger’ or ‘waterfall’ markings. This is a very popular floor in North America. 3 inch or 5 inch width, this floor comes in a variety of colors and hues. This is NOT the floor for you if you want a custom, ‘nobody else has this on the block’ look.

When going with an oak, I prefer the Northern hardwoods in Nth America. It’s a lot colder in the north so the trees grow slower and are harder with a much tighter grain than non-northern trees. Try to avoid exotic Asian woods (unless this is what you really want) as the tropical environment in Asia with its humidity and moisture has woods grow very fast but are softer and light sensitive. Oak flooring also has a low to medium shade variation. This means you won’t find too much difference in color between one board and another.

Maple Flooring: This gives a very contemporary look with its clean lines and very light grain. Maples can be stained to fit almost any color..from natural white to sun burnt reds to almost black. These woods are quite hard (2300 PSI) and don’t have the natural graining an oak floor has. Some like this clean look; others feel it resembles laminates too closely than genuine woods. Maples are a great choice particularly if you select a darker color but don’t want the ‘business’ of a traditional oak floor. A maple floor’s color variation is very low to low.

Hickory Flooring: The hardest of the main group, hickory has naturally occurring mineral streaks, knots and birthmarks that give the wood a deep character. If you like random, naturally occuring patterns in your floor, hickory is a great choice. Its color variance is high to extreme, often having one board almost milky in color and the next grey! There is nothing wrong with the wood; this is how God made it. It’s supposed to look like that! It gives the room a rustic, warm feeling and if you want a custom looking floor and don’t mind the large color variance, a hickory floor is a perfect choice.

Cherry & Walnut Flooring: Probably the most striking and beautiful floors around. They have a lot of waterfall movement to them and the stained woods are exceptionally eye-catchy. Since they are very soft, be very careful before deciding on one of these floors. When laid, these floors exude a luxurious and expensive look.

Pine Flooring: Also soft with the unmistakable ‘zebra’ lines running through the floor. Since they are very heavy in vertical line movement, they give an exotic appearance combined with their naturally occurring dark knotholes. Go with this floor if you’re modeling a room. But keep away if you have a zoo.

So select your hardwood floor that fits your lifestyle first then narrow the colors down. You’ll be a much happier hardwood floor owner.

Across America, as countless homeowners restore well-worn hardwood floors to their original luster, others are hard at work making their new floors look very, very old. That has some homeowners or their handymen grinding, pummeling, notching, andeven taking an ice pick to brand-new hardwood floor boards.

Not to worry: they can take it, according to Susan Regan of the Hardwood Information Center. She said, “I can’t think of another floor material that’s so appealing when it’s old that people go out of their way to distress it ahead of time. Since a hardwood floor can last 100 years or more, this is a way to enjoy that old-world character and patina now.”

The trend toward vintage isn’t just a California thing. Manhasset, N.Y.,interior designer Doreen Rose Stempien is among East Coast homeowners who are adding old-world style to hardwood floors. The stained designs on her plank floors are distressed to look decades – even centuries – older.

Use stain to create faux inlays

When friends step into Stempien’s 72-year-old Georgian colonial, they assume the gorgeous oak floor in the foyer has a geometric inlay.  They’re wrong. The diamond pattern trimmed by a simple border actually is stained.

“The look is very soft and pretty and old,” Stempien says. “Ilove it. Many of the old, historical homes had diamond patterns on the floor.”

Stempien’s floor refinisher sanded the floor and applied a coat of stain mixed to match the color of the wood floors in the adjacent dining and living rooms. Next, he carefully laid out the 7-inch diamonds, taping around those that would be darker and then staining them in a walnut finish.

A day later, he drew the lines for the 2 1/4-inch border, taped the edges and stained it in an even darker tone. Two coats of a fast-drying semigloss polyurethane were added to seal in the design and give the floor lasting protection.

To understand why there are gaps in your hardwood floors you must first understand that hardwood floors shrink and expand in accordance with the moisture level in your home. Dryer air means smaller boards, which leads to larger cracks in your floors. In the summer when there tends to be more humidity, you may notice that the gaps almost disappear between your floorboards.

If this is the case, careful monitoring and adjusting the moisture levels in your home can reduce, if not eliminate, gaps in your hardwood floors. First, you should buy a hygrometer to determine the moisture level of your air. Then you should plan on installing a high quality humidifier to raise the moisture in the air to an appropriate level. A good target moisture level should be between 40-50%. This should take care of any gaps in the floors due to dry air, which is the most common problem.

The other problem that causes gaps in hardwood floors happens during installation and is very difficult to fix. It often happens when an inexperienced person lays hardwood floors or the house has excessively moist air right before the installation. Often it is the subfloor that has a moisture level of over 10% due to a flooded basement or rain damage. When the hardwood is installed over this subfloor problems are hard to spot until the winter comes and the air dries out. This can lead to gaps that are nearly ¼” wide.

Fortunately, refinishing these floors is not as difficult as many are led to believe. This article will lead you through easy to follow steps that will undoubtedly restore any hardwood floor’s original shine and luster.

This project requires a drum sander as well as a disk sander. Fortunately, you will not need to purchase these either of these tools as many local stores will rent them to you at a fair price. The drum sander will handle the major part of the floor restoration. The disk sander will be used for the tighter and more difficult to reach spots such as along baseboards, inside closets, or stair treads. If you need to know how to operate either of these machines, the renter will be able to demonstrate for you before the equipment is taken home.

If you’re considering hardwood flooring, here are six (6) great reasons to continue on your quest for the right wood floors:

1. Easily Adapts to Your Décor
Hardwood flooring easily fits into any interior design. Just ask any designer, you’ll get the same answer 9 times out of 10 – hardwood floors are amazingly adaptive to any décor you prefer. The timeless appeal and beauty of hardwood floors is an ever-present characteristic, and quality hardwood floors only become more beautiful over time if well-maintained. With wood floors you can achieve a rich, elegant ageless look, convey a warm, cozy atmosphere, or create a sleek contemporary ambiance. With beautiful wood floors, anything is possible!

2. Durable and Long-Lasting
You can’t beat quality hardwood floors for durability and endurance.With improvements in technology, the durability factor has been strengthened! In the past most homeowners chose wood flooring only for more formal areas such as dining and living rooms, but today many homeowners are opting for fabulous wood floors in every room – even kitchens, bathrooms, and laundry rooms. The choice is surely yours – hardwood floors can work anywhere you want them! Certain types of woods are better than others in higher moisture areas, of course, so be sure to consult with your seller to make a wise choice for each area you plan to use wood flooring.

3. Cost-Effective
Wood floors are very cost-effective when you consider the return on your investment. If you talk with most any real estate agent today, they will tell you that wood floors definitely make a difference in the sale of a home. According to a recent survey by the National Wood Flooring Association, agents agreed that houses with wood floors not only bring higher prices, they sell much faster!

4. Easy to Maintain

Wood floors are very easy to maintain. With minimal care, you can maintain the beautiful look and rich appeal of your hardwood floors for years. Hardwood develops a rich lustrous look as it ages; tones deepen and grain patterns emerge with every passing year. If you follow simple manufacturer care suggestions, your wood floors will bring you lasting enjoyment.

5. Ecologically Friendly
If you’re concerned about allergens, you won’t find a better solution than hardwoods. A great choice for ecologically friendly flooring is wood. Much is said today about allergens that collect over time in carpets and other types of flooring. Wood floors are easily kept clean and do not hold these kinds of irritating allergens. So if you’re interested in providing the healthiest atmosphere in your home, hardwood is the perfect choice. (Wood is also renewable and recyclable.)

6. Options and Variety Abound
The range of variety is unbeatable. There are so many choices of colors, wood grains, board widths, and different types of wood, you’ll be amazed at your options to choose not only beautiful wood floors, but unique wood floors. Because of the natural qualities in wood, you’ll never see another floor exactly like yours. That’s part of the beauty in choosing high-quality wood flooring for your home.

Whatever your preference in decorating style and design, you can find striking wood floors to create the look and feel you want your home to convey. Whether remodeling, redecorating, or building, explore your options for beautiful wood flooring!

The cleaning process

When cleaning hardwood floors, it’s important to remember that water is the enemy to beautiful wood flooring. Why? Water can filter down into the floorboards and cause the wood to warp. The best way to clean your wood floors on a routine basis is remove the superficial debris with a vacuum cleaner using a soft brush. Once the loose debris and dust has been removed, use a dry damp mop to gently go over the surface of your hardwood floors. Be careful to remove all grit as this can cause scratches on your beautiful wood floors when people walk over it. There’s really no need to invest in expensive hardwood floor cleaners. A mild, low pH cleanser should be sufficient and much less costly. Plan on cleaning your hardwood floors about once every ten days if your floors undergo normal day to day traffic.

Should you wax or polish your hardwood floors?

After completing the cleaning process, you’ll want to reassess. Do your hardwood floors look bright and shiny? If they still look dull despite your best efforts at cleaning, you may want to consider applying a light coating of wax or polish. This can add an extra dimension of beauty to your hardwood floors that will be worth the extra effort.

Removing tough stains

If your water your neutral pH soap and water won’t remove a stain from your wood floor, you may be able to remove certain stains such as heel marks with mineral spirits and a damp cloth. Deeper stains may require removal of part of the floor finished using course grit sandpaper. This will also require a touch up to replace the finish you removed.

Preventing future problems

The best way to preserve your hardwood floors is to take precautions to protect them on a daily basis. Quickly wipe up spills and remove water from the floor immediately. Limit exposure of your wood floors to shoes and pet toenails which can cause heel marks and scratches. Protective mats may help protect your floors in this respect. Limit exposure to sunlight which may alter the color of your hardwood floors. Maintain a humidity level between 45% and 60% throughout the year to protect your wood flooring.

By knowing how to clean your hardwood floors and taking some precautions to protect their surface on a day to day basis, you can enjoy the beautiful of your wood flooring for many years to come.

The home was previously owned by an old lady who passed away months before we saw the home for the first time. We were told at one time that there were over 50 cats in that house. I can’t imagine what 50 cats would look like, let alone in one home. Yuck. Needless to say, the smell was convincing enough to make anyone believe the 50 cat story. Aside from the smell, the house had tons of charm and just begged to be made over. With a little cash and a lot of prayer, my fiance and I decided we’d be the daring duo to take on the ominous odor.

After countless hours of on-line research, talking to friends who had faced the same thing, and conversing with countless pet store employees, Jarrod (my fiance) and I devised a plan. The origin of the odor was obviously the cat urine. The lady’s children had removed the carpet to reveal some potentially (and I do mean potentially) beautiful hardwood floors. Underneath the urine spotted floor we hoped we’d find shining hardwood floors filled with charm and character.

So, if you’re looking to tackle some stinky stained hardwood, here’s what I tried, what worked, and what didn’t.

When you are cleaning your hardwood floors use a broom or a canister vacuum to pick up dirt. Canister vacuums have floor attachments just for picking up dirt. Don’t use a vacuum cleaner with a beater bar. This could scratch and damage your floor. Get yourself a good mop for cleaning the floor and the proper cleaning products just to use on hardwood floors. Try and keep your floors clean and in good shape. Keep your blinds and curtains closed if the direct sunlight is shining in on your floor. It has been known to fade and discolor your flooring. This can happen over time with the sun shining directly on your floors.

They hold up very well to high traffic and are very good in your home if you have pets. Hardwood floors are one of the most preferred types of flooring in homes everywhere. When cleaning you hardwood floors there are some things that you may want to do to them to keep them looking good and in great shape. Maintaining your hardwood floors in your home can be an easy process.

It is always good to sweep your hardwood floors on a regular basis. Try and choose a broom with soft bristles for sweeping your hardwood floor. This way over time you will not get any fine scratches from sweeping your floor and can keep them looking their best at all times. You can vacuum your hardwood floors also if you like with soft bristle attachments. This will remove fine dirt such as dust and sand from your floors. When washing your hardwood floors use a damp sponge mop or a damp regular mop. Make sure it is squeezed out good and that there is no excess water dripping from your mop. Water can seep through your floors and cause water damage so make sure you have a minimal amount of water in your mop. Hardwood floors sometimes need waxing and buffing in your home to make them look their best. You may want to use a good floor wax on your floors to make the wood on your floors have luster and shine.