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Hardwood Floors, Colors, Designs & Patterns

Hardwood floors have become very popular in recent years and different from the past, hardwood flooring has become a customized design statement rather than just an alternative type of flooring for ease of care. Older wood floors were traditionally of red or white oak and commonly 3" strip material and usually ¾" thick boards. Patterns were usually found in more expensive homes only and for the most part strip flooring was installed parallel with the length of the room. The older installed wood floors were nailed in place on site as raw lumber then rough sanded and then finish sanded with a walk behind flooring machine and the stain applied followed by a varnish or polyurethane coating which required regular paste waxing and buffing to maintain the sheen. Today's wood floors are usually of a prefinished board ranging in thickness from 3/8" to ¾". Many more species of woods are readily available in wood flooring at affordable prices making them very popular in home remodeling and new construction.

Choosing the type and color of wood flooring for your project is only half of the decision, the other half is selecting the style of board, board width and the direction which to install the strips or planks. Darker colors give the room a formal appearance and will define the room size visually, while lighter colors will give the appearance that the room is larger and allow other items in the room to stand out. Wood flooring species include red oak, white oak, ash, birch, maple, pine, cherry, walnut, teak, rosewood and other exotic woods which are more expensive and harder to find. Keep in mind that woods as teak, cherry and rosewood naturally darken with age and will be more prominent in areas exposed to daylight. The most common hardwood or softwood board widths are 21/2" - 3" strips, 4" to 7" planks, or smaller parquet style squares. The different board widths and the direction in which they are installed can dramatically affect the total appearance of the room by either highlighting the floor pattern or keeping color and patterns subtle. Along with those choices you may want to add patterns inlaid of different wood species, colors or different material such as ceramic tile to accent an area or border.

Installing the wood flooring diagonally makes a statement that it was installed professionally rather than just running boards parallel with walls which is the least expensive method of installation. By adding borders or different inlaid patterns is a way to express your personal touch to the room's décor. Using different colors of prefinished wood is the easiest way to add accents and details and by using the same brand of products in different colors will assure that matching width and thickness will be the same and professional looking. For borders consider using the main color around the perimeter walls 12" - !8" wide parallel with wall and miter the corners at 45 degree angles. Next install accent color wood strips at your choice of width parallel with base color and miter the corners also, after the accent color install the base color wood diagonally within this outline area. There are endless designs for inlaying custom wood floor patterns and accents. If the new wood floor is replacing carpeting there will be a noticeable difference in the loudness of sounds and echoes in that room and surrounding areas. It is common to lay down an area rug on top of the hardwood floor as a way to absorb sound making the room warmer, quieter and give a comfortable feel to the décor.

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