So, you’ve made the decision to install oak floors in your home. You still have to choose among the types of oak flooring available. There are a number of choices still left to consider, each of which has practical and aesthetic considerations. As with all home construction and/or decorating decisions, your choices are going to be unique to you. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to hardwood flooring. Oak floors come in several types and styles, as do all types of hardwood floors.

Three Types of Oak Flooring and Their Characteristics

1. Solid – As the name implies, this product is made of solid wood. The thickness of the planking can range from a quarter inch to one inch. As the thickness increases, the price goes up. Thicker products are going to be more durable, allow for more refinish jobs and feel more ‘solid under your feet. There is a wide variety of wood species used to make this type of hardwood floor with types of oak flooring being among the the most popular. Solid oak flooring can literally last for generations in your home. In general, solid hardwood flooring will make the most lasting contribution to the value of your home.

2. Engineered – These products are constructed in layers. The way the planks are constructed, the grain of the wood is laid in opposing directions and this makes the floor more stable. Most engineered floor products are between three and twelve layers with the more expensive products having more layers. The advantage to engineered wood floors is due to their greater moisture resistance they can be installed in places not suited to solid wood flooring, like basements or in climates with high levels of humidity. These floors have nearly the same variety of species to choose from as solid hardwood floors. The top layer of the floor is the one that imparts the ‘look’ to the floor so you could choose oak veneer if you are looking for oak flooring and get essentially the same result. There are many types of oak flooring available as engineered products. High quality engineered floors can be refinished up to five times, however the cheaper brands may have as little as .6mm of veneer and can only be recoated once they become worn. Engineered oak flooring is popular because it can give a very pleasing appearance for a more budget friendly price than solid oak flooring.

3. Acrylic Impregnated – This type of wood floor is very hard and stands up to a lot of wear and tear. The wood grain is injected with acrylic resins. This type of floor can be obtained in most of the hardwoods as the other floors and it is ideal for very high traffic areas, even commercial installations in restaurants and stores. It also makes a very durable choice for homeowners. It is one of the types of oak flooring that can handle nearly any situation.

The way you assess each of these various types of hardwood flooring is to first consider where the flooring is to be installed. Solid hardwood flooring is not appropriate for some installations. In places where high moisture is going to be an issue you should consider other choices. Budget considerations will also come into play. Remember that you can get the same look as solid oak flooring at a more attractive price if you choose engineered oak flooring. So you can see that there are many types of oak flooring that fit your unique circumstances.

Wood Flooring Choices Have Grown

Wood Flooring Choices Offer Dazzling Array

Wood Flooring Choices in Solid Wood

Prefinished flooring is usually manufactured with a V-groove at the joined edges so that these slight variations will not be noticeable because the edges are not flush. The downside of this is that those grooves collect dirt over time and can result in dark lines between the planks. Although a factory finish is usually much more durable than a finish applied on site, the choices you have when you install traditional tongue and groove flooring are much broader.

Factory finished flooring may limit your color choices somewhat. A traditional solid wood floor does not always have to be made of the usual hardwoods like oak, cherry or mahogany. Pine and fir, although soft woods, can be used to great effect. Yes, these floors will nick and become weathered over time, but that is part of their charm. These softer woods work especially well in rustic decor schemes where the interior design focuses on a ‘county’ or farmhouse type of theme.

Wood Flooring Choices — Engineered Floors

This type of floor is almost always prefinished.  A veneer of your choice is layered on top of several other sub-layers. The advantage of this kind of floor is that it can be used anywhere as it can be laid directly over concrete, unlike traditional wood flooring that requires nailing to a wooden sub-floor. This kind of floor is also more suitable for below-grade and high moisture areas such as basements, bathrooms and kitchens as the layers provide some protection against warping due to humidity.

Engineered floors are sometimes called ‘floating floors’ as they are glued together over the existing sub-floor and can actually move with changing conditions. As with solid wood floors, engineered flooring comes in a variety of plank sizes and finishes. An engineered floor can be sanded and refinished, up to a point. It depends on the thickness of the veneer of wood applied to the substrate. One advantage is that you may find that exotic woods that would be out of your price range if bought in solid form may be affordable if used in this way as a veneer.

Wood Flooring Choices –Laminate Floors

Laminate floors are an economical alternative to ‘real’ wood floors. These durable surfaces are actually made by sandwiching a picture of wood between a durable plastic upper layer and usually fiberboard lower layer. While solid or engineered wood flooring will cost anywhere from eight to ten dollars (for common varieties) up to twenty-five dollars (for exotics) per square foot, a laminate floor can be had for around a dollar-fifty a square foot.

About ten percent of ‘wood’ floors sold are laminate floors. They are easy to install and many do-it-your-selfers find them convenient. There are, as with all products, variances in quality. Look for “high pressure laminate” or HPL not “direct pressure laminate” or DPL.  HDL will hold up much better with time.  Look for a guarantee with your laminate flooring as these floors cannot be refinished.  Another nice feature to look for is a technique that embosses a ‘grain’ in the top layer that follows the grain in the wood picture. This goes a long way toward making the floor look more authentic. The term for this is “embossed in register”.

Lastly, when you are shopping for laminate flooring, you should take note of the pattern repeat. There should be at least six different patterns of wood and they should appear in different plank lengths so that your floor doesn’t look like the same piece of wood over and over again. Real wood floors show quite a bit of variation so your laminate floor’s quality depends in some measure on mimicking this natural variety.

Your wood flooring choices are determined, in the end, by a combination of your personal decorating style, your family’s living characteristics and, of course, your budget.

Shopping on line for wood flooring — Know what you are searching for!

Oak flooring, laminate flooring, bamboo flooring, walnut flooring and all the exotic woods you can name are just a click away and it’s so easy to compare prices when you can select a feature that lets you put your selections in ascending or descending price order. You can sort by brand names like Armstrong, Anderson or Mohawk Industries. Or if you know you want solid wood flooring, you can filter for that choice. There are a number of different engineered wood flooring options as well. There are nearly two dozen installation types to choose from with every imaginable combination of glue, staples, nails and snap in place tongue and groove.

I may be stating the obvious, but when you shop on line, you should make your searches count so that you can get the most out of them. By putting your search term in quotes in the search engine’s query box, you will get results returned that are an exact match to what you have typed. For example, if you type in “white oak laminate flooring” you will get results for that type of flooring.

Sort by length, width or thickness if you know specifically what dimensions your planking needs to be. By far the  largest choice is in materials.  And species!  I counted over 168 different kinds of wood on one amazing site.  I know a lot about hardwood floors, but I was astonished at the number of woods I had never even heard of. Nogal , orosi  and sakura woods are three I didn’t recognize. The scary part about these was the ‘call for prices’ part of the description.

Showroom versus Shopping on line for wood flooring

I don’t know about you, but I get a bit nervous when I have a salesperson shadowing me ready to pounce when I pause at this or that display. I appreciate being able to see and feel the flooring materials, but many times I have had to ask the price of each and every option I take a peek at.  Or, if I go to some of the big box home improvement stores, I wind up getting no help at all in spite of advertising to the contrary!  Sometimes, I find the best approach is to spend some time in a showroom where I can establish the look and feel of what I want and then return home and shop on line for wood flooring at the best price and quality I can find.

Although many people assume that solid wood flooring is the best you can buy, that may or may not be true, depending on a number of factors.

First of all, let’s explain what engineered wood flooring is. It’s made by sandwiching together several layers, usually a veneer, a core, and a base. The veneer or top layer is the one you see and it can vary in thickness. Generally speaking, the thicker, the better.

One of the advantages of engineered wood flooring is that it’s easier to install than solid wood flooring. It can be glued down – which is essential if you have concrete sub floors – stapled, or floated. And it’s easier to saw and nail than many solid woods. If you want to install your floors yourself, they’re your best bet.

It can even be installed over tile or vinyl, as long as it’s clean and level. Check to make sure the moisture level is less than 4% first.

Because the grain of the core is perpendicular to the grain of the veneer, it’s actually more stable than solid hardwood. It warps less and is better suited to homes in high-humidity zones or for summer homes that are unheated in winter.

The best thing about solid wood is that if it gets worn, it can be sanded down and refinished. But people forget that even though the wood is ¾” thick, it can only be sanded down to the bottom of the tongue on the side of the plank. In most cases, that’s only about 5/16” thick.

An engineered wood floor with a veneer of 3/16” can usually be sanded three or four times. It should have a lifespan of 60 to 80 years.

Most engineered flooring comes pre-finished, which eliminates all the hassle of sanding and finishing your floors after they’re installed. With 3 -10 layers of urethane already applied, they’ll look good for years with proper care.

These days, you can find engineered wood flooring in virtually every wood, color, and finish. Even hand-scraped and distressed styles are available.

As a rule, engineered wood floors are less expensive than solid wood floors. But if you sell your home, prospective buyers will pay the same price. This is not true for laminate floors which don’t look like real wood.

Another benefit is that they’re environmentally responsible. The wood required to produce one square foot of solid wood flooring will yield approximately four times as much engineered product.

Read about other kinds of wood flooring.

Wood Flooring Offers Many Choices

Few home improvement projects improve the appearance and value of your home as much as wood flooring.  Hardwood floors make any space — from a formal living room to a country kitchen — look better.  And wood flooring is an investment that provides lasting benefits.  A good-quality, well maintained wood floor will last a lifetime.

Because wood flooring is easy to care for and doesn’t show dirt or stain like carpeting, it’s a good choice for families with children and pets.

When you first start shopping for wood flooring, you may be overwhelmed by the choices.  But there are basically just three types of wood floors.  The type that’s best for you will depend on a number of factors, including where the floor will be installed and how much traffic it will get.

Solid Wood Flooring

As the name implies, solid wood flooring is made from pieces of wood that are between 1/4″ and 1″ thick.  As a rule, the tongue-and-groove boards fit together and are installed by nailing them to a sub floor of 3/4″ plywood.  For this reason, solid wood floors can’t usually be used over concrete slabs.

Building a sub floor to use over concrete essentially doubles the cost of using solid wood.  So if you have a concrete floor, you’re better off with an engineered wood floor.

Because solid wood expands and contracts with variations in moisture and temperature, it’s also unsuitable for areas where those conditions fluctuate dramatically.

You can choose from a wide assortment of solid woods, stains, and finishes.  Or you can buy your flooring unfinished and having it finished after it’s installed.  This is ideal if you’re trying to match a pre-existing floor.  But it’s a messy process and not everyone will be want to put up with the noise and dust.

Because there is usually 1/4″ or more of wood above the tongue and groove, solid wood floors can be sanded down and refinished.  If you have lots of traffic or large dogs, solid wood flooring are a great choice.

Engineered Wood Flooring

This kind of flooring is made of several layers — or plys — that are laminated together.  Usually a base, a core, and a veneer.  The top layer or veneer varies in thickness.  But for the best wear, it should be at least 3/16th of an inch thick.

Veneers of 1/8″ or less are usually rotary peeled.  Thicker veneers are sawed and look more like solid wood.  Veneers of 5/16th can usually be sanded.

The grain on the plys in engineered wood run in different directions, which makes the flooring more stable.  Engineered wood flooring won’t warp, and because it can be glued, stapled or floated, it can be used almost anywhere.

Most engineered floors come prefinished with 3 – 10 layers of urethane.  But a huge selection of finishes is available.  If your sub floor is a concrete slab, engineered wood will cost you about half as much as solid wood.

Acrylic-impregnated Wood Flooring.

Better known by the brand name Pergo, acrylic-impregnated wood floors are extremely durable.  In fact, they’re 300% harder than natural wood.  Liquid acrylic, stain, and fire retardants are injected into the wood and then it’s cured.

Because impregnated wood is water resistant, it’s often used in kitchens and bathrooms.  And because the color goes all the way through, it’s ideal in commercial setting like restaurants, where there’s lots of traffic and wear.  In fact, scratches are barely detectable.

Many people don’t like the look of acrylic-impregnated wood floors, but they are the best choice if you want the appearance of wood but need a more durable floor.