It is important that you know the key differences in each flooring type when making the important choice of what flooring you will be living with for many years to come. We can provide the materials or install your own flooring.
Common Wood Flooring Types
There are three basic types of wood flooring:
- Solid (raw)
- Engineered (pre-finished)
- Laminate
Solid Hardwood
Solid wood flooring is the traditional style of wood flooring. This type of flooring is installed by a nail-down installation method over wood subfloors. You choose the custom stain and it is finished to match your decor or preference. This is known as “Job Site Finished” wood.
Solid hardwoods are typically 3/4" thick, although some do come in 3/8" or 5/16" thicknesses. Our most popular product is the 3/4" red or white oak. It comes in a variety of widths with 2 ¼” the most common.
Some other types of raw flooring are maple, pine, hickory, pecan, and cherry. There is also bamboo, which is technically not a wood, but can be made into flooring with many of the same properties as wood.
Unfinished hardwood flooring is delivered raw then sanded, stained and finished on site. It is available in more widths and wood species than prefinished flooring, and can be matched to existing wood floors. Solid wood can be sanded and refinished many times removing scratches or imperfections to make like new.
A custom sanded hardwood floor is perfectly flat looking, with a tabletop appearance that cannot be achieved with a pre-finished hardwood floor. If the subfloor is uneven, then a pre-finished or laminated floor will be uneven. Since the unfinished flooring is sanded flat on site, it is more forgiving of slight irregularities in the subfloor.