Choosing Wood and Alternative Flooring Material | |
A generation of yuppies who grew up playing on the carpeted floors popular in the '60s and '70s have rediscovered hardwood floors. For centuries, wood floors have been both a comfortable and attractive flooring materials option. If you check out the floors in one of our historic mansions, you may find wood floors that have lasted for 200 years or more and have grown more beautiful with each passing decade. For example, at President Jackson's home (the Hermitage, just north of Nashville Tennessee) the tulipwood floors are more than 160 years old and they witness the passing of thousands of feet each year: yet the passing has only made the floors more attractive. Today, a wide array of prefinished hardwood flooring choices is offered to the consumer. Wood flooring is available either in tongue-and-groove planks or in parquet style, and in a variety of wood species and finishes. Most of these can be installed by the do-it-yourselfer, and can be either nailed or glued in place, projects that are within the abilities of the average d-i-y'er. Prior to the availability of prefinished wood flooring products, you had to sand, fill, seal and finish bare wood-- and the sanding and finishing were more far more difficult tasks than installing the flooring. The factory-applied floor finishes let the applicator "nail on the finish" and avoid the on-site problems associated with wood finishing. Modern wood finishes provide a durable walking surface and also make the wood floors easy to maintain. Our advice, if you want the look of wood floors, is to install real wood, rather than the simulated-but-don't-look-like-real-wood finishes you will find on vinyl or vinyl tile. The house-buying public today is moving toward quality and use of authentic materials, and is by-passing the faux or artificial finishes. Read manufacturer's literature for advice on how to maintain your new wood floors. Most experts agree that the most important thing you can do for your floors is to keep door mats in place at entry doors. Again. most of the dirt and grit that damage your floors is tracked into the house on your shoes, so remove street shoes at the door. Most of the flooring products today can be maintained with a daily application of the electric broom, and a weekly wet-mopping. Some manufacturers recommend using a paste floor wax as added protection from damage by grit and dirt. Read and heed the maintenance instructions that are supplied with your new flooring, and respect the floor care advice and expertise of the manufacturer. Alternative Flooring Materials The flooring products discussed above are the most popular and affordable flooring options for the homeowner. There are other flooring materials options, mostly found in the higher price brackets and requiring pro level skills for installation. These flooring materials include ceramic or quarry tile, marble, terrazzo, slate, and flagstone. These quality flooring options can represent a sizable cash investment, but the investment is one that can be recovered if made in an upper-bracket house. And, most of these quality flooring options, unlike their less expensive cousins, not only will last for decades but will also improve in appearance as they age. Maintenance is also greatly reduced when you use natural and durable flooring products. Most of these hard-surface floors require only an occasional cleaning with an electric broom, a monthly damp mopping, and an annual coat of sealer. This is not a hard and fast rule, of course: the amount of maintenance time required will depend on the material you choose and the amount of traffic that passes over the floor. For example, I once grew weary with the upkeep required on a cheap sheet vinyl floor. The floor got heavy traffic in a family with two parents and four teenagers, and it required a constant routine of cleaning, waxing, removing the wax, and rewaxing. This was a get-on-your-knees-and-scrub area that encompassed both a family-sized kitchen and an adjoining formal dining room floor. To solve the maintenance problem, I installed a flagstone (also referred to as a crab orchard flagstone) floor. The flagstone materials dealer told me to follow the above maintenance procedure -- i.e., vacuum when dirty, damp-mop monthly and apply a floor sealer once a year. As the years passed, the sealer took on a depth and beauty that cannot be achieved using man-made flooring materials. Should you consider one of these more expensive flooring options? The quality vinyl floorcoverings (and carpeting, and wood) are now used and buyer-accepted even in homes in upper price brackets. But the natural flooring choices such as slate, marble, and flagstone still have that look of class and permanence, and you should certainly, at the least, get price comparisons on these floors before you make your buying decision. Written by Gary Branson Reprinted wih permission. Copyright HouseNet, Inc. |