subject: Finding Wood Flooring To Suit Your Home [print this page] There are many types of flooring that you can use for your house. If you have some heavy items in your home, or if you take tap dancing classes at your house, you need hardwood flooring. There are basically two types of flooring viz. laminated flooring and engineered flooring. There are different factors to consider when you choose the material for your floors. One of them is moisture. For the kitchen, bathroom and the service area, you will have to select a material that can withstand moisture. Laminated flooring may be a good option in this case. Hardwood flooring should be used in rooms that are most used, like the living room. Hardwood is not stained easily by footmarks and depressions caused by constant movement of people. However, for the bedroom, entertainment room and the dining room, a good choice of material would be oak.
Oak flooring is very popular these days. The main advantage of using oak flooring is that the appearance of the room becomes more beautiful. Oak flooring adds elegance to the floor and people will, to use a figurative phrase, 'be floored' after seeing your room. Oak is quite sturdy, and is available in a multitude of colours. There are a lot of patterns to choose from, and you can select the size required for your room. You have to be absolutely sure of the purpose of the room before you select a material for the floor. There are different types of oak flooring viz. red oak flooring, solid oak flooring, white oak flooring and engineered oak flooring. Oak has great durability and toughness. The strength of oak can be measured by the Janka hardness test. Red oak has a Janka hardness of about 1300, which means that it is quite strong. White oak can be used as a substitute for laminated flooring because it can withstand a lot of moisture without disintegrating.
Oak flooring requires a lot of maintenance. However, if you regularly apply conditioners to the floor, the oak will remain strong and tough. Oak can be used not only for the floors but also for the walls. To avoid indentations on the oak surface, you can use carpets and rugs. This will also protect the oak surface from extremely bright sunlight, which can lead to drying of the oak. Engineered oak offers a lot of advantages. It has more dimensional stability and can be used even for the living room. The thickness of the plywood is higher than that of other types of wood flooring. In cold places, engineered oak flooring can support under floor heating systems without breaking down. Since oak is available in many designs, it is preferred over other types of wood.
You can buy oak flooring for your house by contacting a dealer, or by visiting the websites of wood merchants. On the Internet, you can see pictures of different types of oak flooring, and choose the type that will suit your home the best.
