Choosing to have a hardwood floor installed in your home, place of business, or anywhere else can be the end of a long and tough decision. But even after you’ve rested upon this option, another entire field of variety comes next: the type of wood to be used. Color, texture, and hardness can all differ greatly depending on the type of wood from which the hardwood floor is made. To give a few pointers, the following list offers a brief description of some of the more common wood materials.
- Red Oak is the most commonly used wood for making a hardwood floor. Red oak has a relatively high hardness for its price and offers an attractive, rougher grain on a reddish color, as indicated by its name.
- White Oak is another wood often used for flooring due to its hardness, which is even greater than that of red oak. As its name suggests, the wood is lighter in color but actually ranges from brown to gray.
- Beech usually comes at a slightly higher price, but the quality is also greater. Beech is a harder wood, which means more durability, and the lighter coloring and consistent grain make it attractive to many homeowners.
- Pine is a softer wood (though some species are still quite durable) and is a popular choice among hardwood floor buyers and installers. The grain comes with many swirls and knots, and the color ranges from light yellow to brown.
- Cherry is an ever-popular choice for a hardwood floor despite its relative softness; the North American cherry is one of the very softest woods used for flooring, and is thus normally installed in areas where traffic is expected to be low. That being said, there are exotic foreign cherry woods that offer some of the hardest wood used in flooring. Color ranges from dark, reddish brown to very light brown.
