Mixed Wood
2011
Set The Mood With Flooring
Ask any interior designer to name the first element to consider when finishing a room, and the answer will likely be flooring. Builders agree, it sets the mood.
More and more professionals these days are choosing wood flooring over tile and carpeting. What kind of wood should you choose? Beyond the basics of solid hardwood, engineered wood, and reclaimed antique wood, there are many options to choose from. Despite all the options, making the right choice for your tastes and circumstances is easier than it appears. Here are some factors to consider, along with some useful advice from the experts.
Which Wood-Flooring Type Should You Choose?
Solid Hardwood: This wood expands and contracts and sometimes creaks, but its natural beauty add value to your home. Further, it can be re-sanded and refinished, so it’ll retain that value.
Engineered Wood Floors: These floors are made of thin sheets of wood that are glued together and refinished at the factory. This results in a more stable product than solid wood, because it resists buckling and warping. Engineered wood floors were developed to be glued over concrete, but they can also be nailed or floated, whereas solid wood can only be nailed to a subfloor.
Reclaimed Antique Wood: This is a custom made flooring option tailor-made one plank at a time according to the customer’s specifications. It is especially stable because it can cut from the center section of a beam.
Finished vs. Unfinished
If you’ve chosen to install solid hardwood flooring, remember that it’s available finished or unfinished. If you’re trying to match an adjacent floor, you’re better off going with an unfinished option and staining it to blend. You will be pleased with the uniform color and finish you can achieve in your floor by finishing it on site. An unfinished wood floor, however, may take several days to install, stain, and finish.
On the other hand, finished wood (both solid and engineered) is factory sanded, stained, and finished. Thus it’s much easier to install and requires less time, not to mention that there will be no on-site sanding and finishing. Finished wood is an especially good option for high-traffic areas because of its durability. Another plus is that it’s less expensive than unfinished wood.
Important Things to Consider
If you have radiant heating in your home, where the heat source is under the floor, then engineered would be the better option over solid hardwood because of its durability. The National Wood Flooring Association backs up this claim, recommending quarter-sawn or rift-sawn wood in this circumstance, again because of durability. According to the NWFA, strip flooring is preferable over plank flooring, since narrow boards expand and contract with changes in temperature and humidity less than wide ones.
For those homeowners who live at the beach, Stoddard again recommends an engineered wood, because it’s scratch-resistant and therefore less likely to be damaged by sand tracked in from the beach, and it also requires less maintenance. For cottages, summer homes, below-grade installations, and any other interior that’s not environmentally controlled, engineered hardwood flooring is a clear choice.
Some Simple Design Tips
Pay attention to the understated details when personalizing a room. One nice option is to use a lighter wood overall and then add a dark border. Another great idea is to drop in a maple medallion that looks like an area rug.
It’s become more and more popular to mix woods from room to room. Choose darker woods, like walnut or cherry, for a den or a bedroom. Kitchens, on the other hand, need lighter, brighter woods such as maple or birch.
Darker wood is a better fit for homes that are formal, traditional, or historic, whereas country, casual, and contemporary homes are better suited to lighter woods. Design your floor to complement fabrics, furnishings, and accessories.
Current Trends in Wood Flooring
The latest options in the flooring market include hand-scraped wood and “exotics” from far-off lands. Brazilian cherry, Santos mahogany, and Amendoim all boast delightful grains and colors, and conveniently are available in solid hardwood or engineered wood.
The old look and simplicity of woods such as Old Groove Eastern White Pine is becoming increasingly popular among owners of historic homes on the Eastern seaboards. For owners of historic homes on the Eastern seaboard, woods such as Old Groove Eastern White Pine are prized for their old look and simplicity. Lately, dark woods have significantly increased in popularity, with walnut in the greatest demand.
DIY & Maintaining Your Wood Floor
Almost 30 percent of homeowners install wood flooring themselves. If you can operate a nail gun and a saw, then you can do it. Many resources are available to help you with this project, including instruction books and information online.
A great benefit of wood flooring is that it’s extremely low maintenance. A regular schedule of sweeping and vacuuming is all you really need, a chore that will be made much easier if you keep a step-off mat at every doorway to collect any incoming dirt. One thing to remember is clean up any standing water immediately. It’s not a bad idea to keep an extra box of wood in case you need to replace a strip.
Fortunately, natural hardwoods survive many household mishaps much better than laminates and synthetics, since the grain and pattern of solid hardwoods go all the way through. Even those scuffs and burns that would become permanent in a synthetic floor can be repaired with relative ease.
For the past 25 years Avo Barsoumian has helped home owners with their home flooring and interior design needs. He is the owner and manager of a popular flooring company in Orange County. They have a huge selection of elegant hardwood flooring, beautiful laminate flooring and plush carpeting. Searching for that perfect carpet depot for your new apartment or carpets dealers to remodel your older house? Then give Carpet Wagon a call.
SOLD! Over 80 Acres, Brook, Pond, Cabin And Rolling Fields / Mixed Woods! MOOERS REALTY # 7776
|
|
OXO SteeL Muddler $11.00 Enhance your drinks with crushed ingredients, such as mints and fruits, with the SteeL muddler by OXO. Perfect for mixing in a bit of citrus and mint, the muddler allows you to make delicious mojitos, caipirinhas, mint juleps, and more. The grip is soft and easy on the hands, and the otherwise stainless steel muddler uses a nylon head in order to protect glasses from damage. OXO was founded on the… |
|
|
Beechwood Drink Muddler W 500 $4.49 This beechwood cocktail muddler will crush your favorite ingredients while extracting their delicious aromas and flavors. Wooden muddler measures 8 1/2″ long…. |
|
|
Calphalon 7-Piece Mixed Utensil Crock Set $25.99 Crafted with heat-resistant soft-touch silicone accents, these utensils give you a perfect balance of comfort and control. Calphalon has combined all the kitchen utensils shapes and sizes for you to have true versatility and variety in the kitchen with this 7-piece set. With a mix of materials – wood, nylon, and silicone – this is a great all-in-one kitchen utensil tool set. Set Includes: Nylon S… |
|
|
Pure Disco $9.54 All products are BRAND NEW and factory sealed. Fast shipping and 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed…. |
|
|
Ruth Crawford Seeger: Portrait $13.99 Crawford is a neglected but significant figure in the development of American music in the 20th century. Perhaps it’s that she took 15 years off from composing in the middle of her life to help found the American folk revivalist movement carried on by her children Michael, Peggy, and stepson Pete. But her early works define their own new territory next to contemporaries and friends Henry Cowell an… |
|
|
Romantic Vienna $4.31 No Description Available.Genre: Classical MusicMedia Format: Compact DiskRating: NRRelease Date: 4-SEP-1992… |
|
|
Gilmour 362 Professional No Pre-Mix Sprayer, White $16.27 Dial selection provides 1 of 16 different dilutions: From 1 teaspoon to 10 tablespoons of chemical per gallon of water. Attach sprayer to hose. Squeeze handle to spray, release to stop. Deflector provides fan spray pattern. Adjusts downward, to the side o… |
|
|
Loctite 1405604 0.85-Ounce Plastic Syringe Epoxy Marine Gel $2.84 The heavy-duty design of this laser fax is ideal for small-to-medium businesses or home offices with its ability to handle heavy workloads. Features include 12 pages-per-minute printing speed, Caller ID, Quick Scan, a 14.4Kbps modem, a fax transmission speed as fast as 8 seconds per page, 170-page memory that stores incoming faxes even when you’re out of paper, and 20-station broadcasting. Other f… |
|
|
Spax 4101010000547 Multimaterial Screw Assortment Kit, Large $19.99 … |
|
|
Chupacabra $1.99 … |
|
|
Vienne White Iron Console Table $179.99 Built to last from mixed wood and metal, the Vienne white iron console table is sure to impress for years to come. The console table sports a lovely mixed wood top that offers a lovely contrast to its metal base. |
|
|
Sete Antiqued White Storage Chest $165.99 The Sete antiqued white storage chest is the perfect place to store your household essentials. It is crafted from solid mixed wood and is finished in a lovely antique white. |
|
|
Vienne Brown Desk $282.99 Stylish and functional, the Vienne brown desk is the perfect piece for any home office. Built to last from mixed wood and metal, the desk is will organize for years to come. |
|
|
Vienne Brown Side Table $160.99 The handsome Vienne brown side table is the perfect accent for any space. It is crafted from mixed wood that offers a lovely contrast on its top. The side table features gently curved metal legs that give it a chic flair. |
Comment