Hardwood flooring brings the beauty and the down-to-earth sensibilities of the natural world to your home. A floor made up of oak wood or red cherry wood with a shiny finish brims with unparalleled elegance and warmth. Since these kinds of floorings merit considerable investment from the homeowner, having them installed in your home is a statement of taste and status. Feel free to get in touch with us at any time!
Understanding the kinds of hardwood flooring for your home allows you to care for them more and thus maximize the benefits they have to offer:
Solid Wood Flooring
Solid wood flooring uses only one solid piece of wood or timber. Each piece is cut with a tongue and a groove to fit each other during installation. Since this type of hardwood floor is very sensitive to moisture, homeowners must avoid getting solid wood planks for their basements. Solid hardwood floors should also not be installed for houses in areas with very wet climates. Hardwood planks will cup in cold weather and contract to expose gaps during the hotter seasons. What is great about solid wood is that it can be refinished again and again, enriching its appeal. It can also last a lifetime through proper care and maintenance.
Engineered Wood Flooring
Unlike solid wood flooring, manufacturers create engineered wood flooring by stacking together different layers of compatible species of wood. The grains of each layer run perpendicular against each other. Any contraction and expansion of a wood layer is counteracted by those of the layer after it. This minimizes cupping or contracting and thus stabilizes the entire plank. This allows the installation of engineered wood flooring in basements and areas with cold weather. Homeowners will be glad to know that the surface layer or the lamella of engineered wood flooring use noble woods for enhanced appearance. Because of the relatively thin lamella, engineered woods cannot be refinished as much as solid hardwood flooring.
Acrylic Impregnated Wood Flooring
This type of flooring uses engineered wood flooring planks but takes the manufacturing process several steps further in order to create truly durable flooring materials. Manufacturers take engineered wood planks and basically drain them of their sugars and sap. Since all that remains of the wood’s cellular structure are its walls, the planks appear more cork-like than wooden. Workers then inject methylmethacrylate into these planks, thus impregnating this acrylic into each fiber of the wood which results in a flooring that is 300% more durable than usual. The wood undergoes refinishing so it once again retains the appearance of organic wood. Because of its durability, acrylic impregnated wood flooring is recommended for areas with high foot traffic and for commercial establishments.
If you’re looking into hardwood flooring for your home in Boston, MA, please consider Kennedy Carpet as your flooring source and installation partner. Kennedy Carpet also provides related services like floor cleaning and commercial cleaning. We perform carpet, upholstery, and area rug cleaning if you want to extend the qualities of beauty, polish, and shine to your home accents and not just keep them to your floor. Kennedy Carpet has been serving the greater Boston area since 1978. Our experience speaks volumes about our service and reliability. You can get in touch with us through at our 888-536-6339 number and through the contact form on this page.
