The time has come to replace the flooring in your home and you have heard good things about hardwood floors, but don’t know much about them. Here’s what you need to know before buying.
Type of floor
Before you look at things like colour and pattern, the type of floor you want is the first thing to be decided.
Solid wood floors are what we usually think of, when we say hardwood floors. Solid planks of wood, laid in a pattern, to produce a look similar to what you expect floorboards to look like once varnished.
Engineered wood has a core that is plywood, covered in a veneer layer, making it more durable to moisture. This is an ideal choice for those with small children or for use in a kitchen or bathroom.
Then there’s parquet flooring, a covering that is made up of small blocks of wood laid in a regular recurring pattern. Popular for its geometric style, parquet flooring in Ireland is the first choice for many households.
Cost
Once you have chosen, the cost of your flooring is not the only thing to consider. Will you need to remove or replace existing furniture? Do you need to dispose of existing flooring? Will you need additional materials such as skirting boards to finish it off, and will you require special cleaning materials to maintain it long term? These are all things that should be considered in your costings, before buying your floor.
Installation
Next is the installation. You are about to order the floor from your local stockist, like those sold at Wilsons Yards, but you are not sure whether to go with a pre-finished floor or a finish in place installation? As the title suggests, a pre-finished floor has been prepped and finished in a factory before arriving in your home, has been dried under a UV light and can be re-screened and recoated in later years, within your home. A finish in place floor is sanded, stained and finished on site, which is a messier and longer process, but results in a more customized and unique floor for your home.
Once all of these things have been carefully considered, choices have been made and the installation has been done, it’s time to sit back and enjoy your beautiful new floor and a transformed home.
