What to do when you decide to update to hardwood floors?  Times are changing.  Large format flooring is what you want to upgrade to.  Your 2-1/4” oak flooring is showing age.  The most common width today is 7-1/2”.  Large scale statements are very important in all of design today.  Hardwood is no exception.

Speaking with industry experts who have just returned from “Surfaces”, the industry’s flooring show, flooring manufacturers are showing 10” wide planks.  Some of the most beautiful hardwood floors are combinations of 5”, 6” and 7” planks.  There are other large format configurations in the market place, such as chevron, as pictured, and herringbone patterns, as well as large format parquet.  Those would be exciting in an entry, home office dining or living room.

Various species of hardwood are being used in flooring today.  One of the most popular is reclaimed hardwood.  These are actually being reclaimed from old buildings around the country, refinished and re-installed in your home.  They have a patina that only age can give wood.  Also, they are not smooth.  This is an important development.  Wood flooring today has a wire brushed finish or can be hand adzed.  These finishes give the wood depth and mimic reclaimed hardwood.

I checked with my supplier and found that oak is still the most popular specie for hardwood flooring.  There are a number of cuts that can change the grain and the price also changes.  Hickory and walnut are the next popular.  These woods are truly hard enough to take the normal traffic that people and dogs produce.

  Certainly, there are exotics that people are installing.  Maple is in this category, as is Brazilian cherry, but used in a more limited application.  The last word is that people want subtle texture and knots in their flooring.