Solid Hardwood Flooring

Solid hardwood flooring is available in many different sizes. It can go up to six inches or more in width. This is something that many people do not think of when they are thinking of solid hardwood.

You should know that even the best solid hardwood flooring is capable of having issues with moisture. When it is hot inside your home like in the dry parts of the winter you may find that the wood will contract slighting changing in size. This can lead to gaps between the boards that can be quite unsightly.  However, when it returns to the summer months you may find that the added moisture causes the wood to expand and this will lead to the disappearance of gaps that were in the flooring. You should also know that too much moisture may cause the boards to even buckle. So when you are installing hardwood flooring you need to be sure that you leave the proper space need for expansion should the humidity get high. You will want to try to keep the relative humidity in your home at around forty to fifty-five percent. This will help keep the hardwood from expanding or contracting.

Due to the fact that hardwood flooring does not react well to moisture you will want to stay away from installing this type of flooring under ground level. You will also not want to put this flooring directly above any concrete slab. You should also know that solid hardwood flooring should only be used when it can be used with nailing installation. There are only a few manufactures that say that you can glue down this product so stay away from any method other than nailing unless it is otherwise stated.

You will be glad to know that you can recoat this solid hardwood many times. This will add to the appeal and the long life of the flooring. Some solid hardwood flooring is known to be used now and it is over one hundred years in age and still known to be in good condition over all.

One of the great benefits of hardwood flooring that is solid is the fact that it can be sanded and then refinished up to as many as seven times. This will allow the hardwood to be good for over one hundred years as mentioned above.

To be able to install solid hardwood flooring you will need some basic tools. You will need to have a mitter saw, a drill, a jig saw, a table saw though it can be small, and some wood shims that are small, this is just to mention a few of the tools that you will need to have.

You can either choose from prefinished solid hardwood or unfinished solid hardwood. With the unfinished hardwood you will need to sand and refinish often. The prefinished hardwood flooring will only need to have coats applied on top of it. You will want to keep this in mind when you are buying you solid hardwood flooring.