Wood Flooring Styles  |  Trends in Wood Flooring  

Styles of Wood Floors
	Parquet-Parquet wood flooring is a series of wood flooring pieces that create a geometric design and/or pattern often repeat in the piece from 5/16"(glue down) up to 3/4" (nail & glue down)
	Plank-Plank hardwood flooring is  linear, and has more width. Common widths of plank flooring are 3" - 8", and wider products (solids) are not uncommon although the wider the more concerns for effects by moisture.
	Strip-Strip wood floors are also linear flooring that is usually 1 1/2", 2 1/4",  or 3 1/4" wide. Creating a linear effect, strip hardwood floor in a room often gives the illusion of a larger and more open space.
Trends in Wood Flooring

Advantages Of Hardwood Flooring....

Wide range of finishes and colors, for 2009 hardwood flooring trends include wider planks with deeper richer colors, with hand scrapped plank wood flooring becoming to latest desired item

Timeless beauty and always in style with any decor.

Easily maintained.

Promotes healthy indoor air quality, and are healthy for you as it doesn't trap allergens like carpeting

Good investment, Improves the value of your home.

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The traditional ever-popular unfinished oak "strip" hard wood flooring,  whether nail down or glue down (Engineered) Prefinished  or unfinished-OAK is still the leading species used in the United States for new construction and remodeling. (See Choosing A Wood Floor & Types of Wood Floors) Also  with OAK being the top preference for most  builders. No surprise to those in the industry, as  the Oak  Flooring Institute reported shipments up on unfinished 3/4" strip oak. See Room Setting Photo's of commonly used oak flooring grades

By the Numbers

Reported by Hardwood Floors Magazine)

Wood flooring shipments are down again as a result of the current slow housing market.
The newest request are being made for cherry,  birch, White Oak,  maple, and exotic species from around the World.  Distributors  are seeing a growing demand  in the request for custom-made borders and accents. This trend is in part because most builders and homeowners like to differentiate themselves to what is common place and what everyone else is using. Mixed Media is also becoming more and more popular. For instance, painted faux finishes on wood floor products is being used in many upscale projects. Industry manufacturers report an increase in maples popularity and has been the trend for the past several years. Bamboo flooring also is enjoying a new popularity with the West Coast and Southeast  leading the country in this new trend. Some industry leaders attribute this to consumers not wanting to use the same old product, and to its hardness (see relative hardness table) with appearance playing into the picture. In fact there are more than 60 species of exotic wood floors. The combination of exotic woods to make custom borders are up, with more and more manufacturers producing custom made accents, borders, and medallions. 

Which ever wood species consumers will turn to next is unknown. One thing is emerging from this new demand for hardwood floors; kitchens and hardwood floors are becoming more and more  common place, with family rooms (most are an extension of the kitchen) and foyers not far behind. Even though wood floors, as most hard surface floors are on the up swing, hardwood floors account for about 7% of the flooring market. One of the larger wood flooring producers predicts that share will double in the next five years, with thinner 5/16", 3/8" & 1/2" products taking more of the market share, prefinished and unfinished. Traditionally the wood flooring industry has had many sizes and types of hardwood flooring material. Oak being the main staple of the industry, today is still the most widely used mainly  due to it hardness, cost, appearance and availability.

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Oak flooring started as planks (wide boards-3" & up), then the standard was for many years a 3/4" thick by 2-1/4"  face width by random lengths, thus called strip flooring. Later a 1-1/2" face version was manufactured. Today manufacturers make many sizes, designs, varieties, and species of wood flooring. As the industry has grown, with new technologies, a wider variety has made the industry produce many precision-made products of enduring beauty manufactured and graded according to certified standards and grading rules. Today's engineered products now allows wood floors to be placed directly on concrete slabs and below grade installations. (see Subfloor prep) 

Wood flooring can be broken into 3 major groups: unfinished, prefinished and acrylic impregnated, solid or engineered, as to their manufacturing process.  Each having there own sizes, colors, and species. Unfinished, the original wood flooring for years is still manufactured as it was before the turn of the century. A 2-1/4" face by 3/4" thick, by random lengths, tongue and grooved product is still the number one choice for an unfinished nail down product. This product also comes in 1-1/2", planks of 3-1/4", 4", 5", 6", 7" and 8" face widths all T&G 3/4" thick. With some products being 1/2" and 2-1/4" is regarded as "strip flooring" and all sizes larger as" plank flooring". Red or white oak are the standard species used. These products are graded by appearance and cut. Select and Better (S&B) is the standard grade used in the industry. Grades lower are #1 and #2 common. Rift and quartered are cuts above the S & B grade. Many species and varieties of wood flooring are now available. For instance ash, black locust, cherry, heart and yellow pine, maple, walnut are the major products used in today's unfinished markets, with many exotics imported from around the world. All these products require on site sanding and finishing. 

 

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Prefinished Wood Floors (finish is applied at the factory) are becoming more and more popular in today's market place. It's ability to go over concrete, various colors and ease of installation and less down time than unfinished products has made it more in demand than ever. These products already stained and finished in the factory, along with new technologies (engineered) has made these products less effected by moisture and will not shrink or swell as much as its solid unfinished counter parts. This new technology has made for better urethane adhesives, adding to this products stability over a concrete slab. Extra care must be taken to avoid damage during installation. These products are a great remolding choice because being "pre-finished" once installed the job is done. There is no dust and sanding process in applying stains or finishes. Again red and white oak is the main type of wood used in these products. Ranging from 5/16" (engineered ) to 3/4" (solid) thick, T&G, these products vary from 2-1/4" to 8" widths, with many choices of colors. With today's new adhesive technology pre-finished glue down wood flooring is quick becoming the floor of choice by many contractors, and home owners a like. You should consider these products when thinking of hardwood floors. 

One of the types of wood flooring is Acrylic impregnated. Using new technology, this product is made by forcing acrylic material in its pores giving it a wear surface, and requires little maintenance and great durability. These products are used mainly in high traffic, and commercial applications. 

Wood Flooring Contractors reported recently in a survey by Hardwood Floors Magazine, that 71% of wood floor related work was remodeling projects, while the remaining 29% was in new construction. They also reported Contractors are selling 76% unfinished, vs 23% going to Prefinished Engineered and Prefinished solid.

When choosing a wood floor product many factors should be considered. What areas of the home will receive wood, the amount of foot traffic in those areas; sub-floor conditions; unfinished or pre-finished; colors and finishes. What ever your choice, it's always good to get advise from a wood floor professional. Making the right choice will give you a lifetime of warmth and beauty that a hardwood floor can give to your home or office. The trend in today's market place, commercial and residential is in natural wood tones or color. Oak, ash, and maple being the most popular. Finishing an unfinished product with today's modern urethane finishes can insure a easy maintenance for many years to come. Pre-finished products now carry up to a 25 year warranty, and seven to ten coats of finish, making this more and more a choice of homeowners. . . .Free Online Quote / Inquiry or Purchase Products Direct

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Learn More. . . See these related pages:  

Bamboo Flooring Cork Floors-Parquet, Plank & Underlayment Custom Wood Floors Exotic Species FAQ's when purchasing a wood floor product Finishing Wood Floors Installing Wood Floors Painted Wood Floors Photo Gallery or Room Setting Photo's Plank Wood Floors Pre-Finished Wood Floors Reclaimed-Recycled Wood Floors Teak Parquet & Planks Technical Help & FAQ's