If you are considering your options for a new floor, timber remains one of the best options. It possesses all kinds of positive attributes, while its downsides are very few and far between.
If you are considering timber flooring, the chances are your alternative option is laminate. There may be some reasons that you could plump for the latter and it may be that you could still use laminate in some rooms of the house while having real wood elsewhere, but overall, wood has the edge in some significant ways.
When weighing up the options, wood has some particularly strong points. The first and most obvious is style and elegance. Hardwood has been used in flooring for millennia and never goes out of fashion. Its natural beauty gives it an enduring appeal.
Alongside that is the capacity for variety; this includes natural variations between different materials (oak, beech, ash and so on), as well as different grains, knots and other aspects that give each plank of wood its unique character. Add to that the fact that it can be stained and varnished in different ways and you are never struggling for choice.
Secondly, it lasts a long time and is quite easy to maintain. This means it becomes a good long-term investment that can boost the value of your home, while if there is some damage, such as denting or scratches, these are easy to repair. Indeed, it can be sanded many times, unlike a wood or wood-effect laminate veneer.
Other benefits include good acoustics, easy installation and less obvious benefits, like it being better for air quality as it does not harbour pests and bugs in the way some floor surfaces (especially carpets) are prone to do. It even has good acoustics as it is hollow and carries sound well.
The downsides of solid timber flooring are quite few. One that is notable is that it does absorb water and you should avoid getting it wet. This is most significant if there is any kind of damp around or leaks that cause it to soak up significant amounts of moisture.
This can lead to warping, such as cupping (where the ends of planks start bending upwards) or bowing (where the middle starts rising up in a hump).
However, this can be prevented by steps to keep moisture levels down (like a dehumidifier) and by the use of protective coatings. If there is a lot of moisture coming up from below, that might mean there is a major plumbing issue you need to have addressed, such as a leaky pipe.
Because hardwood does soak up water, it is not the ideal surface for use in rooms that have a lot of moisture, which is why laminate or vinyl is a better option in the kitchen or the bathroom.
The last consideration is cost. It is true that if you need something cheaper, laminate is a good option with much going for it. However, because wood is so long-lasting, it can pay for itself in the long run, so it becomes more of an investment if you can set the cash aside.
