Hardwood With A White Finish Beautifies And Enhances Natural Light Sources

One of the best ways to bring a bright, ethereal ambiance to your living space is the installation of white hardwood flooring planks. While white hardwood sometimes resurrects an older décor style, the stark brightness it provides can also give your home a modern feel unachievable with other flooring materials. However, there are several homeowners and design gurus out there who would try to involuntarily commit you in court if you even so much as had thought of installing white hardwood floors in your dwelling. Common responses usually focus on the difficulty of cleaning.

White Hardwood Floors Are Relatively Difficult To Clean

Yes, of course, white hardwood floors are more difficult to clean than a darker variety of either stained or unstained hardwood, but cleaning isn’t that much of a daunting task. Yes, you will have to clean more often, but the procedures are the same as cleaning any other hardwood. Darker hardwoods—usually light brown, but not dark brown, as the latter also makes dust appear conspicuously—tend to conceal dust much more effectively than hardwoods with a white finish, but this can have its drawbacks. A white hardwood floor can actually be cleaner since you are more likely to clean it frequently as dust is more visible. Just because you can’t see the dust on a darker hardwood floor doesn’t mean it’s not there.

White Hardwood Flooring Enhances The Standards Of Your Home!

Additionally, the natural light that white hardwood floors will draw into your home is incredible. If you have skylights, you will undoubtedly save a lot of money on your electric bill. There is a slow but steady increase in the demand for white hardwood floors, as design trends tend to be cyclical. While shabby-chic and rustic hand-scraped hardwood designs still retain a high level of popularity, in a few years this trend could very well be on its way out. But really, what matters most is the décor preferences of each individual designer and homeowner, and there exists a sizable niche market for white hardwood floors that continues to grow.

The Lauzon Designer Elements Is A Good Choice!

The Lauzon Designer Elements collection is a particularly good choice for white hardwood flooring. Its white-finished hard maple planks come in three sizes to match your design sensibilities. The 3” and 4” sizes reflect a more vintage construction style, while the 5” planks will give you the white wood aesthetics in a more modern layout. This flooring line is ideal for rooms with open floor plans and high ceilings for a spectacular display of reflected natural light. For something a little more unique that combines both rustic charm and the modern display of hardwoods with a white finish, the Shaw Cape Ann collection offers its Rockport option. The varying shades of white in these 4” planks can give your home a flowing visual pattern that simultaneously provides beaming light and coziness.

If you’re the type of homeowner who loves anything bright and bold, white hardwood flooring planks are certainly worth considering. Ignore the critics, please don’t sell your children, and give your home the ethereal, palatial elegance that it deserves. Just be sure to take extra care in cleaning frequency, and leave your muddy boots outside.

Square Hardwood Tiles Are The New Trend

While we love the sleek, authentic look of traditional hardwood planks, a new trend has been catching on in the flooring industry that is transforming the way in which designers view hardwood, and it couldn’t come at a better time. In addition to standard traditional planks with random lengths, more manufacturers are designing their hardwood lines in the form of square hardwood tiles. It makes sense, considering the fact that if ceramic tiles can resemble hardwood, there isn’t any reason why this can’t work the other way around.

Square Hardwood Tiles Comes In Different Designs

While still relatively uncommon in many design circles, square hardwood tiles are popping up more often. The visuals created by these layouts are truly phenomenal, creating a patchwork of color variation, spatial depth, and undulating visuals that will fill your living space with unprecedented stylistic innovation. Depending on how you layout square hardwood tiles, you can create your own unique design variations that you can truly call your own. Whether you choose one color scheme or a Frankenstein-like amalgamation of several shades, the visuals within your home will surely be impressive to all of your guests.

One of the forerunners of this trend is the Mannington Earthly Elements hardwood collection. These engineered squares can be applied to nearly anywhere within your home, including below-grade and areas prone to moisture such as kitchens, laundry rooms, and powder rooms. Laying out the tiles in contrasting directions is definitely the boldest look you can achieve with Earthly Elements; the cross graining will give your floor an almost woven look that oscillates rhythmically throughout any room. Any visitors will also be shocked that your newfound surface is actually real wood and not wood-look porcelain or luxury vinyl tile. This collection also comes with black and white color options, replicating the posh look of black and white porcelain tile with a more rustic, rugged appeal.

Are Mosaic Hardwood Collections Available In Many Colors?

A slight variation of this square hardwood tile design is present in the IndusParquet ¾” Mosaic hardwood collection. The 47” long planks are designed with a square patchwork layout down each one, so when put up against other planks, the mosaic appearance is quite intricate and dramatic. The square mosaic options are available in two colors that bring out the wondrous details of exotic hardwoods. The Brazilian Tigerwood option is a bright, radiant yellow while Brazilian Amendoim is a more subdued brown tone with hints of ocean green.

Mirage Classic Maple Collection

Don’t forget to also take a look at the Mirage Classic Maple collection. Its fixed-length hardwood boards can be put together to create square-like patterns that are similar in effect to the Mannington Earthly Elements collection. Another great attribute of this Mirage line is its ability to adapt to other installation patterns, such as herringbone or quarter-turn layouts.

In spite of the fact that square hardwood tiles are a relatively new fashion development in the flooring industry, it has the potential to exponentially grow into an eclectic, popular trend.

Are Exotic Hardwood Floors Eco-friendly?

Considering the vast amount of emphasis on eco-friendly products, exotic hardwoods have more or less fallen by the wayside, as many people see these woods as a notorious example of deforestation that occurs in Africa, South America, and Asia. While there is some truth to this sentiment, several governments around the world have much stricter regulations on wood harvesting than they did 20 years ago. Just because you decide to purchase an exotic hardwood floor does not automatically mean you are contributing to excessive logging and rampant deforestation. Likewise, going for domestic hardwoods isn’t always the option that has the least impact on the environment, either. In many cases, bamboo products perceived as eco-friendly can even be more damaging to the environment than traditional hardwood, considering the energy it takes to ship most of it overseas.

Environmentally Friendly Hardwood Floors

Fortunately, many hardwood manufacturers around the world adhere to strict standards when it comes to harvesting timber. Between replanting, vertically integrated manufacturing sites, and the increased use of reclaimed lumber, hardwood flooring is certainly more environmentally friendly than it has been in the past. All too often, many people who take ecological concerns seriously when purchasing flooring, unfortunately, view hardwood as the fur coat of the flooring industry, even though this mentality is usually far-fetched and erroneous. Whether you desire exotic species like jatoba or beautiful oak domestics, both can still be environmentally friendly choices depending on their origin.

Somerset hardwood, for example, retains a completely vertically integrated manufacturing facility. This means that the company is involved in 100 percent of the production process, from harvesting all the way up to packaging. Somerset even retains an in-house forestry staff, which puts together long-term 100-year plans to ensure the sustainability of the company’s products from its managed forests. Additionally, any waste products from the manufacturing process are turned into wood pellet fuel, further reducing environmental impact and maximizing the use of resources. Specializing in domestic white oak and red oak hardwood, Somerset also offers hickory, maple, walnut, and American cherry floors, all of which are domestically grown in its managed forests.

Triangulo Hardwood Floors Are An Excellent Choice!

When it comes to exotics, Triangulo hardwood is an excellent choice for those who have the sustainability of the environment in mind. In spite of being headquartered in Brazil—which for all intents and purposes used to be considered the deforestation capital of the world—Triangulo follows strict environmental standards to make sure timber is harvested responsibly and appropriately. Managing a forest that covers approximately 14 square miles, Triangulo only harvests trees that have reached maturity and are rigorous in its replanting strategies. Its Brazilian chestnut, jatoba, amendoim, and tigerwood offerings are available in both solid and engineered hardwood floors to give you optimal design flexibility.

Aside from the obvious differences in appearance, one of the main advantages of exotic hardwoods is their durability; most exotic wood species outrank traditional domestic oak and maple on the Janka hardness scale. Jatoba, amendoim, and Brazilian walnut all surpass standard domestic maple, oak, and hickory in terms of rigidity. Of course, if you prefer a warmer look to your hardwood floor, red oak is and always has been a standard that will give your home stunning visual depth and a soft, cozy feel.

Are Hardwood Floors Here To Stay?

In spite of the negative press the hardwood flooring industry has received worldwide, don’t shy away from either domestic or exotic wood flooring based on perceived environmental concerns. The majority of reputable companies follow strict standards when it comes to harvesting, replanting, and recycling their products to ensure minimal impact on surrounding ecosystems. Just make sure you do all your research first before you automatically assume preconceived notions about hardwood’s environmental impact. In most cases, it is no less environmentally sound than bamboo or ceramic tile.

Hardwood Floors De-icing Agents

Unfortunately, it’s that time of year again. Well, it’s actually about six months away, but we love the holiday season. Other than having to deal with obnoxious relatives and hoards of people knocking you down at the mall as you try to grab the last remaining action figure in the toy store for your child, it’s the time of year when we get to stuff our faces and make New Year’s resolutions to better ourselves that in reality, we have no intention of keeping. Aside from all of this, there is a danger lurking around your floor—especially those of the hardwood variety—that many people are not even aware of.

How The Weather Can Affect Your  Hardwood Floors

If you live in a cold climate, most likely you are privy to slippery sidewalks and deadly stairs that can turn a lovely morning walk into a trip to the emergency room. The ice buildup is greatly alleviated by chemical agents that reduce the freezing point of water, ensuring that ice does not build up on sidewalks or roads. In the past, rock salt was mainly used for this purpose. In recent years, however, these ice-melting products use other salt compounds such as calcium chloride and magnesium chloride that further depress the freezing point of water on the ground. When you inevitably track these compounds indoors, however, flooring can suffer extensive damage if not taken care of properly.

Over time you will most likely notice a hazy, greyish-white film or oily layer developing on the surface of your floor, depending on what sort of product you use. Owners of homes with laminate or ceramic tile flooring really don’t have to worry too much about this buildup; most ceramics today—especially porcelain—are extremely resistant to any chemical damage, so this film can be simply mopped away with a bucket of water. Hardwood, on the other hand, is quite susceptible to these chemicals, as the surface can eventually discolor, fade, scratch, and even crack.

Removing Winter Salt From Hardwood Floors

Removing residue from de-icing chemicals on hardwood floors can be done with pH-neutral products to ensure that no damage is done to the finish. It is also important to note that any sanding or refinishing jobs should never be done during the winter months. Ideally, this is usually done in the fall or spring to prevent excess outside residue from being trapped under new coats. The best thing to do, as described before, is heightened vigilance when it comes to cleaning and maintenance more so than in warmer months.

The best way to minimize buildup like this on hardwood floors is extensive matting outdoors leading up to your home. The more times your shoes come into contact with a mat, the less chemical residue is tracked indoors. Prevention is always the best option when it comes to protecting your hardwood floors. Inevitably, however, some residue will still make its way to your hardwood flooring surface. Regular cleaning should be done more often during winter months, as moisture from snow tracked in—in addition to deicing chemicals—can make hardwood susceptible to all sorts of problems.

Prevention is The Best Medicine

Fortunately, if you have ceramic or porcelain tile in your home, you don’t necessarily have to worry about maintenance as much as those who have hardwood floors. However, there are still important safety concerns. Deicers that use calcium chloride can leave a slimy film on your flooring that can be extremely slippery. While it won’t damage tile like it can damage hardwood, it is vital to remove this buildup to prevent accidental slips and falls. All of these things are good to do in preparation for the winter; this will leave you time for unnecessary purchases on electronics, consumables, and last-minute Christmas shopping trips because you have decided to put it off until tomorrow for way too long.