For Christmas, your wife gave you a power saw and on your birthday, you received an Eastwing, 12-lb hammer with the ridges on the face to prevent the nail of slipping off the hammer\’s head. Your Father-in-law buys you a set of do it yourself, \”how to\” books from the Time/Life library. Suddenly, you think you are a connoisseur of hardwood floors. Well I have a newsflash for you buddy. You might not want to go and install one just yet. There are a few things that your precious little book and the flooring store may have failed to mention. Hang on to your tool belt because here are five things you may not know about hardwood floors.

1. You Have Choices! The Odessa Oak that the store always seems to have in stock is not the only flavor of hardwood flooring, my friend. You can put that can of stain and polyurethane away as well. C\’mon dude, everyone in town shops at this store and they all have the same Odessa Oak floors in their houses. They all purchased stain as well. Guess what, Mother Nature is perfectly capable of cooking up some color in her wood. Try shopping online for some Newfoundland with its deep natural maroon color or some cherry or walnut. Do not buy what is in the store until you see it all.

2. Be Bold and Vary the Width! Walk in any house with hardwood floors and you are apt to find 3\” Red Oak or Walnut. That is because they are the most commonly stocked hardwood floors. Not only does Mother Nature have several flavors to choose from, like the uniquely patterned Galveston Plank, but also you can have it as wide as you would like up to 12 inches. You can even vary the widths, if you would like. Just remember to buy American, brother.

3. Have A Party Tonight! If you go with prefinished flooring, you actually can do it yourself and make your wife and her father proud of you. Who knows, he might let you drop the Mr. from his name and call him \”Dad.\” (But don\’t expect too much.) Prefinished hardwood flooring means you will not have a crew traipsing in and out of your home while you kick it at the Holiday Inn. With prefinished hardwood flooring, all the sanding is done and they have already been stained and sprinkled with fairy dust. Each piece goes in independent of the others so those cracks you get when the floor expands and contracts with the seasons are kept to a minimum. You can install it and party on it tonight. Party hardy, dude.

4. Go Natural! Dude, not all flooring is created equal, although you would never be able to tell that from the selection at your local floor store. All they will show you is their clear grade flooring planks. Some stores call this select grade. This means that the natural character marks have been sanded and buffed out of the wood. Check out the wood in its natural state and get the character grade wood. If you are in to the natural flaws that make your floor unique, that is the way to go.

5. Don\’t Be A Sucker! That warrantee that they sell you for an extra $100 is a sham. They make it look good by calling it a lifetime warranty on wear through of the luster. They will tell you about high traffic areas that wear out faster than the rest of the floor. Well, guess what Skippy. Your grand children\’s children will be the ones to wear it out because you will not walk the luster off in your lifetime. Even if you could, do you really want to drop the extra Benjamin on it. Do not give your father-in-law another reason to dislike you.

An Investment In Beauty

In other words, a beautiful hardwood floor can turn a plain room into an entirely new looking room. It makes such a difference that you will not want to stop staring at it. You will want to keep going in every room in the house and then build a basketball court in the backyard. Hardwood floors are a great investment in your home\’s beauty. Now grab those new tools and go to work. Maybe you can get your Pop-in-law to help out.

Author Bio: For more information please visit our Area Rugs website.

Category: Home Management
Keywords: Wax Floors,hardwood floor,Hardwood Floor,Area Rugs,Bamboo floors