Flooring

Gray Tones

Gray hardwood floor stains are slowly catching up to the dark and cool tones regarding trends in style. As the years pass, people have come up with blends that make grey tones appear less dull, not that it actually is dull. People often use grey-toned floor stains to give off a reinvented version of white-washed tones. 

Gray and whitewash floor stain colors are now considered the “trendy” colors of interior design. For hardwood stain colors with gray tones, you may want to decorate your room with white oak themes or lighter-colored furniture. 

Light and Muted Tones

If you are not too big a fan of dark themes, then light and muted tones are for you. Lighter floor stain colors are perfect for those who want their rooms to be brighter and more alive. Bona Traffic HD is one of the most well-known products for staining light-colored hardwood floors. 

Lighter floor stains are more natural to look at, which adds more comfort to the room. While Bona Traffic is better for the environment than other floor staining products, it is more expensive than the rest. Nonetheless, the final output of getting light-toned hardwood floor stains is sure to leave customers satisfied.

For some people, designing the perfect room may seem as simple as picking furniture and deciding on a wall color, but in reality, it is not. Interior designers, or even ordinary people who are redecorating their homes, offices, etc., usually have a hard time when it comes to finding the perfect wall color, types of furniture, lighting systems, and hardwood floor stain colors. A small detail in your design can make a big difference. 

If you end up choosing the wrong wall color or a floor stain color that doesn’t match the end of the room, you may end up regretting it, so be sure to choose wisely or get the opinion of an interior design expert. That way, you are sure to have the best design and colors in your room, and you won’t have to worry about mismatches.

(Related: The Top 10 Timeless Wood Floor Colors)

But without an underlayment, a floating floor can be noisy. In a traditional floor installation, the top floor is glued or nailed to the subfloor. So when someone walks on it, there won’t be much vibrations. But with floating floor installations, there’s a hollow space in between the top and subfloor. This is why some buyers complain of hearing a “hollow sound” from their floating floors.

This isn’t much of a concern though. Installing an underlayment can easily solve this. Besides, most floating floor planks nowadays already have built-in underlayment.

3. It May Offer Less Resale Value

Most people believe that a floating floor may bring down the resale value of your property. While this isn’t always the case, it still boils down to the overall design and the quality of materials used. If your subfloor is uneven and your floating floor planks are thin, it may not feel that sturdy. And as we all know, floor quality can affect the value of a property.

4. You May Need to Replace The Planks More Often

Since the floor planks aren’t attached to the subfloor, they’re more prone to showing wear and tear than a traditional floor installation. But then again, this still depends on your flooring material. A thick hardwood floating floor may last longer and won’t need periodic replacement.

Common Types of Floating Floors

As mentioned above, any kind of material can be installed as a floating floor. But for this post, we’ll look at some of the most common ones:

Hardwood Floors

Most people associate floating floors with hardwood floors. But a hardwood floating floor is actually hard to find as there aren’t a lot of hardwood floating floor manufacturers out there. Besides, floating a hardwood floor can be a bad idea if you’re living in an area with very high humidity. Compared to engineered wood and laminates, hardwood floors are much more prone to warping. This is even more so if you install them as floating floors. Moisture can get trapped in those hollow spaces underneath the floorboards which can cause warping in your hardwood floor.

Engineered wood floors

Engineered wood is one of the most common hardwood floating floor alternatives. Aside from being relatively cheaper than hardwood floors, they’re also less prone to warping. Where hardwood floor planks are made from a single wood, engineered floor planks are made with layers of solid wood glued tightly together. This prevents the moisture from seeping into the wood preventing it from warping.

Laminate flooring

Also dubbed as fake wood flooring, laminates aren’t really made of wood. But they make a great alternative to solid wood floors.

If you didn’t know, laminate flooring is a type of composite flooring made of fiberboard or plywood, aluminum oxide, and topped with a thin layer of real wood. Because of this multi-layer construction, laminate flooring is highly durable. Like engineered wood, it can withstand high moisture and humidity making it ideal for floating floor installations.

Vinyl Flooring

Like laminates, a luxury vinyl plank also has a multi-layer construction. But instead of many different types of materials, a vinyl plank is made mostly of, well, vinyl. This makes them virtually waterproof and ideal for floating floor installations.

Cost of Floating Floors

The cost of installing a floating floor usually depends on the materials used and the size of the space you’re putting the floor in.

Solid hardwood floorboards can cost anywhere from $10 to $15 per square foot. This makes it one of the most expensive types of flooring materials. Engineered wood floors, on the other hand, cost between $5 to $10. While luxury vinyl costs around $7. The cheapest type of floating floorboard is laminate at $5.50 per square foot depending on the thickness and finish.

Repair and Maintenance

Caring for and maintaining a floating floor depends on the type of material used. If you’re using laminate products or luxury vinyl, a damp mop will usually suffice. But with hardwood and engineered floors, a damp anything is an absolute no-no – unless your floorboards have a protective finish of some sort.

The good thing about floating floors is they’re very easy to repair because the planks can be easily removed. You don’t have to worry about expensive repair fees.

How Long Do Floating Floors Last?

There are a lots of factors that can affect the lifespan of your floating floor such as:

• the material used
• the amount of everyday wear and tear
• environmental conditions
• the underlayment (if any)
• the subfloor

A floating floor with great materials, structure, and properly cared for may last anywhere from 40 to 80 years or even more. If you’re using thin and low-quality floorboard planks, expect a shorter floor lifespan. And if the floor is located in a high-traffic area, it’s obviously going to show signs of wear and tear a lot sooner.

As you can see, you can benefit a lot from using floating floors. However, it is still best to seek advice from a professional to see if floating floors best suit your home.

If you need assistance in choosing which type of floor you should use, we’re more than happy to help you. We offer the best vintage and specialty woods and timbers personally inspected by our team of experts who can also provide unbeatable craftsmanship skills for your intricate wood projects. Browse our gallery of past projects to know more about the work that we do or contact us to get a free consultation.

(Related: How to Choose the Best Wood Floor Texture For Your Home)

6. Don’t Pour the Bleaching Solution Directly Onto the Floor

As mentioned, applying a bleaching product is pretty much like applying paint. You put it layer by layer so pouring bleach directly onto your floor is a big no-no. Instead, just get some paintbrush or a soft rag and apply a small amount of bleach onto the wood. Then slowly work your way around the entire area that needs bleaching.

7. Don’t Forget to Neutralize the Bleaching Agent

This is an important step that you should never ever skip.

Neutralizing the bleaching agent in between treatments and after the last application helps get rid of any lingering bleach that may react with any sealant that you’ll apply to the wood. Just wipe it down with a 50-50 solution of water and white vinegar and wait for the wood to dry before applying any sealant.

8. Don’t Use a Metal Container to Hold The Bleach

Bleach can damage metal. So instead of a pewter or copper bowl, use ceramic or glass to hold the bleach.

9. Don’t Work In a Poorly-Ventilated Space

Some bleaching agents release toxic fumes that can damage not just your skin but some of your internal organs too. So when bleaching your hardwood floor, make sure to open all doors and windows. When there’s none, make sure there’s exhaust ventilation somewhere in the room.

10. Don’t Mix Bleach Ahead of Time

Once the bleach is mixed, the bleaching agent is activated. You are now in a race against time before it dissipates altogether. So don’t mix your bleach in advance if you don’t want your money to go down the drain.

9. Consider Doggie Booties

Doggie booties don’t really work for some breeds as keeping them on can be a challenge. But for calmer breeds, they’ll make a good alternative to nail caps and constant nail trimming.

10. Choose Factory-Finished Woods

Factory-finished woods are infused with layers of aluminum oxide urethane finish. If you’re not familiar, it’s a naturally occurring element typically used as an abrasive in sandpaper. When used as a wood finish, it improves the wood’s hardness and lends it abrasion-resisting qualities.

11. Invest in Woods With High Janka Rating

The Janka test measures the relative hardness of the wood. In general, hardwoods with a high Janka rating are more resistant to scratches and dents. Some of the woods topping the Janka scale are teak, tigerwood, chestnut, cherry, white oak, and Brazilian walnut.

12. Opt for Light-Colored Woods

Scratches and dents aren’t that obvious on light-colored wood surfaces. Plus, they’re a great way to hide your dog’s hair, minimizing the need to clean your room every now and then.

13. Train Your Pet

Training your dog to keep off the hardwood floor is also a good way to reduce dents and scratches. But this only usually works for calmer breeds like poodles and golden retrievers. If you have a stubborn breed like a bulldog or basset hound, they’ve probably scratched the entire floor surface already before you can complete the training.

14. Avoid Soft Types of Wood

This one is pretty obvious. Softwood floorings are an absolute no-no if you have fur babies at home. Examples of softwoods you should avoid are American cherry, American walnut, fir, and cedar among others.

15. Clean Up Pet Urine and Other Liquids Immediately

Changing moisture levels can cause woods to shrink or expand. Unfortunately, some dogs just can’t be stopped from urinating on the floor. So clean up your pet’s urine or any other liquids spilled on your floor before they can seep into the wood and cause it to warp.

16. Set-Up Dog Gates

If you haven’t yet installed a dog gate at home, maybe it’s time to get one. It not only prevents your dog from destroying your furniture but also keeps them from setting foot on your hardwood floor.

17. Keep a Touch-up Kit Handy

As the name suggests, wood touch-up kits are excellent for quick repairs. Also known as wood repair markers, they hide scratches and discolorations on the wood’s surface by drawing over them. These pen-shaped tools also come in different colors to suit different types of floor finish.

18. Manage Your Expectations

Scratches, stains, and discolorations are part of the struggles of having a wood flooring. It’s just the nature of wood. You can put in place preventive measures but there’s no way to completely avoid it. Even if you have no dogs, your floor can still get scratched. It’s important to keep this in mind so you can manage your expectations when it comes to taking care of your hardwood floors.