HARDWOOD FLOORS
If you are considering hardwood floors for your home, here's information you can use to help you decide if hardwood floors are right for you
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For More Information
Consider the following sources to help you make your decision or for just more information, about hardwood flooring:- iFLOOR.com has one of the most informative sites we've seen. Even if there's not a distributor near you, you will still find lots of information here to help you make a decision, and good "how-to's" should you decide to go with hardwood floors.
- Andersonfloors.com is the web site for one of the best-known wood floor manufacturers around. Their motto is "No one knows floors like Anderson."
- Bruce Hardwood Floors: From here you can browse Bruce's selection of hardwood floor styles, species, finish, or construction type, or search for the perfect hardwood floor
Hardwood vs Laminates and Carpeting
Hardwood flooring improves with age, and is among the longest lasting of all flooring types. They are beautiful, highly durable, and are very affordable. It will initially cost you more than other floor types, but it will increase the value of your home, while others won't. Hardwood flooring will outlast any other type of flooring, Laminate flooring may look as good as hardwood, but it will eventually chip and lose its coating. When this happens, you must dispose of the laminate and install new. Hardwood flooring is easy to care for and can be recoated to return it to its original look.
Comparing hardwood flooring to carpeting will give you similar results as far as durability and cost-effectiveness. In a 30 year span of time, your hardwood floor will still look good. Your carpets would have been replaced several times over this time frame in order to maintain an attractive appearance. And no worries about dirt hiding in carpet fibers with wood flooring. There's no place for dirt to hide, it's easily taken care of, while dirt in carpeting is mostly ground into fibers and lays well hidden from view.
Installation
Installation of your hardwood flooring can be done by professional installers, or if you are handy with this sort of thing, you may enjoy a do-it-yourself experience. iFLOOR has several installation packages available, ranging from complete removal and installation of the new flooring, down to a basic package, which gives you the opportunity to do some of the work yourself. Even if you decide to have full professional installation, you should be able to save money by doing some of the work yourself. Moving the furniture, removing molding and toe guards must be done before installation begins. Some installers will do this for you, but not cheaply! It's not rocket science, and you can save money if you will take care of these details yourself.If you decide to install it yourself, you'll find plenty of help at your local Lowe's or Home Depot, in do-it-yourself books, or some web sites such as Bruce Hardwood Floors.
While there's a lot of work involved, you will enjoy the results!