Walnut Flooring - 3 Things Before Buying
Here is a good article on hardwood floor care tips. Palmetto Hardwood has some great article on our regular website as well. For a quote on hardwood floors and floor care products call us or visit our website.Walnut Flooring - 3 Things Before Buying
By Eric M Dyer
Walnut Flooring is an absolutely beautiful addition to any home or property. When it comes to the various species of wood floors, Walnut has tremendous character when compared to most others. Walnut floors also add value to your home. This can be beneficial whether you are wanting to reinvest in your home or prepare for selling. Beauty or value, or both, Walnut flooring is a great choice. Before you start shopping for your Walnut hardwood floor, there are 3 things you will need to consider before you buy your new floor. If you have these important 3 things predetermined at the onset, your decision and search will be rewarding and money saving.
1. Walnut flooring is offered in both Solid and Engineered construction. Solid Walnut floors are exactly that, solid. The board is created from a single, solid piece of walnut. These boards require a nail down installation. Solid boards can also be refinished many times over the life of the floor. Solid floors are an excellent choice as long as your subfloor is not concrete. Solid designed boards cannot be nailed down to a concrete substructure. Walnut Engineered hardwood flooring is comprised of 3 to 5 layers of wood. The top layer is a real Walnut veneer surface. The layers below the veneer are made out of plywood like material. This design is typically a glue down or floating floor (no glue or nails are used) installation. Engineered Walnut flooring can be installed over concrete. Often you will find Engineered will cost a little less than Solid wood flooring. However, Engineered floors can only be refinished once or twice so they add less value than solid.
2. Unfinished or Prefinished is a misunderstood choice by consumers. Unfinished hardwood doesn’t have any stain preapplied or Polyurethane/ Aluminum Oxide protective coats. Prefinished Walnut flooring, has a factory applied stain and protective coat of Polyurethane and/or Aluminum Oxide. There are two distinct factors to consider when choosing between these two. First of all, unfinished walnut floors may appear at first glance to be less expensive. However, the fees to stain and finish will cost more in the short and long term versus factory, prefinished flooring. A factory finish will last dramatically longer and maintain it’s luster saving money in the long run as well by saving on refinishes later down the road. The second consideration is color. You can have an unfinished floor applied with a custom stain to give an exact match to what you are looking for. A prefinished walnut floor will give several options for color, but not the variety of options you may have with an unfinished floor. As a rule of thumb, if you can find prefinished Walnut flooring with a color that will work, it should be an easy choice to go with prefinished. If you can’t find a color that will work and don’t mind paying more now and later, go with an unfinished, custom stained Walnut floor.
3. There are several distinct species of Walnut. Asian, American, and Brazilian are the 3 main options you will see offered in the flooring industry. The 2 considerations when comparing these 3 species are which is the most appealing to you as far as aesthetics and the Janka rating. Janka rating is a scale or measurement of a wood’s hardness. The higher the rating, the harder the wood surface. These 3 species will have slightly different grain and knot character traits. The important thing to remember when comparing species of Walnut is to select the one that you like the appearance of the most.
If you start your shopping process knowing the answers to the three decisions above you will be better equipped to shop for the correct floor that you want and need. By having this knowledge, it will be far easier to compare prices and flooring. Shopping for Walnut flooring doesn’t have to be difficult if you know what you are looking for before you start!
Whether you decide to shop locally or online is a choice entirely up to you. Local shopping will give you a quick glance at what is available in your local market with samples to see when you walk into a store. Be warned, that the larger home improvement stores may be convienent but will offer little discount compared to local independent stores or online wholesalers. If you’re willing to spend a few minutes online shopping for your Walnut floor, you may be able to save a considerable amount by finding a flooring wholesaler who can ship nationwide. A great place to start your online search for Walnut flooring is Owen Carpet Company in Dalton, GA. They carry many varieties of Walnut Flooring at great prices.
The author, Eric Dyer is an Owner of Owen Carpet based in Dalton, Ga. Owen Carpet was featured by NBC’s Today show as the #1 place in America to buy Floor covering.
For more information you can visit, http://www.owencarpet.com or call Owen Carpet at 1-800-626-6936.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Eric_M_Dyer
http://EzineArticles.com/?Walnut-Flooring—3-Things-Before-Buying&id=2767366