If you have considered hardwood as a flooring option for your new home – or even, as an upgrade to your current home – there are a number of things you should be aware of before you purchase or install the flooring. As you should know, wooden flooring is expensive, and is high maintenance, which means you should be prepared to spend on it and attend to it frequently. If you are not willing to make such commitments, it is best that you avoid installing hardwood, because this will lead to it being easily damaged and having a far shorter lifespan than you imagined.

To begin with, you should understand the difference you would find between hardwood floorings such as Godfrey Hirst naturals, which is solid wood, and the alternative, which is engineered wood flooring. Of the two, the traditional variety is the solid wood, whereas the cheaper and newer option is the engineered wood flooring. As it stands, the traditional wood flooring is basically wood, which makes it susceptible to changing temperature and moisture conditions. Flooring that noticeably warps, expands or contracts depending on the seasons is solid wood. On the other hand, the cheaper engineered wood flooring is made from alternate layers of thin hardwood and a core; there is a tight bond between these that allows the flooring to be more stable and resistive to changing climate conditions. Not to add, for a do-it-yourself job, engineered flooring clearly is more suitable, because it comes in a pre-finished condition, removing the need for either sanding or finishing.

The drawback that engineered timber flooring has, however, is that it is very thin when compared to solid wood, which is a thick and robust layer of wood. For retouching a wooden flooring, re-sanding is and re-finishing is necessary, but engineered flooring will see the wood wear away with only three retouches. On the other hand, solid wood can be retouched multiple times. With the above advantages and disadvantages considered, you should weigh in your own factors before you decide which type of flooring you wish to buy. For example, as was described above, if you are planning to install the flooring by yourself, it is a good idea to stick to engineered wood flooring – unless you are capable enough to sand and finish your floors. In the same vein, considering atmospheric conditions of your particular location, you might want to avoid solid wood if you have frequent fluctuations between temperature extremes (that is, you live in an area which frequently alternates between cold and hot, and wet and dry climate conditions).