Suitable Types of Hardwood Flooring That Are The Long-Lasting Flooring For Families With Kids and Pets
Children can cause many damages to hardwood floors. In addition to the damage and split from the harsh and tumble plays, you also need to deal with long chairs that have plastic wheels, plush dolls, and hot bike races. So generally, many of the clients request a type of wood that is family-friendly and lasts the longest?
Before describing the varieties of hardwoods that are the most long-lasting flooring for families with kids and pets, I want to note a few points. First, all hardwood floors will get damage and scratches over time. There are no solutions to avoid this, and there is no matter what kind of wood you choose and how careful you act. It’s the truth of life. This article will present information about the types of hardwoods that will last longer and also look better longer, and it will give you some hints to reduce damages. However, don’t forget that you need to enjoy your home and your hardwood floors.
Second, since hardwood flooring scars and scratches, it’s better to choose a hardwood that has the ability to be sanded and refinished. You always need to have a backup strategy. Third, you may have different preferences between the woods you like and the woods that are more long-lasting. Only you can make the decisions about these and what kinds are most suitable for you and your family.
Fourth, the information about choosing wood floors for children also affects woods that last longer and are better for dogs. Busy families and crowded rooms like entrances, kitchens, living rooms, etc.
In this study, we’re gonna share some advice about:
1. Best sorts of hardwood flooring for children, best kinds, tones, forms, and finishes.
2. kinds of hardwood flooring that you should not use.
3. Suggestions to decrease injuries on hardwood floors.
What Are The Best Hardwood Flooring For Families With Kids And Pets
1. Bright hardwood flooring
Light floors display damages and dirt less. When wood injures, you see the underlying base wood beneath. When you have a light wood floor, it is more comparable to the natural wood tone, so it shows less. Therefore, you may want to think about going natural or choosing a very light tone.
2. choose Hardwood classes with a more powerful texture-like oak or hickory
Hardwoods that are harder in texture manage to cover cuts and scratches more than the others. They hide them. White oak, Red oak, and hickory woods are excellent examples. Oak is on the less pricey team, so this is a bonus. All of these three species have grown in the US.
Hickory flooring has some benefits as it’s harder, about 1800 on the Janka measure vs. red oak that is 1290), has powerful texture and tone varies over and among boards. On the other side, hickory has a more rural (and also busy) appearance when it comes to light shades, so it can be a little polarizing.
When it comes to oak, red oak has more texture and seems more regular; white oak has more constant texture and more mineral stripes for a more modern aspect.
3. finishes that are Satin or matte
The shinier the floors will be, the more they show the damages, scratches, and dust. Therefore, picking a satin finish or even a matte one will appear much better and last longer and be simpler to clean and protect. As it turns out, matte and satin finishes are more fashionable, so you won’t make a trade-off.
4. Great ranks of polyurethane Hardwood, plus an additional layer
If you’re planning to refinish your hardwood flooring, it’s better to use either a large rank of oil-based poly such as Duraseal or a high-grade water-borne polyurethane such as Bona Traffic HD.
Besides, be sure to get adequate layers of poly. You surely have to get three layers of polyurethane. If your home is really busy and crowded or your floors are kinda dark, you may even need to add a fourth layer of poly.
Alternatively, you may think of getting a layer of poly 3 to 4 years after you’ve done refinishing the floors, but before the floors become seriously damaged. This is a preventative support activity that can increase the lifetime of your floors, and it’s called a recoat and screen.
5. The Pre-finished floors or the Site finished floors, which one is better?
I think that it’s a kinda toss-up to know which decision is more suitable if you have children. The benefit of prefinished hardwood is that most of them have a stronger surface because of the aluminum oxide. This will make the wood remaining extra protected against scratches.
Though, pre-finished hardwoods lead to revealing damages much more. Therefore, when you notice a scratch, it’s much more noticeable. Besides, many pre-finished kinds of wood lead to having brighter surfaces that show more damages and dirt.
6. Stronger sorts of hardwood
If everything stays equal, harder hardwood sorts last longer and better. Foreign hardwoods, like Brazilian Teak, Brazilian Walnut, or Brazilian Cherry are on the harder team.
However, of course, everything is not always equal. The foreign hardwoods can be darker and softer in texture, therefore they reveal damages more. Maple, on the other side, is a little stronger than oak and it’s light, so it can be a more suitable option. Though maple flooring is much more expensive and it is also more challenging and more costly to refinish if you want to think of your long-term expenses.
Consequently, frequently hickory and red oak or white oak flooring are more efficient options.
I think, when we talk about hardness, it is better to avoid very softwoods like many kinds of pine, American Cherry, American Walnut, Douglas Fir, and bamboo. Don’t forget that American Cherry and American Walnut are smooth but Brazilian Cherry and Brazilian Walnut is tough). Both of them are dark and display damages more.
7. Hardwood floors that are Solid are better than engineered ones
Solid hardwoods are regularly a better choice, particularly if you have children and a busy home. Your flooring will get damaged; it’s only a matter of time. Therefore, you want to be capable of refinishing the floors in the future time.
by sanding and refinishing the floors, you not just replace them, but you also can adjust the color. Consequently, if you like darker floors, but you have to pick light flooring for when your children are younger, you do have the opportunity to sand and refinish the floors later in the future.
Besides, for the ones that are worried about chemicals and VOCs for their children, solid hardwood is a much better choice, because engineered wood applies adhesives that can release gas, and also some poor implied engineered wood may have bits of formaldehyde.
Don’t forget that if your house is built on a concrete plate which is more common in temperate climates, solid hardwood may not be the most useful choice because of height, construction, and price, therefore engineered wood may be more usual. If you have children and want to get engineered hardwood floors, buy a high-quality one with a thick coat that can be refinished at least three times, and be sure to stick it down rather than drift, therefore that it can be sanded.
However, with all things remaining the same, a solid hardwood floor could be a more suitable option. It will remain much longer and it will provide you with an assurance policy and rest in mind.
8. Distressful, hand-rubbed, personality rank of floors
Hardwood floors with personality cover cuts and scratches more. This can be obtained with distressed or hand-rubbed flooring, floors that have lots of knots, and hardwoods that have a variety of colors, for example, style or rural forms. When there are scratches or damages on these floors, they combine in and seem normal.
What Are The Worst Hardwood Flooring For Families With Kids And Pets
1. Do not use Bright finishes
Brighter surfaces reveal damages, dirt, and, dent much more because more light flashes of them. Shinier surfaces are also old. Instead, I would suggest matte or satin finishes since they will seem lasted-longer and are more fashionable.
2. Do not use Oiled floors or you have to protect them a lot
Oiled floors are getting so popular because they have a pretty natural and matte appearance. many people also love the way they can do place repair in exact parts when they have damages or less important destruction, and this is absolutely a benefit. But, oiled floors require a lot more protection, and also the oil and cleansing goods are more expensive and the most important thing is that they don’t suggest the same sort of maintenance to your floors. Therefore, if you spill something, or have pet accidents, etc, the wooden floors will absorb the urine or water.
3. Do not use smoother woods
Smoother woods lead to scratch more easily. And, darker wood floors like American Walnut and Cherry reveal damages more. Therefore, these are not the best choices if you have children. If you want to move to a new house with these kinds of woods which are more common in older houses from the 1930s or before, I would suggest adding a new layer of polyurethane and going less bright on your surface.
4. Do not use Bamboos
Bamboo does not last long to damages or water, so they’re not a suitable choice if you have children or also pets. They additionally manage to reveal damages more. But, some more stable ones such as strand woven bamboo will endure better, however, they still have lots of problems with damages which make them weak options for busy and crowded places like kitchens.
There are blended comments on bamboo online. Although, if you search well enough, you will understand that it’s the low-priced big box shops that are trying to sell these products because they are cheaper and it is a simple temporary trade for them. But, if you visit the most popular flooring shops and entrepreneurs, you will notice that they are all agreed with their weak idea of bamboo.
Please notice that always you obtain what you spent money for. The most amount of bamboo is grown, produced, and transshipped from China. The lower-priced ones traded in Big Box markets tend to last even worse because they have more adhesive and there are some issues on the safety of these woods, and they are also collected earlier, therefore they are weaker.
Conclusion
Also, the biggest problem is that practically all bamboo can not be refinished.
Consequently, crowded homes can use these floors immediately and you may waste much time cleaning dirt and obsess over your floors. If you want more limited protection, use regular polyurethane flooring.
Hardwood Area provides services and flooring installation in Thousand Oaks, Malibu, Calabasas, Camarillo, Westlake Village, Agoura Hills, Oxnard, and Ventura in a professional and quality manner.
Hardwood Area is located at The Oaks Mall, 2nd Floor, 474 West Hillcrest Drive, Thousand Oaks, CA, 91360, United States
Don’t hesitate to contact us if you need any further information or free consultation (+1 805-338-6952)
