Hello, I am thinking of adding hardwood floors to my home, but I have two boys aged 7 and 10. Obviously there’s a lot of wear and tear on my floors, so I am looking to find attractive, durable, preferably low-maintenance hardwood flooring. Is there such a thing? If so, roughly how much should I expect to spend per square foot? Thanks!
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I’m the lead designer for C&T Master Total Remodeling and I get this question all the time from my clients.
When you have children or dogs over 40 pounds, I recommend porcelain wood tile. Yes, it is porcelain tile, but it looks almost identical to wood. The durability is phenomenal and it looks fantastic.
My next suggestion would be engineered hardwood. It is wood fiber that has been fused together at high pressure using a polymer/glue. The material is much denser and dent/scratch resistant than any natural hardwood, but yes you will get scratches and dents no matter what.
If you are set on hardwood then I recommend Brazilian Walnut/Ipe or bamboo. Either is stronger than Oak, but no matter you will see scratches well before 5 years after installation.
A good contractor should charge roughly for the same for any of the options mentions, expect $10-20/sq ft depending upon your location.
Bruce hardwood flooring has alot of products at a cost of about $5.00 sq ft not installed. You are much better using a hardwood floor instead of these laminated floors because in 15 years, you can always sand & refinish natural hardwood floors. These other products are hard to repair and the life expectency is no where near natural hardwood flooring.
Well, tile would be more durable (but costly) if compared with the hardwood floors. However, I would recommend you to install hardwood floor with laminate floor layer it would add up to durability. Moreover, cheaper than tile and you can get them easily reinstall after few years let say 8 to 10 years. Yet I believe, that expert advice would even help check Google Workspace Updates: New community features for Google Chat and an update on Currents
Hi there - I’m the founder of two flooring companies in Australia. If you’re set on hardwood, be sure to pick a floor with a durable finish to accommodate heavy foot traffic. Also, you should note that hardwood doesn’t work well with moisture, so it may not be suitable for your kitchen if the kids are prone to spilling.
Whatever you choose, the hardest domestic hardwoods include:
-Red Oak (Janka hardness rating of 1290)
-White Oak (Janka hardness rating of 1360)
-Maple (Janka hardness rating of 1450)
-Hickory (Janka hardness rating of 1820)
If you have a little more to spend on flooring, you can also try exotic woods, the hardest of which are:
-Brazillian Cherry (Janka hardness rating of 2820)
-Mahogany (Janka hardness rating of 2220)
-Brazillian Teak (Janka hardness rating of 3540)
-Brazilian Walnut (Janka hardness rating of 3680)
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