Hardwood Flooring in Bedrooms Review: Pros and Cons
Except for kitchens, bathrooms, and other damp areas, hardwood flooring is a classic material generally regarded as a premium flooring for almost any room in the house. Bedrooms are no exception.
While the warmth, coziness, and sound-dampening qualities of carpeting are quite popular in bedrooms, many homeowners are now removing carpeting in bedrooms to either expose the existing hardwood or lay solid hardwood or engineered hardwood planks during remodeling projects.
The visual warmth and natural appeal of real wood make it very appealing from a design perspective.
Types of Hardwood Flooring
Hardwood flooring comes in several different types:
Solid unfinished planks: Traditionally, solid hardwood flooring boards were installed, then stained and finished in place. This type of hardwood can be sanded down and refinished several times over the life of the floor; but it has gradually lost its popularity to prefinished hardwood products.
Solid prefinished planks: This form of solid hardwood has been prestained and top-coated by the manufacturer; which makes for an easier, faster installation. However, prefinished hardwood flooring is sometimes milled so that the planks have slightly beveled edges, creating channels between boards that can collect dirt, dust, and pollen.
Engineered planks: In this form of hardwood. A relatively thin veneer of hardwood is bonded to a base of plywood or MDF. This type of flooring is always prefinished and is often created with a “click-lock” system in which the planks interlock at the edges. This type of floor usually “floats” over a thin foam underlayment placed over the subfloor. This form of hardwood is the easiest for DIYers to install.
Maintenance and Repair
Hardwood flooring is among the easiest of floorings to maintain. Simple sweeping and wiping with a dry cloth will keep dirt and dust at bay, and there are no places for dirt to hide. Hardwood flooring will, however, need to be refinished at some point—a process that can range from a simple reapplication of varnish to full stripping; sanding, and application of a new top-coat.
But a hardwood floor kept clean may go decades before refinishing of any kind is needed, especially in bedrooms, which see relatively light foot traffic. And the simple fact that solid hardwood flooring can be refinished is one of its main advantages. Carpeting typically needs to be replaced every 10 years or so; while hardwood floors have been known to last as long as the house itself.
Design
Hardwood has been used as a flooring material for centuries, and despite radical shifts in trends and times. It has never gone out of style.
A bedroom is a place that people often feel compelled to “recreate” every few months with a new design. One big advantage of hardwood is that it will look amazing with just about any decorative treatment you use.
Hardwood Flooring Installation
Generally speaking, hardwood floors are more difficult for DIYers to install than other non-carpet flooring options. Such as laminate, vinyl, or even ceramic tile. Solid hardwood planks, especially, are best installed by professionals. The process involves “blind-nailing”. The boards down one at a time by driving nails through the edges of the boards and into the subfloor.
However, engineered hardwood flooring materials are increasingly popular. These products normally use a “click-lock” assembly method that is considerably. Easier than the blind-nailing process used to install solid hardwood planks.
Be aware, though. That these engineered hardwood flooring products do not have the longevity of solid hardwood plank floors; . Most cannot be sanded and refinished multiple times, as you can with solid hardwood flooring.