Solid Wood Flooring

– Pros and Cons of Different Woods

Naturally Wood Floors design and install stunning solid wood flooring in a wide range of different wood types including oak, walnut, merbau, wenge, beech, maple and teak. We lay, repair and restore solid wood floors for customers in Essex, London, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Middlesex and Kent.

Whether you require solid wood flooring for your home or business, we will guide you every step of the way in choosing the type of flooring, wood and finish to create a beautiful floor that is well suited to the space it is laid in.

Here we look at the pros and cons of different woods to assist you in choosing your new solid wood floor. However if you would prefer to chat this through on the phone, contact us now and our friendly team will be pleased to assist you!

Solid Wood Flooring – contact us now to discuss your requirements

Oak Flooring

Pros

• Oak is a very beautiful wood with a natural appearance and warm honey tones making it a popular choice for homes and businesses. The two main types are red oak and white oak so it can come in a variety of colours to choose from.
• Oak is extremely strong and dependable. It’s durability makes it our most sought after choice of solid wood flooring.
• It is excellent in high traffic areas.
• It is a very traditional looking wood which blends well with existing oak furniture.
• Oak is available in our widest choice of flooring types, including parquet flooring, aged and distressed, engineered, solid T&G strip and wood block flooring, end block and mosaic panels.
• Oak is considered a high-end material, making it desirable and giving an expensive feel to your home décor.

Cons

• As oak is such a popular wood it may not be individual enough for your taste.

Walnut Flooring

Pros

• Walnut has a rich dark colour giving it a warm feel for your flooring
• It is very adaptable and can look traditional or modern determined by the style of your house and furnishing
• Walnut has a distinctive grain and can be polished to a very smooth finish.
• Walnut wood is exceptionally dense and resilient to moisture.

Cons

• As walnut is a dark wood it can show traffic marks quite easily.
• Dark wood floors, like walnut, can make rooms appear smaller than they are.
• Walnut is a relatively soft hardwood in comparison to Oak, Maple & Wenge so can be easily marked or dented if it comes into contact with sharp objects or high heels.

Merbau Flooring

Pros

• Merbau is an exotic hardwood that is very strong and hardwearing for flooring.
• It is durable but also very striking and individual, as not many homes or businesses would have it.
• Frequently used rooms such as the hallway or sitting room and high traffic areas in business premises all suit Merbau because it is such an enduring wood.
• Merbau is very hard wood that is resistant to moisture and termites.
• The colour and grain of Merbau will make it stand out from other wood flooring. It has a gold speckle running through the grain and yellow brown to orange brown tones, which mature to a rich reddish brown colour over a period of years.
• It does not need any special treatments to help preserve it.
• Cons
• Dark wood floors, like merbau, can make rooms appear smaller than they are.
• Dark woods, such as Merbau, can show up light scuffs quite easily.
• Dark wood can create the optical illusion of making a room seem smaller than it really is.

Wenge Flooring

Pros

• Wenge flooring is durable with excellent qualities of strength and hardness making it perfect for flooring.
• The density of wenge wood means it is ideal for public areas in commercial buildings and high traffic areas of the home as it is so resistant to dents and footmarks.
• The grain patterns of wenge flooring are very similar to red oak but this exotic dark wood has it’s own character and a very dramatic natural ebony colour making it distinctive and elegant.
• Wenge has a feel of luxury about it and is often chosen by high-end residential and commercial properties due to its striking appearance.

Cons

• Dark woods, such as Wenge, can show up light scuffs quite easily.
• Dark wood can create the optical illusion of making a room seem smaller than it really is.

Beech Flooring

Pros

• Beech flooring is often chosen to lend warmth to a room due to its tan colour and grain, which has orange or pink highlights.
• If you prefer a uniform look to your flooring then beech is a tough, lightweight wood but with a close, straight, regular grain with little pattern in it.
• It is popular flooring for high traffic areas as it can withstand a good degree of stress.
• It provides a hardwearing flooring type, as beech does not dent easily.

Cons

• Even though beech flooring is good in climate-controlled areas it can lose durability when exposed to changes in moisture and it is not suitable for use in damp areas.
• Beech flooring may experience some colour variation over the course of time

Maple Flooring

Pros

• Maple is a hard and durable wood for flooring and suitable for high traffic areas at home or work.
• Maple is a light wood with honey tones and a warm yellow colour. This makes it very contemporary and modern. However maple can be stained darker for a richer look.
• The natural brightness of maple wood does reflect light well to create a sense of space.
• Maple flooring will compliment existing maple wood furniture.

Cons

• Maple flooring is not very resistant to humidity or heat. If humidity levels change dramatically, then maple flooring can move and split or if it is exposed to damp conditions the flooring can crack.
• Maple can be more expensive than some other solid wood flooring choices.

About Naturally Wood

Naturally Wood Floors have a large range of wood types and flooring styles on offer to suit your taste and budget. Our wide range of solid wood flooring  includes parquet floors, aged and distressed floors, engineered floors, strip floors, mosaic floors and wood block floors.