There are several choices or hardwood flooring. They have different characteristics, different price ranges and thus, one fits better than another in proportion to different conditions. Among the hardwood flooring species used in the U.S., some of them have taken a huge part of hardwood flooring market.
The most popular hardwood flooring options are:
1. Oak hardwood flooring
Oak is abundantly available in the U.S. making it easily available hardwood option. There are two types of oaks: red and white oaks.
These richly available hardwood flooring is not just economical, but is also an excellent hider of marks and scratches making it preferable choice for family with kids and pets. Besides, color staining superbly settles on oak hardwood flooring.
2. Maple hardwood flooring
Maples are grown in the northern part of the U.S. or we import them from Canada. Being slightly harder than oak, maple hardwood gives you a smoother look as well. Although it costs a little more than oak hardwood, people prefer it for a contemporary look. There are many species of maple including Black Maple, Red Maple, Big Leaf Maple, Silver Maple and more and each of them have different hardness level.
3. Hickory
Hickory, grown in the Eastern US, is harder than oak and has a lot of color variation. Being tough and having the ability of withstand and hide rough scratches, people with pets and children prefer this hardwood for flooring. But keep in mind that hickory costs you a bit more as compared to an oak.
4. Brazilian Cherry
So the name details where this hardwood comes from. Its red color looks and beauty that just tends to get deeper and more beautiful with the time attracts many homeowners. Brazilian Cherry is harder than all those mentioned above and has a lot of color variation within its redness.
5. Brazilian Walnut
Grown mostly in the South and Central America, Brazilian Walnut is brown in appearance. This tremendously hard specie, thricely harder than the oak, has smooth graining like Brazilian Cherry. So this hardwood flooring is more expensive as compared to oak and maple hardwood flooring.
6. American Cherry
Alike Brazilian Cherry, American Cherry also reddens with the time. But this beautiful hardwood flooring option is softer than all these above mentioned hardwoods with only 995 on the Janka hardness scale. This means it is prone to damage from scratch and dents. This specie has different color variation and is also more expensive.
Besides these, American walnut, ash, birch, pine and Douglas fir are some other popular hardwood flooring species in US.
If you are confused about which hardwood flooring to go with, you can always contact a professional. Call Us (615) 336-3481.