Oak Flooring – Considering Lifespan and Durability

. This flooring is an ideal option for personal rooms like the bedroom, the family room or the den because it adds a very rich look to the room.

Two diffrent species of oak:

Red oak - red oak has a reddish color
White oak - white oak is more of a brown, but even within the species color variance exists

Oak Flooring is available in two main forms :

Solid oak flooring is made from planks which may have square edges, or may have tongue and groove edges.
Engineered oak flooring is made from up to five glued layers of wood, or fiberboard, with the top layer being of high quality oak.

The Benefits of Oak Flooring

Highly durable and easy to maintain, combined with the beauty of real wood, your solid oak flooring will give you pleasure for years to come.
Oak Flooring is expensive when compared to other products such as laminate, carpet, or tiles, but considering the lifespan and durability, oak costs less and looks beautiful and elegant and also hygienic, non-allergenic, hard-wearing, easy to clean.
You will find oak in a wide range of tones and hues. So, you do not have to worry about matching the flooring to the furniture or the theme of the house as there are plenty of options available for you
if you desire to show classiness and style through your renovation designs, then Oak Flooring, as no other modern or more traditional flooring material would help you to attain your goal
Oak Flooring is a natural insulator, soft on your feet and gives you sheer value for money. If you want to give your home a feel of the old castles, then white oak is what you should opt for.
It will greatly improve the value of your home if you are looking to sell your home or if you are considering taking out a home equity loan. If you are selling then potential buyers will be enchanted by the warmth and elegance that the flooring adds to the room.

The Disadvantages of Oak Flooring

Oak Flooring is expensive. It is certainly not something that the budget conscious can afford.
The flooring can fade in the sunlight. It would be a good idea to have blinds or to close the curtains when it is particularly bright if you choose to have the flooring in a room where the sun can easily get to it.
It does not have any measure of moisture resistance. Therefore, Oak Flooring should not be used in such premises as kitchens or bathrooms, where there are high chances of water spillage and consequently, floor damage may occur.
Despite its durability, oak is very vulnerable to sharp things like bed legs, shoe heels and also to very heavy objects. You should take necessary precautions while placing heavy furniture by padding the base, and whichever part of the floor will be subjected to a lot of movement should be protected with the help of carpets or rugs.

For the sake of cost cutting, consumers today are often willing to compromise on quality and durability. If we compared to cheaper alternatives like laminate, carpets or tiles, Oak Flooring is a much more expensive option. But, what people often fail to see are the long-term results. Materials like laminate or carpets undergo extensive wear and tear in a very short period of time, so one has to keep changing them again and again. In this way, the total cost of maintaining such things often surpass the onetime cost that one would incur in the case of Oak Flooring.