Mistakes To Avoid Making When Choosing Hardwood Floors

There are several reasons you might have decided on hardwood floors for your home. Beyond their beautiful appearance and the style they can bring to nearly any room, hardwood floors are also known for their durability and longevity. When they do become worn down, you can also breathe new life into them through refinishing, something that isn't possible with most other flooring types.

Despite all these benefits that come with choosing hardwood floors, there are some challenges associated with them as well. Many people make mistakes when installing hardwood floors, but believe it or not, you could make an error even before you get to this step. It's crucial to evaluate your options carefully when actually choosing your hardwood flooring in the first place. After all, the one you land on will hopefully be in your home for years to come. If this first part of the process goes wrong, you could end up with floors that don't match your design vision, aren't the quality you were looking for, or worse. So, be sure to learn about these common mistakes people make when choosing and purchasing hardwood floors and how to avoid them yourself.

Before you purchase new hardwood floors, it's important to know exactly what you are buying. Different suppliers might have their own names for the different grades, but most should correspond to the standard grading system used by National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA).

Under this system, there is Clear Grade (also known as prime grade or Firsts and Seconds or 'FAS') which is the top tier, offers the most uniform look, and is made of heartwood. It has minimal knots, defects, variations in color, or streaks. Next, there's Select Grade (also known as classic grade), a versatile choice made from a mix of heartwood and sapwood. This doesn't offer quite the uniformity of Clear Grade, but it is still an overall clean-looking option with a few knots and minimal variation in the color. Next is #1 Common Grade flooring, which has more streaks or knots on the planks. Below that is #2 Common Grade, which has even more knots, streaks, and color differences. And finally, you might also see what is known as Cabin Grade. It is the cheapest option but works well with very rustic interiors. Besides these main categories, grades are also mixed, creating Select & Better, #1 Common & Better, and #2 Common & Better. In these categories, planks from a superior grade are combined with the named grade.

Pro tip: If you're looking to get the best grade of flooring for your money, you might want to avoid shopping at a big box store. The quality of the planks sold by these stores might not match what you'll get from a flooring provider. Here at House Digest, our senior lead editor, Marlen Komar, recently ran into this issue while replacing her flooring. She found that sometimes the flooring with a Select & Better label at a big box store is of the same quality as options marked as a lower grade from a flooring supplier. The takeaway? Working directly with suppliers is probably the better option when possible.

When you're choosing your new hardwood floors, it's also important to think closely about which wood shade you want. If you're redoing all of the floors in your house, you have a bit more freedom to choose something a little unique or different. However, you do want to consider matching your new flooring to the different surfaces and finishes that are already in your home. Also, keep in mind that your floors are an investment that you don't want to feel dated in a few years. Going with a classic hue can give you a more timeless design than opting for a unique shade that's on-trend at the moment. Case in point: The gray wash hardwood flooring that was so ubiquitously popular during the 2010s is now starting to feel decidedly dated. Don't be tempted to timestamp your home with an ultra-trendy wood tone. 

If you're only redoing the floors in one room or on one level of your home, you'll need to be much more thoughtful about selecting the right hardwood color for your home. A shade that is too unique likely won't match the existing flooring in your home, and you could end up creating a clashing eyesore. If you're not in love with the existing color of your floors, but are only planning to replace some of them, you'll need to balance matching your new floor preferences with complementing the current flooring. Highly unique wood shades might also be hard to match if you ever need to replace damaged planks or match other sections of floor in the future.

If your budget only allows for you to replace the hardwood floors in a few rooms in your home, then you might not be able to find an exact match for the flooring that will be staying in the other rooms. But unless you're forced into it by budgetary factors – choosing planks of different colors or styles for different areas of the home is typically a bad idea. Consistency is key when it comes to flooring. Not only can consistent flooring help a home sell faster, but it creates a more cohesive and put-together look. This can be especially true if your home has more of an open-concept floor plan where one room runs right into another. Keeping the same flooring can also help the space feel larger.

That being said, you're purchasing the flooring for your home, so you should have the final say about what is best for you. If you really want to choose different colors or styles of hardwood floors, you can. Just be very purposeful to make sure that the styles and shades you choose don't end up clashing or taking away from the aesthetics of the home. Instead of matching the flooring, you can choose to coordinate the floors. This might look like choosing lighter and darker shades of the same color for different rooms to create a complementary variance.

After all that talk about maintaining a consistent and cohesive look throughout your home, this next mistake might come as a surprise. However, you probably shouldn't plan on installing hardwood floors in every room in your home. For example, you should avoid putting hardwood floors in your bathroom. There is a lot of moisture in the bathroom. Beyond the running water, every time you take a long, hot shower, steam is released into the space. This much extra moisture and humidity can damage hardwood floors. The wood may get warped or discolored, effectively ruining your flooring along with the look you were trying to achieve.

There are also a few things to consider before you buy hardwood floors for your kitchen. While the kitchen may not be as poor of a choice as the bathroom, installing hardwood floors in it isn't always the best option either. Kitchens also have a lot of moisture, and it's very common for water and other liquids to spill on the floors. This can cause the same problems that you'll see in a bathroom if the wood gets wet, which is why many opt for tile, laminate, or vinyl floors in their kitchens. If you're set on having hardwood floors in your kitchen or bathroom, consider purchasing engineered hardwood over solid hardwood. The layered design of these planks makes them more moisture-resistant than traditional solid wood planks.

Solid hardwood floors are certainly beautiful. However, there are a few potential downsides to this flooring type. As noted above, the wood can be damaged by spills or even moisture in the air. The planks could shrink or warp over the years, leaving a floor that doesn't look like it did when it was first installed. Some shoppers hear about engineered hardwood and immediately dismiss it as something that doesn't check off the boxes for what they want.

However, overlooking engineered wood, particularly high-quality options, can be a real mistake. Engineered hardwood is constructed to better address some of the issues that can plague solid wood floors. It features a three-layer design. The top layer is real hardwood, while the two lower layers are made from materials that are sturdier and better suited for holding up to moisture than solid wood.

Just be careful not to buy a low-quality engineered hardwood floor. While these options will be cheaper, they likely won't deliver what you're looking for in a new floor. One of the most important things to pay attention to is the thickness of the upper layer (which is made from solid wood). Lower-quality options may have only a very thin wear layer of solid wood. Not only could this layer be worn down more quickly, but it may be too thin to sand and refinish the floor when you need to do so in the future. If you're wondering how many times you can sand down and refinish hardwood flooring – solid hardwood planks can typically be refinished at least ten times, and the same can be true of engineered hardwood with 4-6 millimeter wear layers. Engineered planks with thinner wear layers of between 2-3 millimeters can typically only be refinished once or twice. 

There are pros and cons associated with both prefinished and unfinished hardwood floors. Failing to learn more about each of these options, along with their benefits and drawbacks, could be a mistake that you later come to regret. Let's start by taking a look at prefinished hardwood floors.

As their name implies, these floors are finished ahead of time in the factory. Once you purchase them (and give them time to acclimate to the environment of your home), they will be ready to install. Prefinished floors don't need to be sanded or stained once they are installed, saving you from paying a contractor to complete the job. The finish on these floors is generally more durable, but because it's thicker, it can also be more difficult to sand down and refinish the floors or repair a section. Since the flooring was stained by the manufacturer, you might not be able to find a perfect match when you need to touch up an area.

As you'd probably guess, unfinished floors arrive without a finish. Once they are installed, you'll need to have them stained and sealed. While this does add an extra step and an additional cost, it provides you with nearly unlimited colors and finish options. An unfinished wood floor can also be a little easier to clean as it doesn't have the dirt-trapping beveled edges that prefinished boards do. One drawback, however, is that you're more likely to notice imperfections in the finish due to environmental conditions in your home. The process of staining the floors (and waiting for them to dry) can also take a while. So, you'll need to account for some additional installation time with this choice.

Several wood species can be used to make hardwood floors. And, just as each type of tree has a unique look, the same is true of the planks that are made from these various species. Before you finalize a decision about which hardwood floors to buy for your home, make sure that you compare the overall look and durability of different species of hardwood.

While we can't go into every possible species, let's take a look at some of the more popular options you might see. One of these is oak. Oak flooring is scratch-resistant, making it a top choice for higher-traffic zones. You'll find both red oak and white oak options. A key difference between these two is that you'll see more of the grain with red oak and greater color variations between planks. Maple hardwood floors are another popular choice. They are durable, long-lasting, and known for having fewer color and tone variations than some other options. A third option to consider is American cherry. While floors made from this wood can be quite gorgeous, it is important to note that they will not be as durable. The wood is easier to scratch, and its coloring can even be impacted if area rugs are placed over it too soon after installation. Some other hardwood species you might want to explore include birch, yellow pine, hickory, American walnut, and beech.

Before you finalize your decision about which hardwood floors to purchase, make sure you think about your preferred grain pattern, as these can vary between flooring choices. The differences can greatly impact the overall look of the floor. The grain pattern is determined by how the tree is cut. A plain-sawn pattern is the most common. With this cut, you'll notice cathedrals (pointed sections) throughout the wood. Because this cut is the one that delivers the most planks from each tree, it is also less expensive than some other options.

Quarter-sawn planks are cut with a radial grain. This cut results in more flecks across the planks, giving them a speckled look. A vertical cut is used to create a rift-sawn grain. Because of this, the wood grain is much straighter and doesn't have the flares or cathedrals of other cuts. As you compare these grain types, along with some less common options like medullary rays or rift and quartered flooring, consider the overall look you're going for. Because some of the cuts are less wasteful than others, there can also be a significant price difference between them. So, be sure to keep your budget in mind as you weigh their pros and cons.

Hardwood planks are also sold in different widths. Failing to consider the width of the boards and the impact it can have on your space can be a mistake. Every space is different and each individual has their own preferences, so there is no one best width. Wide planks are currently a popular choice for many homeowners, but they typically cost more. In medium- to large-sized rooms, wider planks can make the space feel more open. Plus, fewer are needed to cover the floors. This means there won't be as many visible seams, which can help you achieve a more modern and luxurious look.

If you have a smaller room, however, you might want to consider purchasing narrower boards. More boards will be needed to complete the flooring. And all of the seams between them can help give the illusion that the room is longer than it really is.

There is a third option to consider: a mix of wider and narrower planks. With this design, you'll be making your flooring more of a focal point in the space. If this is your goal, then keep it in mind when shopping for your floors and focus on ones that come in varying widths.