Understanding Oak Hardwood Floors

Oak hardwood floors are one of the best floors that you can install in your home. The good thing is that oak is readily available; therefore, you will easily get it at a low price. Oak is also easy to stain thus you can easily stain it in your preferred color.

White and Red Oak Hardwood

There are two main types of oak hardwood floors: white and red floors. While they are very popular, very few people know their differences. To guide you though, here are some of their differences:

Color: red oak has a pinkish tint that is a little bit lighter than white oak. White oak on the other hand is browner, darker and more yellow. When you stain the two types, red oak tends to have a red undertone; however, when you stain the two in darker colors, the differences decrease.

Graining: red oak has stronger graining than white oak. The cool thing with the stronger graining is that it hides dents and scratches. If you want your house to have a lesser busy look, you should install the white oak as it has a smooth look.

Hardness: white oak is a little bit harder than red oak. On the Janka hardness scale, white oak is 1360 while red oak is 1290. It’s good to note that while red oak is softer than white oak, it shows dents a bit less.

Price: there is no major difference in the prices between the types of flooring materials. You should do your research to find the store selling the flooring materials at low prices.

How to Take Care of Oak Hardwood Floors

For the floors to last for a long time you need to take good care of them. There are a number of ways in which you can take care of these units. One of the ways is by waxing the floors at least once a week. For ideal results you should use a dry rag to apply the waxing. You should always work in the same direction as the wood grain.

Another way of taking care of the floor is by refinishing it when necessary. Many of these floors are stained with polyurethane sealer; however, as time goes on the sealer tends to wear away. To protect your investment and leave the floor looking beautiful you should reapply the seal after every few years. As rule of thumb you should reapply the finish depending on the traffic on the floor.