Evaluating the Durability of the Hardwood Floor

While selecting the perfect flooring for you home, one of the top factors you should consider is durability. Each species has inherent characteristics, such as grain patterns, smooth or closed textures and specific hardness or density. Over time, wood floors become susceptible to scrapes and dents, but knowing the durability of wood flooring allows you to refinish the wood multiple times.

There are also several factors that contribute to the overall durability of the hardwood flooring including sheen, color and finish.

If you keep these four factors in mind while selecting your hardwood floor, the end result will be a good floor that you can live on for several years.  Now let’s take a look into hoe these factors can help contributing wood floor to the long term condition.

Hardness:

Maximum scratches are actual dents into the wood. If you select a wood with higher density, you have a good chance to avoid scratches and unwanted blemishes before hardwood floor repair.

Durability, hardness and density of wood the wood is measured by the Janka Hardness Test. This measurement delivers the hardness rating of wood based on its resistance to indentation and wear.

Finish:

Although hardness is great for limiting dents, the finishing of the floor also determines the durability of the floor. There are varieties of finish options available in the market, the most widely used are polyurethane or UV cured oils products. Polyurethane products can be directly applied on the top of the hardwood itself and have an extremely strong top layer.

When applying the oil finish to the floor, the oil penetrates into the pores and makes the wood floor harden which preserves the natural wood grain texture.

Sheen:

A high gloss hardwood floor really gives the pristine appearance to your home. It requires more maintenance to keep the high sheen wood floor looking great. The gloss of the flooring product determines the overall apparent durability.

These are some of the important factors to consider while discussing the durability of the hardwood floor. Good luck to select the best flooring for your home!