On the Ozburn-Hessey blog, we talk a lot about hardwood flooring. This isn’t just because floor installation and restoration is what we do for a living. Hardwood flooring is worthy of enthusiasm based solely on its own merits.
Hardwood flooring has been used for centuries for beautiful and long-lasting housebuilding. But today’s homeowners don’t have the same relationship to hardwood as our ancestors did. In fact, Ozburn-Hessey hears a lot of anxiety about hardwood’s appropriateness for modern houses.
People worry that hardwood will warp and buckle. They fear that their kids and pets will tear it to shreds. They think that hardwood has to be the most expensive flooring option of them all. They worry about the environmental impact.
While none of these fears is completely unfounded, there is a way for hardwood (and engineered hardwood) to meet the needs of these nervous home and property owners. Hardwood isn’t perfect for every situation, but it remains the ideal flooring option for many different situations. Here are three.
The Living Room. If you are planning to live in your current home for more than a few years, if you want to rent it out to top-quality tenants at some point in the future, or if you want to sell for top dollar, hardwood flooring in the living room is a must. New hardwood is as gorgeous a flooring option as any, and it can be sanded and refinished multiple times, no matter the traffic in your living room. It’s an investment at first, but its long-lasting style and utility make it well worth it.
The Basement (for Engineered Hardwood). If you have a finished basement, there are more options available to you than were available to the basement owners of yore. In the old days, it was virtually impossible to keep water out of a basement. Moisture and mold were inherent to these subterranean rooms. Today, they can be just as secure and livable as any room in your house. If you have a waterproofed and finished basement, engineered hardwood can turn it into a second living area. This is especially beneficial if you are interested in turning your basement into a separate income suite. Engineered hardwood will turn it into an ideal habitat, even though it is below ground.
The Kitchen. Some people are fearful of putting hardwood flooring into a kitchen, because of water spills and cooking mess. But Ozburn-Hessey’s Nashville flooring contractors install a lot of hardwood and engineered hardwood in kitchens, and we find that it makes these rooms cozy and comfortable. Again, hardwood can be refinished many times in its lifetime. If you are accident prone in the kitchen, engineered hardwood won’t buckle under water damage and other accidents.
This is just scratching the surface of all the places you can comfortably place hardwood flooring. With improvements that have been made to these products, you can put it almost anywhere. Add to the beauty and equity of your home with hardwood floors installed by Ozburn-Hessey.
