Wood flooring has become a popular trend in homes in recent years. Worn and faded carpets can make a room look dated, but the warmth and lustre of a wood floor is hard to beat. Oak, in particular, is an excellent choice. It is hard wearing and will hold its good looks for years to come.
Hygiene
In addition to looking good and taking wear and tear in its stride, oak flooring has many other advantages over carpeted floors. Carpets can hold dust which encourages mites to breed and it is these little creatures and their eggs that cause so many allergies, especially asthma in children. A wood floor is easy to keep clean and dust free with a quick swipe of a dust mop, reducing the risk of dust mite allergens lurking unseen.
Keeping Up With Changing Trends
The colour of the sitting room carpet may have been chosen a number of years ago, to fit in with a particular colour scheme that was on trend at that time. Five or ten years later, the colour scheme has fallen out of favour and the carpet has become discoloured and stained. Changing a carpet each time decorating trends move on would involve phenomenal expense. Whatever shade of oak you choose for your floor, there is the guarantee that it will blend in with most colour schemes, no matter how strong your colour tastes are.
Wooden floors were commonplace in homes in the 19th century and remained in vogue until the mid 20th century, when the use of artificial fibres made carpet manufacturing cheaper. A return to more traditional styles of home décor, now regarded as vintage, has seen a resurrection of the preference for wood as a flooring material. To say the least, wood floors are easy to keep clean, straightforward to maintain and give a welcoming and luxurious ambience to a room.
Durability As Well As Beauty
Oak is an exceptionally durable material for flooring due to its resistance to wear. This makes it the perfect choice for high traffic areas in the home. White oak is especially resistant to liquid permeation and is therefore ideal for kitchen and bathroom flooring.
Both red and white oak handle glueing, drilling and machine cutting well, which allows for ease of installation when fitting flooring. The wood also reacts well to any treatments and stains applied, offering a wide range of colour and finish options for your oak floor.
Simple To Maintain And A Good Investment
To keep the beauty of the flooring, some simple maintenance is required. To prevent scratches and scuffs from furniture, the use of furniture pads and felt-bottomed castor cups is recommended by most manufacturers. Use a dust mop several times a week to keep the flooring dust free and clean the floor periodically with a product designed for use on wooden floors, taking into consideration the particular finish of your floor. Avoid the use of abrasive cleaners, sponges or cloths.
Should a deep gouge or scratch appear on your flooring there is no need to panic. It will not mean replacing the whole floor. The affected panel can be removed and replaced and the floor will look like new in no time at all.
The beauty of an oak floor is that it will look good for a very long time with a little bit of care. It can be tied in with any colour scheme and any style of furniture, from traditional to contemporary. Best of all, installing an oak floor can increase the value of your home, making it an investment you cannot afford to miss.
Genelia is an interior designer who writes regularly on home decorating for a variety of websites, blogs and publications. She recommends www.naturalstoneandtimber.co.uk for the best deals on natural oak flooring.
