Pros & Cons of Hardwood
14
Jul

Pros & Cons of Hardwood

Pros & Cons of Hardwood

Interior Design

The Pros & Cons of Hardwood include two key, this is a clear base and powder. They mix to form a blend, producing a glossy, nice look effect after complete. Shop here and check out our other services here.

Pour over the Advantages & Disadvantages of Hardwood, or solid top. They move through the floor as it cures and can with a paintbrush or roller to create effects such as swirls, ripples, craters, or waves. When the Bathroom hardens, these powders are in place, resulting in a beautiful, nice look.

Each Pros & Cons of Hardwood is special due to the nature of the powder holding. Skill and mind are critical to achieving the appearance and feel of the surface.

Metallic Epoxy Bathroom include two key, this is a clear base and powder. They mix to form a blend, producing a glossy, nice look effect after complete.

The bathroom design ideas, or solid top. They move through the floor as it cures and can with a paintbrush or roller to create effects such as swirls, ripples, craters, or waves. When the Epoxy hardens, these powders are in place, resulting in a beautiful, nice look.

Our Pros & Cons of Hardwood is special due to the nature of the powder holding. Skill and mind are critical to achieving the appearance and feel of the surface.

Epoxy design

The Pros & Cons of Hardwood include two key, this is a clear base and powder. They mix to form a blend, producing a glossy, nice look effect after complete.

Pour over the Advantages & Disadvantages of Hardwood, or solid top. They move through the floor as it cures and can with a paintbrush or roller to create effects such as swirls, ripples, craters, or waves. When the Bathroom hardens, these powders are in place, resulting in a beautiful, nice look.

Each Pros & Cons of Hardwood is special due to the nature of the powder holding. Skill and mind are critical to achieving the appearance and feel of the surface.

Metallic Epoxy Bathroom include two key, this is a clear base and powder. They mix to form a blend, producing a glossy, nice look effect after complete.

The bathroom design ideas, or solid top. They move through the floor as it cures and can with a paintbrush or roller to create effects such as swirls, ripples, craters, or waves. When the Epoxy hardens, these powders are in place, resulting in a beautiful, nice look.

Our Pros & Cons of Hardwood is special due to the nature of the powder holding. Skill and mind are critical to achieving the appearance and feel of the surface.

Interior

The Pros & Cons of Hardwood include two key, this is a clear base and powder. They mix to form a blend, producing a glossy, nice look effect after complete.

Pour over the Advantages & Disadvantages of Hardwood, or solid top. They move through the floor as it cures and can with a paintbrush or roller to create effects such as swirls, ripples, craters, or waves. When the Bathroom hardens, these powders are in place, resulting in a beautiful, nice look.

Each Pros & Cons of Hardwood is special due to the nature of the powder holding. Skill and mind are critical to achieving the appearance and feel of the surface.

Metallic Epoxy Bathroom include two key, this is a clear base and powder. They mix to form a blend, producing a glossy, nice look effect after complete.

The bathroom design ideas, or solid top. They move through the floor as it cures and can with a paintbrush or roller to create effects such as swirls, ripples, craters, or waves. When the Epoxy hardens, these powders are in place, resulting in a beautiful, nice look.

Our Pros & Cons of Hardwood is special due to the nature of the powder holding. Skill and mind are critical to achieving the appearance and feel of the surface.

Epoxy design

The Pros & Cons of Hardwood include two key, this is a clear base and powder. They mix to form a blend, producing a glossy, nice look effect after complete.

Pour over the Advantages & Disadvantages of Hardwood, or solid top. They move through the floor as it cures and can with a paintbrush or roller to create effects such as swirls, ripples, craters, or waves. When the Bathroom hardens, these powders are in place, resulting in a beautiful, nice look.

Each Pros & Cons of Hardwood is special due to the nature of the powder holding. Skill and mind are critical to achieving the appearance and feel of the surface.

Metallic Epoxy Bathroom include two key, this is a clear base and powder. They mix to form a blend, producing a glossy, nice look effect after complete.

The bathroom design ideas, or solid top. They move through the floor as it cures and can with a paintbrush or roller to create effects such as swirls, ripples, craters, or waves. When the Epoxy hardens, these powders are in place, resulting in a beautiful, nice look.

Our Pros & Cons of Hardwood is special due to the nature of the powder holding. Skill and mind are critical to achieving the appearance and feel of the surface.

Interior

The Pros & Cons of Hardwood include two key, this is a clear base and powder. They mix to form a blend, producing a glossy, nice look effect after complete.

Pour over the Advantages & Disadvantages of Hardwood, or solid top. They move through the floor as it cures and can with a paintbrush or roller to create effects such as swirls, ripples, craters, or waves. When the Bathroom hardens, these powders are in place, resulting in a beautiful, nice look.

Each Pros & Cons of Hardwood is special due to the nature of the powder holding. Skill and mind are critical to achieving the appearance and feel of the surface.

Metallic Epoxy Bathroom include two key, this is a clear base and powder. They mix to form a blend, producing a glossy, nice look effect after complete.

The bathroom design ideas, or solid top. They move through the floor as it cures and can with a paintbrush or roller to create effects such as swirls, ripples, craters, or waves. When the Epoxy hardens, these powders are in place, resulting in a beautiful, nice look.

Our Pros & Cons of Hardwood is special due to the nature of the powder holding. Skill and mind are critical to achieving the appearance and feel of the surface.

Is Wood The Right Material For Your Home? | Pros & Cons of Hardwood

For a more detailed understanding of how we judge the materials based on the different scales. Head over to “The Best Interior Surfacing Materials For Your Home: A Prelude | Blog Post #9“.

How will hardwood fare against other classic and modern interior surfacing materials? Not forgetting it has been used for millennia in human construction from the ships of the Trojan War to the Torii gates of feudal Japan.

greek warship troy
The warships of Ancient Troy during the Trojan War ©flickriver
Torii Gates Japan
The famous Torii Gates from Feudal Japan are still standing, are a popular tourist spot. ©shutterstock

Introduction | Pros & Cons of Hardwood

While it has many natural weaknesses. When used in tandem with special chemicals and treatments, its shortcomings can become strengths.

Just like marble in our previous post, hardwood is a catchall term for a large collection of similar materials with varying properties. Hardwood consists of wood from trees favoured for its colour and texture, or resistance to elemental damage.

Some of the most common hardwood trees include oak (both red and white), mahogany, and maple.

oak wood floor living room
A lovely dark brown oak wood flooring for this living room theme ©ambiencehardwoodflooring
maple wood floor kitchen
A lighter maple wood floor for the kitchen creates a bright and cosy environment for this kitchen ©lumberliquidators
red mahogany wood floor
Dark, red mahogany wood floor makes a more serious and classy feel for this space. ©theflooringfactory

Top 3 Species of Wood | Pros & Cons of Hardwood

Oak is the most common wood used for flooring in North America, due to its abundance and affordability.

Mahogany is a more premium option, considered by many to be the Ferrari of hardwood interiors.

Maple is a balance between the former two, cost-wise. It is also considered one of the toughest hardwoods for interior surfaces, often being used in places like bowling alleys.

bowling alley strike
Maple wood, known for its durability, can be found in bowling alleys, where constant abuse occur on a daily basis ©gify

We will be exploring the ways hardwood is treated for function as an interior surface while preserving its beauty. Not forgetting how well it holds up to the rigours of everyday life.

Durability | Pros & Cons of Hardwood

This section describes how well wood stands up to abuse in a house over the course of its entire lifespan.

From the mundane, like falling objects and age-related discolourations, to more like mould and bacteria growth. The evaluation in each category applies to hardwood as a material in general.

They will be concluded to different variations of hardwood flooring, such as parquet flooring.

Scratch Hardness: 5.5/10

Scratch hardness describes how easily a material gets scratched.

While many common materials such as glass and steel can be measured on the Mohs scale. Wood is an organic material with different grains and texture instead of a uniform surface throughout.

Thus, the Mohs scale isn’t as meaningful here, when referencing wood itself.

scratches on hardwood floor
Scratches on your hardwood floor are extremely hard to get rid of, and may just leave an opening for mould and bacteria to grow ©realtor

Wood is never used in its raw form for interior surfacing | Pros & Cons of Hardwood

It is usually coated with shellac or other varnishes. On occasions, it is also finished with a polyurethane topcoat similar to that used in epoxy finishes.

For a fair comparison, we will go with the toughest coating commonly used. Polyurethane, which can have a hardness of around 5.5 on the Mohs scale. This is in contrast to epoxy finishing, where the polyurethane topcoat has additional gritty material added for a hardness of up to 7.5.

Hardwood, on the other hand, demands a clearer coating that shows off its texture and patterns at the cost of scratch hardness.

man applying topcoat on hardwood floor
Yeap, thats right. Even hardwood flooring requires a type of topcoat or sealant to protect them from wear and tear.

Indentation Hardness: 6.5/10

Indentation hardness describes how easily a material gets dented by an impact or prolonged force. Examples include falling bowling balls or stationary stone shelves.

Wood has a special scale of its own, the Janka scale. The Janka scale measures the force (in Newtons) required to embed a .444-inch diameter (11.28 millimetres) steel ball halfway into a sample of the wood specimen.

Janka Scale Scenario | Pros & Cons of Hardwood

As an example, the most common hardwood, oak, can take around 5000 Newtons of force. This translates to just over 500kg of mass.

Taking this as an example, it takes 500kg of bookshelf pressing down on the surface area of a .444-inch diameter steel ball to press into the wood. Objectively, that is quite a bit of hardness!

cat knock over tv on man face
Accidents may happen at anytime at home. Dropping or knocking over something on to your wooden floor may leave a mark.

Disclaimer on Janka Scale

However, in the real world. Furniture often stands in the same spot for months or years. Pressing into the wood with much less weight but over a far longer period than demonstrated in the Janka test.

So a 100kg bookshelf would eventually achieve, over a few years, what a 500kg bookshelf could in hours or days on an oak floor. As such, we caution readers to take the Janka scale with a pinch of salt.

Using the Janka scale as a relative comparison between hardwoods is more meaningful than comparisons with other materials like stones or synthetics.

Hardest Type of Wood used in Interiors | Pros & Cons of Hardwood

Mahogany, the premium wood, rates a whopping 17 000 Newtons, while maple is a respectable 6400 Newtons.

All that being said, we conclude that hardwood, at its hardest, has a relatively robust indentation hardness. This is depended on your price points.

hydraulic press on wood planks
Wood can take a fair amount of beating, but years of wear and tear, and pressure can cause some catastrophic results! ©hydraulicpresschannel

Ageing: 4/10

Wood is a natural product and changes over time as it is exposed to light. Some homeowners appreciate the (ironically) ‘live’ nature of wood. While it matures with the occupants of a household, it can sometimes be an incredibly vexing issue.

Hardwood Ageing Scenario | Pros & Cons of Hardwood

For instance, a sofa arranged in the middle of your living room for many years. When removed, it will reveal a sofa-shaped patch of hardwood flooring many shades lighter than its surrounding.

Since the sofa shaded the floor beneath it, the surrounding hardwood darkened much more. Leaving this bizarre and unsightly crime scene chalk outline of your sofa.

Thus, great foresight and planning is required when you plan your interior layout over a hardwood floor.

old aged wood floor
Some people love the old, well-aged wood flooring feel, but not the actual thing. ©ozburn-hesseycompany
discolouration in damaged wood floor
Discolouration can occur, due to furniture places at certain areas or prolonged exposure to sunlight. ©germantownwoodflooring

Hardwood Maintenance | Pros & Cons of Hardwood

Furthermore, the coatings on most hardwood floors are not especially thick. Even polyurethane coatings will require a re-coat every year or two as scratches add up. This adds to maintenance costs and downtime.

While waxing hardwood floors regularly helps increase the time between re-coats, the cost is an inevitability.

Cheaping out on a such essential maintenance will spell drastic consequences for your hardwood. This is a concern especially if the coating wears clean through in certain spots and the hardwood is exposed to moisture.

Hygiene | Pros & Cons of Hardwood

Porosity: 9/10 (Coated), 1/10 (Uncoated)
Hardwood is a relatively high-maintenance material. With a polyurethane coating, it is entirely non-porous and shares the wonderful properties of an epoxy finish.

No dirt or organic waste is trapped in pores, and no bacteria or mould can take hold. We’re giving it a 9 here, because a perfect 10 should have an ultra-hydrophobic, self-cleaning wonder material of some sort.

However, falter even slightly in your re-coating duties. The hardwood will see that you pay the price in blood. Being natural and all, wood is a wildly porous material that is happy to embrace mould and bacteria in a “James-Cameron-Avatar-esque” harmony, much to your chagrin.

Pros & Cons of Hardwood
Wooden floors look beautiful and rustic, but once neglected, it is prone to mould, fungus and bacteria growth. ©hermeymonica
Pros & Cons of Hardwood
A close up on green-white mould on a wooden window frame. ©stackexchange

Corrosion Resistance: 9/10 (Coated), 1/10 (Uncoated)

Again, a polyurethane coating is a miracle for interior surfaces. Much like epoxy finishing. Coated hardwood will stand up to a large variety of household chemicals and moisture with no sweat.

But fail just once… You get the idea. Wood, being a natural material, does not play well with moisture and corrosive cleaning chemicals. An example is just like your skin against bleach.

Water stains on wood flooring
If water can stain your wooden floors, don't you wonder what will happen if you use heavy duty cleaners or chemicals on it?

Aesthetics | Pros & Cons of Hardwood

This section is all about the looks, feels, and sound of hardwood. Since these properties are perceived so subjectively, this section will omit any scoring.

It’s entirely up to you, as a homeowner, to decide if the following details persuade or dissuade.

In the Eye of the Beholder 

Hardwood is an incredibly varied and lovely material. Often cherished for unique grain and texture across different species of wood. Staining a wood prior to using it further changes its colours to better suit your ideal theme.

Overall, wood comes in too many variations, subtle and dramatic, to call it any one thing. Except incredible, that is.

Temperature-wise, hardwood is a wonderful medium. It is neither too cold nor too warm. However, thicker coatings can present a startlingly chilly surface in the mornings.

Pros & Cons of Hardwood
Hickory hardwood flooring interior design ©customhomeinteriors
Pros & Cons of Hardwood
Walnut hardwood flooring interior design ©customhomeinteriors
Pros & Cons of Hardwood
Maple hardwood flooring interior design ©customhomeinteriors

Noise Concern 

One common complaint across hardwood flooring is its general noise level. The floor doesn’t emit ghostly moans mourning the loss of forestry. However, falling objects and heavy-footed people can produce clicking and slapping noises that reverberate throughout the house.

Not ideal if you’ve a sleeping toddler or a grumpy spouse.

The Big Question | Pros & Cons of Hardwood

So, is wood right for you? The characteristic look and feel of wood is truly unique to the material. Half-hearted attempts to replicate it with vinyl prints often fall tragically short.

However, the vigilance required in keeping up with maintenance is often off-putting to many homeowners. Any missed coating appointments will shortly be replaced by floor repair appointments.

Conclusion 

If you really see yourself comfortably keeping up with the demanding maintenance schedule and cost of hardwood. We believe that it is a premium material with a wonderful look that will make any home feel classy and comfortable.

Yet, beauty exists in many other forms as well. The natural beauty of rainforests, which are often cut down and replaced by teak plantations, are diminishing every year.

In the instance where you would like to preserve this beauty. Help us save such ecosystems by only choosing wood from certified and sustainable sources that give back to these communities. Alternatively, you may wish to explore Metallic Epoxy Interiors.

Pros & Cons of Hardwood
Light Brown Wood Design
Pros & Cons of Hardwood
Textured Brown Wood Design
Pros & Cons of Hardwood
Silver Wood Design

Alternative Solution

Metallic Epoxy have absolutely none of the shortfalls of hardwood maintenance. It also allows you to further choose from an incredible array of customisable designs that give your home a unique look.

With safe manufacturing processes and no direct destruction of the environment. Metallic Epoxy is an eco-friendly option to hardwood. If you’d like to find out more about the material, visit our blog post HERE

Else, you can learn more about the benefits of Metallic Epoxy HERE

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3) Pros & Cons of Vinyl – Click Here

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