Hardwood can adapt to an ever-changing industry. Its natural beauty lends a hand to the latest trends in flooring. Your hardwood floors can be eye-catching or blend in with the rest of your décor. Mercer Carpet One Floor & Home in Westminster, Maryland, has experts on-site to help you choose the perfect hardwood floor for your home. Our flooring professionals are here to help you make the best choice for your home.

Advantages of Hardwood

Installing hardwood in your home brings along many benefits. Hardwood floors often add value to a home and offer a timeless style. Hardwood floors also feature some noise reduction in comparison to stone or tile flooring and are warmer underfoot. Hardwood is a great allergy-friendly option if you are prone to allergies because it does not trap dust or dirt. Hardwood is also long-lasting and can be refinished to stay up to date on the latest flooring trends. You can install hardwood in bedrooms, living rooms, and dens, as well as stairs. Choose from solid hardwood or engineered, depending on the level of foot traffic and which room you plan on installing hardwood in.

Solid vs Engineered Hardwood

When it comes to finding the best hardwood floor for your home, the first place to begin is whether you want engineered or solid planks. While both types of wood look identical from the surface, they are constructed very differently. Visit us at Mercer Carpet One Floor & Home, where we make finding a new hardwood floor easy. Our staff is professionally trained, and we specialize in both design and functional advice on flooring. We’ll help you find and install your perfect floor from beginning to completion.

What is Solid Hardwood?

Solid wood floors have a uniform construction that features a single piece of premium hardwood throughout. That means your floor is solid oak, hickory, maple, birch, mahogany, or so on, all the way through. Since it is usually at least ¾ inch thick, you can refinish solid hardwood planks many times through the decades, or until you reach the tongue on the side of the plank. Refinishing solid wood is important for a few reasons. By refinishing your solid hardwood floor, you can extend the expected life cycle of the floor. Over time, the finish wears off the surface, causing discoloration. Refinishing removes any blemishes, scratches, stains, and dents, and it allows you to change the look of your floors based on current flooring trends. Solid hardwood features characteristics that cannot be replicated and adds value where other flooring options cannot. We recommend installing solid wood in areas that are dry and climate-controlled, such as your bedroom, living room, or even a home office space. Solid wood planks are not recommended below grade, or in high-moisture settings where plumbing problems, unexpected flooding, spills, and humidity can lead to warping.

What is Engineered Hardwood?

Engineered hardwood is constructed by gluing together multiple wood layers. At the surface is a premium hardwood veneer. You can usually refinish engineered planks at least a few times, though this depends on how thick the veneer is. Engineered hardwood is more stable than solid wood because the wood layers are laid cross-directionally and pressed together. This construction causes the wood grains to run in opposite directions and counterbalances the wood’s natural tendency to expand and contract. This means less buckling, cupping, and warping. You can install engineered hardwood on any level of your home, including finished basements, but it is still not recommended for rooms like bathrooms and mudrooms. For these spaces, we recommend our Hydrotek™ waterproof hardwood collection or a waterproof luxury vinyl plank. Both floors provide a beautiful wood floor appearance, with 100% spill and humidity protection.

What is Wide Plank Hardwood?

Hardwood flooring is a popular choice among homeowners because it adds value and style to the home. Just like any flooring, hardwood follows trends, and those trends are time-tested. What once was a popular farmhouse trend has seen a comeback in recent years. With style options available for texture, color, species and finish, virtually any design aesthetic can be achieved — from rustic, country, and traditional to urban or modern. Wide plank hardwood boards start at around 5” wide and can be as big as 8” wide. The planks also tend to be longer which creates a seamless look. Wide and long planks give off a dramatic look. Single-width floors give off a more contemporary look whereas mixing the widths can offer a more rustic feel. Many different benefits come along with installing wide plank hardwood floors in your home. In addition to hardwood adding value to your home, wide plank hardwood offers visual expansion, meaning it can make your space appear bigger than it is. Wide plank flooring is also somewhat easier to install because instead of two or more narrow strips, one plank takes up more space. More coverage means fewer planks meaning faster installation.

Our Hardwood Flooring Selection

Since we're part of Carpet One, we have exclusive brands such as Rustic River, Invincible Hardwood, and Voyager. To get started on choosing the best hardwood flooring for you come to our showroom to talk to our hardwood experts, or start browsing our selection of hardwood flooring online.

Choosing Hardwood   Every room in your home has specific needs, choosing the best hardwood floor for that room can affect how it’ll perform over time in your home and how long it will last.       LEARN MORE