The very best Hardwood for a Kitchen and a Bathroom
Of all of the kinds of flooring you may choose for your kitchen and bathroom, hardwood is not the very best — but if you are trying to complete a design motif, or you just like hardwood, it is possible to make it work. There is not much in your house environment that damages solid wood flooring as surely as moisture will, and also exposure to moisture is all but guaranteed in both of these rooms. The best workaround is to use engineered hardwoodfloors
Moisture and Hardwood
A humid environment can cause a hardwood floor to curl from the middle or at the edges — conditions known as crowning and cupping, respectively. It happens if the wood absorbs moisture and swells, making the planks which are wedged tightly together push against each other. The boards in moist areas of the room swell and press against those alongside them, therefore it only takes somewhat constant moisture to cause these issues. A newly installed floor having a thick polyurethane layer may not react to humidity, but that doesn’t mean you won’t have problems several years later on, once the finish has worn. Standing water can also damage hardwood — it can seep through the cracks or under the finish and discolor the wood. Each individual climbing out of the bathtub is a potential source of standing water in the restroom.
The Engineered Hardwood Advantage
Unlike solid wood flooring planks, which have the grain running in the exact same direction all the way through, engineered wood planks are laminated in vertical layers, like plywood. This structure gives them enhanced stability and immunity to cupping and crowning, since if the substructure absorbs moisture, the layers go in different directions, and also the movements cancel each other out. Engineered flooring has yet another advantage over solid wood: It is generally less expensive. So if you are on a budget, then you have more choices. Once installed, an engineered hardwood flooring appears exactly like a solid wood one.
Light Colors Are Best
No matter how careful you are about avoiding spills or standing water, hardwood flooring in high traffic areas such as the kitchen and bathroom will definitely withstand some surface damage from water. This damage is less noticeable on light-colored woods than on dark-colored ones. A Brazilian cherry floor might look spectacular on your bathroom or kitchen once it is fresh, but after a couple of years, hard water deposits and other kinds of moisture damage will get noticeable and might expect a refinish. You wo not have the exact same issue with white oak, alder, birch, birch or some other blonde, close-grained species.
Prefinished for Endurance
Another benefit of engineered flooring over solid hardwood is it nearly always comes prefinished, and that’s important once you want to install it into a humidity station. The polyurethane layer on prefinished floors is hardened at high temperatures, and it covers all of surfaces, not just the top. Prefinished flooring planks are generally guaranteed for 20 years or more — check the warranty prior to making a buy — and if the finish wears, you are able to touch it up by scuff-sanding with a floor buffer and employing a refresher coat of polyurethane.