Types and Finishes of Hardwood Flooring

Hardwood flooring has truly lasted the different trends throughout the years. You can use this type of flooring and create looks such as modern, classic, rustic, and many more. Hardwood flooring has always been a classic flooring choice, and the best part about this flooring type is all of the new finishes and types of hardwood in the market.

Hardwood Types: Solid, Engineered, and Cabin Grade

Solid hardwood is exactly what it sounds like, a solid piece of wood that may be stained or left natural. You can check the Janka Rating system to learn more about the different strength levels of solid hardwoods. Engineered hardwood has a layer of real hardwood on top of layers of “cross-laminated timber.”

A good quality cabin grade wood will produce a good-looking floor, but it will be more rustic and have more character than better grades of wood. In other words, it will have more light and dark boards, more mineral streaks, pin holes, and small knots holes. When purchasing cabin grade wood, you will need to purchase 15% extra material than the square footage you are covering.

Hardwood Finishes

All of the three different hardwood types come in a variety of finishes. Hardwood with a traditional finish has a smooth, classic look. Planks with a hand-scraped finish have a hand-hewn finish that gives the product extra texture and character. Hardwood flooring with a distressed finish has more of an aged or vintage look. The products also look a bit more marked up than hand-scraped planks.

Here are some images of the different hardwood finishes:

Hand-Scraped Finish

Traditional Finish

Distressed Finish

Check out all of our hardwood flooring collections.