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Engineered Flooring

Engineered wood is the overall term used to describe any natural lumber product that has been manufactured by gluing together stands or veneers to create composite materials. Veneer is a composite material that has been layered, and pressboard is one that has been chipped and assembled. Hardwood and softwood scraps and wood waste of lumber mills are reclaimed and used for the purpose of engineered flooring. A less expensive alternative to solid wood, engineered flooring has become the most common type of wood flooring used in the world. The exception to this, at least for now, is North America: it's the only part of the world that still has a larger solid wood market, although this fact is expected to change as engineered wood becomes even more popular. One of the greatest advantages of engineered wood is its competitive pricing at just $4 and $10 a square foot.

HardWood Flooring

Rooms adorned with hardwood floors exude a warmth and style unattainable with tiles or carpeting. As a design element, hardwood floors can convey tradition or modernity, depending on the wood used, the colors chosen, and the size of the planks. Newly available exotic woods from Africa, Asia, and South America can be used for the entire floor or for accents in the form of inlays. As the name suggests, hardwood is a solid lumber that comes from trees such as ash, birch, cherry, maple, and oak. Hardwood is ideal for floors because it resists dents, scratches, and scuffs better than softwood materials. Consumers with the taste and budget for exotic woods may consider teak, mahogany, and tigerwood. Costs vary according to the wood selected, but generally, American lumber is cheaper than exotic wood imported from abroad.

SoftWood Flooring

Many people like the look of softwood flooring that provides a down-home country style to a room. The most common softwoods used in homes are pine, cedar, fir, and beech which can be stained in colors that look like more expensive options. Southern yellow pine and douglas fir are two types of evergreen trees that produce softwood lumber used in making flooring. Soft woods dent and scuff easily so some homeowners who want the look of pine, cedar, fir or beech often install laminate or vinyl plank instead that are made to look like the classic boards but are more durable. Whole wood planks -- as opposed to laminate or vinyl -- should be protected with several coats of vinyl. Home improvement centers sell these products starting at $2.40 a square foot and climbing to over $10 a square foot depending on the quality.