Why Choose Natural Hardwood Floors?

Previously Published by Tomorrow’s Contract Floors

A new floor gives any space, residential or commercial, a fresh, inviting look. Rooms you avoided before come alive and invite you to spend time in them. That’s especially true of a new hardwood floor, and a solid hardwood floor is a classic look that has stood the test of time.

Advantages of Hardwood Flooring

Many people choose the natural look of a hardwood floor for obvious aesthetic reasons. Hardwood adds elegance, beauty, and warmth to any space, and it can add to the value of a home or business.

Hardwood floors offer plenty of other benefits, too. They’re easy to clean and maintain. Compare their stain resistance to carpeting, for example. A spill on carpet can be a huge headache to clean up, but on a wood floor, you just wipe it up quickly.

Another big advantage of hardwood floors is their longevity and durability. With proper care, a solid hardwood floor can last a lifetime. Even after years of wear, you can sand and refinish it for a look that’s like new. In the long run, that can save you money, since refinishing a hardwood floor costs less than replacing it.

Hardwood floors are also versatile. They look good with almost any interior design, and even if you change the furniture, wall art, or other decor, a hardwood floor still fits.

Disadvantages of Hardwood Flooring

Although hardwood flooring offers many benefits, it has a couple of disadvantages to consider. The first is the cost of materials. Solid hardwood costs considerably more up front than most other types of flooring, such as laminate, vinyl plank, carpet, and sheet vinyl, and that can be a real deterrent.

Over the long term, though, the math can change. A hardwood floor can last many decades and hold its value, and other flooring products, such as carpet, can cost more to maintain. All in all, a hardwood floor can be a smart long-term investment.

The other potential disadvantage of hardwood flooring is its sensitivity to moisture. Wood is hygroscopic, meaning it swells or shrinks with the moisture level of its surroundings. Wood isn’t a great choice for a room with wide swings in relative humidity or where water is often present, such as a bathroom. There, you’ll likely want tile, vinyl, or another water-resistant product.

Types of Natural Hardwood Flooring

One especially appealing aspect of hardwood flooring is the range of choices. Most people choose one of about five types of hardwood for their floors, but the number of species you could choose from runs into the hundreds.

The five most popular choices

Oak

Oak, whether red or white oak, is by far the most common hardwood for wood floors. Because oak grows in abundance and is widely available as flooring, it’s generally the most affordable hardwood. Like most other hardwoods, oak is durable and stands up well to foot traffic, making it a great choice for almost any flooring application.

Maple

Maple is another common hardwood floor. Several species of maple are used for flooring, and they vary quite a bit in price, quality, hardness, and grain pattern. Some have a prominent swirling grain, while others have a more uniform look and color.

Hickory

Hickory is also a popular choice for hardwood floors. Its knots and color variation make it an interesting, attractive choice for almost any interior. Hickory often costs more than oak, but it’s also harder, so it resists dents and scratches well.

American cherry

American cherry is another popular hardwood, though it’s used less often than oak, maple, or hickory. Expect it to cost more. It’s also softer than many other hardwoods, so it’s more susceptible to dents and scratches. The attraction of cherry is its beautiful, deep reddish-brown color and distinctive grain.

Walnut

Walnut is another favorite for hardwood floors. Like cherry, it tends to cost more. American black walnut is relatively soft. Don’t confuse it with “Brazilian walnut,” a trade name for ipe, which isn’t a true walnut and is extremely hard. Walnut’s color and grain can vary widely.

Although these five are among the most popular, there are many other excellent choices, such as ash, mahogany, or bamboo (which is actually a dense, fast-growing grass, not a hardwood). You’ll pay a premium for some exotic species, such as teak or jarrah.

Read our article about the top flooring choices for your home or business.

How to Address the Moisture Factor

As mentioned, excess moisture can damage any wood or wood flooring product. Proper care and maintenance, such as cleaning up spills and quickly dealing with problems like flooding, help your hardwood floor last.

It’s also crucial to pay attention to moisture before, during, and after installation. Make sure the hardwood flooring is delivered in advance and given time to properly acclimate to the space where it will be installed.

A non-invasive, pinless moisture meter is a fast way to check the moisture content of the wood. Compare the meter’s readings to the equilibrium moisture content (EMC), the moisture content the wood will reach once it’s fully acclimated to its surroundings.

EMC is easy to calculate from the ambient relative humidity and temperature. Some handheld meters, such as the Orion^® 950 by Wagner Meters, calculate EMC for you. The flooring is ready to install when its MC is close to the EMC for the space. With a wood subfloor, National Wood Flooring Association guidelines also call for the flooring to be within 4 percentage points of the subfloor’s MC for strip flooring (under 3 inches wide), or within 2 points for plank flooring (3 inches or wider).

If hardwood flooring will be installed over a concrete subfloor, it’s also vital to check the concrete’s moisture condition. Never assume that a slab that seems dry at the surface is dry enough for your wood floor.

Water is an essential component of concrete, so a substantial amount of moisture may be hiding below the surface. That hidden moisture can cause all sorts of problems for a hardwood floor, including warping, buckling, crowning, cupping, staining, and mold or mildew.

The best way to prevent these problems is to check the concrete’s moisture condition with in-situ relative humidity (RH) testing, using a system such as the easy-to-use Rapid RH^® L6. RH test results give an accurate, reliable indication of when the concrete is dry enough for the hardwood floor.

Hardwood: A Great Choice for Any Home or Business

By taking these moisture precautions, you can enjoy the beauty, elegance, and durability of your hardwood floor for many years. If you’re looking to spruce up your home or business with a new floor, it’s hard to go wrong with the natural look of hardwood.

Shop Orion Moisture Meters

Last updated on October 13th, 2026