If you want to add a feeling of warmth and character to your home, you could consider hardwood floorboards. Here are some considerations to bear in mind.

Species

Floorboards use different tree species, such as jarrah, blackbutt, and Tasmanian oak. Which one you opt for will depend in part on the look you're trying to achieve. If you want creamy flooring to give a room a casual or beachy vibe, you could choose oak. For a sophisticated and elegant look, you could instead use jarrah, which comes in deep, rich red hues.

Hardness

Flooring takes a lot of punishment with people walking on it all day and furniture being settled on top. So you need to think about how hard the floor is and how well it will withstand dents and scratches. Timber is rated according to hardness on the Janka scale. A higher number indicates a harder wood, which will look newer for longer in your home. The woods are factory tested by pummeling a steel ball against them and measuring the effects.

Appearance

One of the reasons you may be considering timber flooring is because you admire its natural grain patterns. You can choose how characterful you want your boards to be by opting for a specific grade of timber. Select-grade wood is the highest rated, and it has the most uniform appearance, with few interruptions to the linear pattern. Standard boards have some "flaws" and irregularities: they have a less consistent appearance than select timber. Alternatively, you could go for the character-graded wood. This flooring shows knots and imperfections and has a highly characterful look. You may like this floor because it displays natural quirks.

Board Width

The board width you opt for will have an impact on the aesthetic of the floor. Wider boards can have a casual and free-flowing feel, while narrow boards can look more classic. For a rustic aesthetic, you could mix up the board widths. The direction in which you lay the flooring will also influence its appearance. Instead of laying the boards horizontally or vertically, you could lay them diagonally, which will evoke a less classic look.

The directional emphasis can also visually affect the room's proportions. Laying the boards parallel to the shorter walls in a rectangular room can give the impression that it's wider. On the other hand, laying the boards parallel to the long walls can give the impression of spaciousness and continuity. You might want to lay the floorboards in a direction to draw attention to a focal point, such as an impressive view.

Contact a supplier for more information about timber flooring.