When you start considering installing hardwood floors in your home, you immediately realize there’s a problem: There are too many hardwood flooring brands from which to choose. The number of available brands and species is staggering. Thankfully, there are a few brands that stand out from the rest, as there are some helpful tips for purchasing hardwood flooring that goes beyond brand names.
For further research on hardwood flooring brands and species, click here NOW!
The choice of quality hardwood flooring relies not just on brands, but also on characteristics of specific species, durability, the type of finish used on the planks, and a variety of other factors. Unlike many other products available, brand is only one part of the hardwood flooring equation. It is, however, an important part.
How to Choose a Brand of Hardwood Flooring?
For starters, choosing a hardwood flooring company is not much different than choosing any other company for a product. You need to focus on three things: customer service, quality, and reliability. With these three factors in mind, finding a great flooring company is much simpler, even with the many that are on the market.
There are a variety of resources available to help find great hardwood flooring options, as well as certified retailers.
The National Wood Flooring Association provides a great search tool for finding NWFA-certified retailers and professionals. To make sure you are buying the best product for your money, use an NWFA-certified company.
What Makes a Great Hardwood Floor?
There are many factors that go into a great hardwood floor, some of which come down to personal preference. As it goes with most things, one factor for hardwood flooring that many consumers look for is variety. Many of the most reliable brands out there have a huge selection of species, finishes, stains, and durability. The best brands will find a way to offer all of those options to their potential customers.
Another factor many consider when choosing a hardwood flooring brand is price. Many of the biggest brands have the best prices. Most commonly, anything from $3 per square foot to $7 per square foot is a fairly common price. Just remember, if a hardwood type is more expensive, it is probably for a very good reason. Do not assume that you are getting a deal just because the price is cheaper. You simply may be purchasing an inferior product.
Not surprisingly, the best and most reliable brands of hardwood flooring are usually also the best known, and for good reason. If a brand has consistently provided great customer service and a fantastic product, of course they will be well known. Do not shy away from a big brand product simply because it is a big brand. Most of the time, the bigger brands are popular and successful for a reason.
Bruce Hardwood Floors
Bruce Hardwoods is a part of Triangle Pacific, the largest hardwood flooring manufacturer in the world. Bruce consistently produces great hardwood flooring options because it has quality products. Because of the company’s size, it also tends to be one of the less-expensive options. Many consumers have used Bruce Hardwood Floors and have been very happy.
One aspect of Bruce Hardwoods that many customers may not realize is not every product is the best. Because it is such a large company, Bruce Hardwoods provides a wide range of product lines–some incredibly reliable in quality; others not so much. Doing your research about Bruce Hardwoods and the various product lines it offers is essential if you are considering purchasing one of its products.
Regardless, Bruce Hardwood Floors really is a great company and has been a reliable option for hardwood flooring for years. Just remember to do some research and ask your flooring specialist why some of their products are listed at cheaper prices.
You definitely do not want to purchase a low-end, less-durable floor for a high-traffic area of your home.
Mannington Hardwood
Another very reliable brand is Mannington Hardwood. It happens to be one of the more popular options for engineered hardwood floors, which are different from a solid wood plank. Engineered hardwood tends to be incredibly durable and reliable.
Mannington also offers a great selection of species and finished hardwood floors, so there will always be flexibility in its products for consumers. However, compared to other companies, Mannington is a bit more limited in the size of planks offered, as well as the number of stains and finishes. However, it is still one of the most reliable brands on the market.
In addition, Mannington, unlike Bruce Hardwoods, is consistent in the quality of the various product lines that it offers. You probably will not have to do nearly as much research when purchasing a Mannington Hardwood product. That is because the company only specializes in engineered floors. If you are looking for solid wood planks, you need to consider another brand.
Armstrong Hardwood
Armstrong Hardwood is another company in the Triangle Pacific family. Armstrong is also an incredibly reliable, highly used brand among hardwood flooring. Armstrong has a wide range of species, as well as types, of hardwood flooring. From prefinished to solid wood to engineered wood, Armstrong offers consumers one of the widest ranges of options on the market.
In addition, Armstrong also has a few of the most recognized product lines in the industry. Premiere Performance, one of Armstrong’s top products, is incredibly reliable and a fantastic purchase. If you are looking for durability, reliability, and a great price, Armstrong Hardwood is a wonderful choice.
Kahrs Hardwood Flooring
Another top brand in the industry is Kahrs Hardwood Flooring. Kahrs is a Swedish company that offers both and engineered prefinished hardwood floors, but the true draw of Kahrs Flooring is its patented WoodLoc installation system.
Kahrs is the only company with the WoodLoc system, which makes for easy installation that most people can actually complete themselves.
With an easy, do-it-yourself installation system, Kahrs is a wonderful buy. The company also offers a wide range of product types and can be used in a variety of home improvement products. Its best product line is the Original Collection, but it also offers more affordable versions of the most popular products in its Basic Collection. Not only does Kahrs have great selection, but it also has great prices if you are on a budget.
Mohawk Hardwood Flooring
Mohawk Hardwoods has also been around for a very long time and is a trusted and reliable hardwood flooring brand. It offers both prefinished and engineered floors, in addition to a variety of types, species, and finishes. Mohawk also offers a selection of exotic species, which is relatively unique among a bigger brand. Most of the larger brands do not offer a wide range of exotic species.
In addition to species and stains, Mohawk also offers its own easy interlocking installation technique called Click Lock. Similar to Kahrs’ system, Mohawk’s Click Lock does not require any glue for installation, so the average homeowner can easily install a Mohawk hardwood floor. Mohawk is a great brand at a great price.
Award Hardwood Flooring
Award is a smaller hardwood flooring brand, but it has its very unique characteristics and benefits. For starters, it is based in the United States, so you will be purchasing a local product. The company is located out of Wisconsin and has steadily become one of the more popular brands in the country, despite its smaller size.
In addition, Award also offers one of the widest selections of species on the market. Its selection of exotic and domestic species is one of the most varied. Award also offers most of its hardwood floors with an easy, click-locking system that makes them a simple do-it-yourself product. They have increased in popularity recently and probably will continue to do so down the road.
Award also offers one of the most trusted finishes in the industry. The WEARMAX finish is ceramic-based, making it one of the most durable options for finishes available for consumers.
BR-111 Hardwood Flooring
One last reliable brand is a Brazilian company called BR-111. It offers probably the widest range of prefinished exotic species, so it has built a great reputation among consumers looking for a unique hardwood floor.
In addition to exotics, BR-111 also offers engineered hardwood floors. The company also has a simple click-locking installation technique, which also makes the product incredibly easy to install. The wide range of stains and finishes also create a truly unique product line. BR-111 is a great brand if you are looking for a hardwood floor that will make your home one-of-a-kind.
Outside of its wide selection of exotic species, BR-111 is one of the more environmentally friendly hardwood flooring brands.
It has a proven, strong commitment to ethical harvesting of product and has worked diligently to make that a well-known aspect of the brand.
For more information on species, the Junta hardness rating, and exotics, you can use the World Floor Covering Association as a reliable resource. The WFCA can offer detailed information about species, and also provide a great ranking of Junta hardness per species.
Another fantastic resource for brand ratings is the Flooring Professor. Although the rating system is a bit hard to follow, the site does offer a nice list of brands. It is a great starting point, in addition to the information found in this article, to finding a variety of hardwood flooring brands.
Finally, a great resource for locating information about hardwood flooring brands is Consumer Reports. Although not comprehensive, the resource does provide broad, generalized information about some of the more popular hardwood flooring brands on the market.
Buying hardwood floors can be quite challenging, considering the large number of brands available. This is not an exhaustive list of quality brands, but these are the ones that have proven to be consistent and reliable throughout the years.
Always make sure you do some research about the product, regardless of the brand, before you make your purchase. Because wood is an organic material, there are a number of other factors to consider outside of the brand name.
Receive further information about hardwood flooring, brands, and species HERE!
