Best Hardwood Floors

Wood floors come in a variety of styles, grains and colors. The look of your floor will depend a great deal on the species of wood you choose.

The deep, rich, red tones of mahogany made it an immediate hit with both woodworkers and customers when it was first introduced in the time of the Spanish conquistadors. Its beauty, workability and durability have made it a continuing favorite in both furniture and flooring ever since.

There are several different species that are known as mahogany, including trees that grow in the Honduras, South America and Africa. Generally, Caribbean mahogany is considered the highest grade, with a fine grain and excellent durability and strength. It is nearly twice as hard as American oak, and has better stability in flooring, with only marginal changes due to contraction and expansion.

Here are some specifics for Mahogany wood floors:

Color: Mahogany is a deep, rich red that darkens further upon exposure to air. The color may vary from brownish red to purplish brown, with dark grain.

Grain: The grain of mahogany is subtle, very fine and even. In quarter sawn planks, the grain can show a definite striped pattern. One of the most distinctive patterns of grain is found in plain sawn heartwood – a gently arched flame shape that is known as cathedral grain or V-grain.

Properties:

Strength: Mahogany is strong and durable. The close, fine grain lends it a large degree of moisture resistance as well, and it has a natural resistance to rot. It is prized as much for that resistance as it is for its superior workability and beauty.

Flexibility: Mahogany is flexible enough that it is used in making musical instruments. In floors, it has superior stability, with little contraction or expansion due to moisture or weather.

Stain-ability: Mahogany takes stains and finishes well. It polishes to a soft satin luster with little effort.

Hardness: Wood hardness is measured using the Janka scale, a test that measures the force required to embed a steel ball into a sample of the wood. It’s an excellent measure of the durability and ability of wood to withstand everyday wear and tear. It’s also useful in determining how difficult it is to work with. Honduras mahogany measures over 2000 on the Janka scale, making it extremely durable and strong. It machines well, and holds nails well. The ease of working with mahogany was as much a factor in its popularity as its beauty.

The combination of flexibility, resistance to blunt force, color and pattern has made it a prized wood for flooring and furniture. The rich tones and distinctive pattern of the grain is especially beautiful in parquet floors, or when used as an accent to other woods. A mahogany border around a maple floor is a relatively inexpensive way to add a note of elegance to a formal room.

Buying wood flooring online

Online wouldn’t be the first place most people would go to look for wood flooring, but now it’s essential to look online. Why? Simply because online prices are so competitive.

Think about it. An online store doesn’t need to position itself where it attracts local traffic, so it can house itself and store it’s products in low cost locations, thereby keeping costs down. That’s why online stores are so competitive. But make sure you look for a large reputable store.

LumberLiquidators.com is the biggest online flooring store. If you’re looking online for flooring you’ve got to check them out!