What’s Trending In “Wood” Flooring
Design trends are always shifting and when you’ve been building homes for as long as we have (35 years this year!), it is natural to recognize how different things are today than they were just a few years ago. One of the biggest shifts we’ve seen is the move from solid wood flooring to alternate wood products like engineered, laminate and vinyl “wood” floors.
The Northern Virginia custom home market is definitely late to the party. These products gained popularity on the west coast more than a decade ago, but buyers here were a little more hesitant to make the shift away from solid wood flooring. Most buyers who are insistent on solid wood floors, do so for one primary reason…to have the option to refinish the floors down the road.
It is interesting to me that this is the primary reason buyers think they need solid wood. Especially when you consider the low percentage of homeowners who actually refinish their solid wood floors given the fact that on average, people live in their homes for 13 years. Solid wood flooring definitely has a longer lifespan than 13 years. In fact, refinishing isn’t usually considered until floors are 25+ years old.
Don’t get me wrong, solid wood flooring is gorgeous. And we certainly install a lot of it…
But we are definitely seeing a shift to alternate products. Buyer’s today want a few things from their hardwood flooring…
Wider Planks
Alternate wood products offer buyers a wide variety of board widths. Gone are the days of 2.25″ wood planks. Now we’re seeing 5″, 6″, even 8″ planks, the wider the better!
More Color Choices
Alternate wood products offer a ton of options in colors. Grays & warm tones are really popular right now!
Durability
Alternate wood products, especially laminate and vinyl “wood” products are more durable than solid wood. They are also less likely to scratch and become dull overtime like solid wood will.
Alternate wood products will look good as new for years to come. Kid traffic? Big dogs? These products can withstand quite a bit!
We would love to show you all the great options we offer for wood flooring. Everything you see in this photo is included in our signature features…
How awesome is that!
Dream. Build. Live.