If your hardwood flooring is looking rough and worn, you may have considered sanding down and refinishing your floors. While refinishing floors is often the preferable choice for cost purposes, there are some instances where refinishing just won’t cut it. Below we will take a look at common flooring problems that will require you to replace your floors as opposed to refinishing them.
Structural Damage
Although a home’s structural damage doesn’t always directly impact your flooring, the process of repairing the structure will! If you’re having foundation or any sort of structural damage that could endanger your home and family, you will want to get it looked at immediately. Unfortunately, many times the only way to check for structural damage is by ripping out part of the floors and looking beneath them for the cause of the structural issues.
When this happens, there is often too much damage to patch the floor planks and refinish them. In this case it’s best to just move forward with replacing the floors. As frustrating as this can be, it does give you the opportunity to update the look of your home with your favorite style of hardwood flooring.
Movement & Gapping
Oftentimes with older homes you can find significant gapping in between floor planks. This happens as wood shrinks, expands and shrinks again from changes in the weather and environment. If you try to refinish flooring is this state, you will be wasting time and money because refinishing will simply cause further damage and gapping to occur.
If you’re noticing this in your home, you will want to replace your floors with new hardwood flooring of your choice. This will ensure you have quality flooring that will last the lifetime of your home.
Aesthetic Changes
When it comes to updating the look of your home and flooring there is only so much you can do when refinishing. One of the best examples of this is the width of the hardwood planks. Older homes have very thin planks, whereas newer homes typically have thick planks. If you’re looking to update your home to make it look more modern, replacing your floors with different, thicker planks will give you the contemporary look you’re looking for.
If you’re looking to make a significant aesthetic change, you can also take a look at the man-made hardwood type floors that continue to come to market. Not only are these manufactured wood floors more affordable, but they also are available in a wide variety of shades and textures to complement any style you’re hoping to achieve.
One thing to note when replacing hardwood flooring is it’s not always essential to replace your entire home. This can keep your floor replacement costs down and allow you to focus on the areas that need the most help. You will then be able to mix and match flooring types and ensure optimal functionality for each room. If you’re ready to replace the flooring of a single room or an entire house, give our experts a call today for a complimentary consultation!