Hickory Flooring Pros and Cons
Hickory is a highly sought after hardwood for home interiors. Hickory flooring is an extremely hard domestic wood with a Janka rating of 1820. This is among both the pros and cons of installing hickory floors in your home. It is prized for strength and beauty, but difficult to work with.
The advantages most assuredly trump the disadvantages, because considering hickory flooring pros and cons, this species remains a top choice for home installation. Sturdiness and durability are great advantages. Although all wood floors may be scratched or dented, hickory is among the more resistant to acquiring these blemishes. Hickory stands up well to ordinary wear and tear.
Hickory's density does make it challenging to install. Solid, unfinished hickory flooring's pros may be exceeded by its cons for anyone other than hardwood flooring professionals. The hardness makes cutting and sanding a bit challenging, and the dense grain further complicates staining and finishing efforts.
Water popping is a necessary step to open the grain to receive stain. Wood conditioner can also help create a more uniform stain. Factory finished hickory flooring is a great option to save time and expense on installation charges. Engineered hickory flooring is a good option for ease of installation, and prefinished engineered is even better still.
Hickory is a beautiful hardwood with a light color. This pale quality is popular to add warmth and light in place of darker hardwood varietals. The light color also shows cutting and sanding marks more visibly than darker hardwoods. As with any flooring option, pros and cons abound. Hickory is popular in wide widths to display the beautiful character of the wood's grain, because narrow widths may sometimes create a busy appearance in the floor patterns.
Hickory floors are incredibly strong, but require careful attention to detail and knowing experience to get the best results. Hickory must be dried properly to avoid warping, which is why Hurst Hardwoods supplies kiln dried wood stock. Hickory has a tendency to swell and contract and should be acclimated in the area it will be installed for a few days before being worked.
Hickory flooring brings an assortment of pros and cons. Purchasing hickory flooring from Hurst Hardwoods for installation by an experienced professional can mitigate many of the cons and create gorgeous floors that will stand up beautifully over time. With proper installation and routine care, hickory floors are a fine choice for generations of use.
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