Wide Plank Flooring

Welcome to our site. Here you will find information on wood flooring and accessories. 

Why Wide?

So you have a home to finish, and it needs floors. So many choices, and only one floor – what to do?

If you decide on hardwood flooring, you’ve won the battle but the war ensues. There are so many choices of wood, hardness, grains, color, and popularity. Then, when you’ve decided all that, you need to decide whether your home needs a wide plank wood, or strip wood flooring.

There are distinct benefits to wide plank flooring. The great widths of each hardwood piece minimize the number of ridges needed to create the floor. This creates a very uniform and natural “one-piece” type of flooring, and is more highly valued than regular planks. In order to qualify as wide plank flooring, the width of each plank must be at least 3 inches but to truly be considered wide plank flooring, the floor boards will be anywhere from five to twenty inches in width. It’s only at these widths that the true beauty of wide plank flooring become notable. The length of each piece, however, varies by company; a general rule to follow is that the higher the quality of the manufacturer, the longer each plank will measure, often exceeding eight to sixteen feet in length. You can then imagine why you will need much fewer planks to provide a beautiful floor for your home compared to strip wood flooring options.

Once you have decided on wide plank flooring, you have to pick the actual wood itself. Placing different woods in different parts of the house is possible and often done. For higher traffic areas, harder woods such as cherry may be the best option for wide plank flooring. For low-traffic areas such as guest bedrooms, softer but perhaps more attractive in look or texture woods like pine may be ideal for your wide plank flooring. If you have a color that your heart is set on, then your wood options are more limited as certain woods stain best to certain colors and depths.

Adding wide plank flooring will greatly enhance the beauty of your home, but will also add value to your home as this type of flooring is very prized by homeowners. It creates a natural and rustic look in your home that quietly states, “I have been here all along” while providing endless charm to a home. Especially if you prefer French country décor, there is no replacement for wide plank flooring. Many homes into the barn décor or period design will also only use wide plank flooring.

The main benefit to wide plank flooring in your home, in lieu of regular strip flooring, is quite honestly, only the look and feel it extends to your home. Especially for the newer tract homes where each home looks identical to the one next to it, wide plank flooring extends an old-world charm to your identical home, making it distinct from any others. There are other considerations when choosing wide plank flooring. These planks will expand and contract more than strip flooring, and swelling or bowing can happen. When it shrinks too much, it can create gaps in between each wide plank. Choosing a more stable wood will successfully prevent these mishaps that can happen with natural wood. When it comes to wide plank flooring, teak is the most stable, followed by pine, walnut, cherry and maple. The least stable of all available woods is birch wide plank flooring.

Cost is always more for wide plank flooring. That said; keep in mind you need less to cover more square footage. For example, a 3” strip floor of oak will cost approximately $8.50. A 12” wide plank of the same wood will cost $14.50, which is considerably more, but is also covers four times as much floor space. In the long run, if you search for deals, using wide plank flooring may actually cost you less while providing you with uniformity, appeal, and character.