You Talked, We Listened! The 5 Most Popular Hardwood Flooring Varieties [Summer 2012]

We get a lot of calls and emails asking us what we think are the best styles of hardwood flooring. While we're always very flattered, we know that sometimes our opinions aren't the opinions of everyone on the market for new hardwood floors. That's why we've put together this brief list of the top five flooring varieties most talked about over the past three months. We gathered data from our website, phone call and email inquiries, and Google search volume trends to develop this list, and we hope it helps you in your search for new hardwood flooring material. Enjoy!

1. Engineered Hardwood Flooring
Many people call us wanting information on just what engineered flooring really is. Well, here you go! Engineered hardwood floors are made of multiple ply layers or various materials that have been cross-layered, glued, and pressed together. Engineered flooring is often preferred over solid wood flooring because they are more resistant to moisture and less likely to buckle or warp. Engineered flooring is available in almost any hardwood species and is often much easier to install than traditional solid floors.

2. Laminate Flooring
Because of its low price point and excellent durability, laminate flooring has become one of the hottest trends in residential flooring. Most laminate products these days do a great job of mimicking real wood floors, providing a touch of natural beauty to homes on a budget. Laminate is also lighter and easier to install than solid hardwood, making it a perfect choice for second story applications.

3. Oak Hardwood Flooring
Oak hardwood has been a tried-and-true flooring choice for generations, and for good reason. It is attractive, versatile, durable, and less expensive than most exotic hardwood species. Fantastic Floor carries many different varieties of both red and white oak flooring, all at reasonable prices.

4. Tigerwood Hardwood Flooring
The dynamic and exciting look of Tigerwood hardwood has caused it to rocket in popularity among homeowners looking for a unique and stylish flooring material. Its rich colors and distinctive striping add a bold accent to any room. It is also an incredibly durable hardwood species, meaning one flooring application can last for decades.

5. Brazilian Cherry Hardwood Flooring Brazilian Cherry is back, baby! Also known as Jatoba, this hardwood species saw a surge in popularity a few years ago but sank back into relative obscurity when the country took an economic turn for the worse. Now that the economy is on the mend, this beautiful hardwood species is back in the spotlight. Brazilian Cherry hardwood flooring features stunning reds and browns and dark black striping. It is also one of the most durable flooring options you can find, with a Janka hardness rating nearly twice that of most common domestics.

Questions about any of these flooring varieties? Contact Fantastic Floor today at 888.448.9663.

What are your favorite hardwood flooring varieties? Leave us a comment and let us know!

Fantastic Floor's Top 5 Luxury Laminates

More and more homeowners are choosing laminate flooring over traditional hardwood flooring, and for a lot of good reason. High-quality laminate flooring is attractive, durable, and costs a lot less than solid hardwood. Here at Fantastic Floor, we offer a large selection of beautiful laminate flooring products. But which are our favorites? Glad you asked! The following are five of our top luxury laminate flooring products. Enjoy!

Bamboo
Our horizontal bamboo laminate is a great option for homeowners looking for a sleek, modern flooring material with an excellent price point. The light brown tones and tight grain of bamboo laminate complement many different modern design schemes, while the material's durability is hard to beat.

Classic Maple
While the bright yellow-white tones of our Classic Maple laminate flooring brings out the charm of any room of the house, it works especially well in the kitchen, bathroom, or any room that requires a lot of natural light. Additionally, our Classic Maple laminate flooring has a Janka hardness rating of 2,000 lbs., making it one of the most durable non-hardwood flooring materials available.

Red Oak
Our Red Oak laminate flooring is a modern take on a traditional hardwood flooring option. For years, Red Oak has been the go-to hardwood species for American homeowners. Today, the amazing price point of laminate Red Oak flooring is allowing homeowners on a budget to get the same great look at a much smaller price.

Vintage Cherry
Vintage Cherry is one of the more exotic laminate flooring options we offer. With its dark striping, irregular grain pattern, and varying tones, Vintage Cherry is perfect for homeowners looking to add a dramatic and eye-catching element to their room decor.

Espresso Walnut
Dark and sultry, our Espresso Walnut laminate flooring adds an air of sophistication to any dining room, living room, library, or study. Its deep browns and wavy grain pattern are a great way to make a bold design statement without breaking the bank.

Questions? Call one of our knowledgeable flooring reps today to discuss the many ways laminate flooring can help you get the look and feel of traditional hardwood flooring while still staying within your budget.

This Just In: Laminate Flooring!

As you probably have noticed, Fantastic Floor is constantly getting beautiful new hardwood flooring varieties added to our product line. Just recently we've added new varieties of Maple, Walnut, Acacia, and Tiete Rosewood, among others. Well, this month we received another exciting line of flooring materials. Not quite hardwood, per se, but still a very high quality product: laminate flooring!

What is Laminate Flooring?
Laminate flooring is a multi-layered synthetic flooring material that is bound together through a lamination process, hence the name. The inner layer is usually made of a resin and fiberboard blend and the top layer is usually a high-definition photo of a specific hardwood species. High quality laminate flooring tends to have a very dense inner core, which makes the flooring more resistant to water damage and quieter to walk on. Low quality products have very light, loose inner cores, leaving them susceptible to warping, buckling, and other common flooring problems.

The Benefits of Laminate Flooring
Laminate flooring may not be the fanciest flooring material you can find, but it does have many important benefits. There are three main reasons people choose laminate flooring over traditional hardwood: cost, ease of installation, and durability:

• Cost
  Laminate flooring is almost always less expensive than hardwood flooring. This allows home owners to install laminate in more rooms for a lower price than hardwood.
• Ease of Installation
  Laminate is the DIY homeowner's dream-come-true. Most varieties are very simple to install, with many manufacturers featuring glueless, tongue-in-groove boards that can be quickly and easily installed by DIYers and flooring professionals alike.
• Durability
  While not quite as resilient as solid hardwood flooring, laminate flooring can still take quite a bit of wear-and-tear before it needs to be replaced. Most residential laminate flooring is many times harder than traditional hardwood and has a high UV resistance, making it more resistant to fading and other sun-damage.

Laminate Flooring Products Offered at Fantastic Floor
Fantastic Floor is proud to now carry Luxury Laminate flooring products from the Garrison Collection. The Luxury Laminate collection comes in a variety of styles, including Red Oak, Vintage Cherry, Rich Walnut, Classic Maple, and many more. View our Luxury Laminate flooring page to see all of the beautiful new laminate flooring products we carry.

Want to learn more about laminate flooring? Contact Fantastic Floor today to talk with one of our experienced sales representatives. We look forward to hearing from you!