Hardwood flooring is very popular because of the beauty, easy care and health benefits. There are many kinds of wood flooring you can choose from to fit your needs. You can change the look of the wood to fit any style with your choice of stain and finish. Knowing some facts about wood flooring can help you find what you're looking for.

Solid hardwood flooring has no added material and comes unfinished or prefinished. Engineered hardwood floors are made of plywood covered with hardwood. Because of the way each ply runs, engineered wood flooring works well in basements, bathrooms, and any room that has moisture. Laminated flooring is made of resin-infused paper on a layer of wood chips. It looks like wood, installs easily, and resists scratches, but it's slippery and hard to walk on.

Hardwood flooring is easy to take care of. You just have to sweep or vacuum and mop with a wood floor cleaner. Hardwood floors last a long time and increase your home's value. Choosing hardwood flooring is made easier by the Janka Rating system, which measures the hardness of the wood, and the grading system created by the Wood Flooring Manufacturer's Association that describes what the wood looks like.

You can choose among many styles of hardwood flooring. Unfinished, factory finished, plank, strip, parquet, solid and engineered flooring can give you different looks and fill different needs. You can choose from many colors of hardwood flooring and change the look with the stain, finish, and the cut of the wood. According to the National Wood Flooring Association, wood flooring can be plainsawn by cutting so grain patterns are more obvious, quartersawn for more even wear, or riftsawn, which is like quartersawing, but at a different angle.