Are you thinking about laying down new flooring in your home? What are the options you are considering – carpet, tile, vinyl, laminate, hardwood? Before you decide, consider the value that can be found in natural wood plank flooring.
Increase Home Value
Did you know that the type of flooring within a house often makes a huge difference in how a buyer perceives it? This trend begins long before the potential buyer sets foot on the premises. In the initial stages of buying a home, people will research the properties for sale online or in a realtor’s office. This allows them to narrow down choices to those of most interest before going on a tour of available homes. Flooring type is often recorded on these data sheets, along with square footage of the home, asking price, age of the structure, and more. Seeing hardwood listed, as opposed to carpet or vinyl, immediately paints a picture in the buyer’s mind. Much of this has to do with stereotyping, which, in this instance, isn’t such a bad thing. Wood floors make the house sound fancier, better maintained, and full of potential. It has been estimated that the inclusion of hardwood floorings can increase the perceived value of the home, in the buyer’s eyes, by twice the amount paid to have them installed in the home. So, if the price tag on the flooring is $10,000, one might expect that the house’s value would increase by up to $20,000. That is an excellent investment by anyone’s standards.
Longevity Counts
Perhaps the most enticing reason to consider hardwood flooring is the knowledge that it will not have to be replaced. Wood plank flooring is made to last and it does. Proof of this comes from the fact that many historical homes still have the original hardwood in place, which has simply been sanded and resealed, every now and then, over a period of many, many years, so it preserves its original beauty. Carpet certainly cannot compete with that; neither can vinyl, laminate, or even tile options. This type of flooring can cost more than other varieties, but when one considers the vast number of years it will serve the home, it is often well worth that initial investment.
Individuality Matters
If you still aren’t sold, consider the huge potential that comes with the mere decision to consider hardwood. Due to the large variety of different hardwood trees that grow in this country and beyond, the types of wood flooring available today seem endless. And, because no two pieces of wood are ever the same, this type of flooring is always unique. Regardless of the width of the plank, the type of wood, and the color of the stain, new hardwood floors promise to be outstandingly beautiful day in and day out, for many years to come.