Are you considering getting a new floor, but you’re unsure which type is best for you? It can be overwhelming to decide between hardwood vs softwood. Each wooden floor offers its distinct benefits, so it’s important to understand the differences between them before making a decision. So, what are the differences, and which is ideal for your home? Let’s explore the differences between softwood and hardwood flooring to determine which type is best for your lifestyle and home!
Understanding Different Types of Floors
Nowadays, homeowners are spoiled for choice. There are so many options when it comes to their floors. However, it’s important to understand that flooring is more than just making your space visually appealing. It’s important to understand the different floor types available as these can impact your lifestyle. So, before deciding in the great debate between softwood vs. hardwood flooring, take a look at what each one is first.
Softwood Floors
There are many styles to choose from, and one of these options would be softwoods, which are not only used for wood floors but can be used for walls too. Pine is usually the primary go-to for softwood, but other species are available such as spruce, cedar, and cypress wood. Softwoods are true to their name; they are soft. While there are different types of softwood, they tend to dent and ding quite quickly, unlike their hardwood counterpart.
Hardwood Floors
Considered one of the more popular wooden flooring choices, thanks to its uniform texture, you can count on these wood floors to offer an attractive and durable space. Thanks to the hardwood trees, this solid wood flooring comes in various colors and wood species; some evergreen trees include hickory, red oak, white oak, redwood, and maple.
You will often find deciduous trees being used to create these hardwoods. Hardwood floors will have close grain and come in various styles. Hardwood floors tend to vary heavily in appearance, meaning homeowners have various options.
Laminate Floors
One of the more popular choices nowadays, you can expect to find laminate. vinyl flooring. This vinyl flooring mimics the appearance of stone, wood, or even tiles. Since it’s fairly inexpensive, easy to install, and easily purchased in-store or online, homeowners tend to flock to it. It’s clear, hard, and can be subjected to high pressure without damage.
Table of Contents
Why Choosing Flooring is Important?
The floors you choose can make or break your living space. Flooring has greater importance in your home than you may expect; it comes down to four points:
- Durability
- Comfort
- Atmosphere
- Maintenance
Simply put, the space will be heavily impacted based on your chosen flooring. The right flooring can improve the room’s functionality, enhance its beauty, and make it more enjoyable to be in the space. It needs to suit the needs of your home, but also the lifestyle of everyone living there.
Advantages of A Softwood Floor
Are there any softwood flooring pros? Absolutely! It’s hard to compete with the rustic look or even the distressed look that softwoods bring to a space, but aesthetics aren’t the only benefits it brings. Here are some of the advantages of softwood flooring.
Cost-effective Option
Every homeowner deserves to have a beautiful home without worrying about the price, so one of the biggest softwood flooring pros would be how budget-friendly it is. It’s far more affordable than hardwood flooring or even vinyl. You can get pine for half the cost of oak costs, perhaps the most ubiquitous hardwood flooring material.
Easy to Install and Maintain
There’s this idea that wood flooring can be too challenging to maintain, but softwood flooring proves it’s further from the truth. Installing softwood flooring is fairly easy; it can be DIYed, so you won’t have to feel worried about hiring a professional. Plus, it can be easy to maintain with a few polyurethane applications.
Sustainable and Eco-Friendly
Softwood flooring may be the right option if you’re looking to create an environmentally friendly home. The types of softwood tend to grow rather quickly, and the farming practices are sustainable too. It’s an abundant resource and requires little energy; plus, there aren’t any emissions. A great example would be fir, from South America; this softwood grow considered a renewable resource, and it’s not cut down illegally either.
Disadvantages of Softwood Flooring
While some fantastic advantages can provide, it’s not entirely perfect. Let’s look at some disadvantages you can expect to encounter if you opt for softwood flooring.
Prone to Scratches and Dents
Softwoods are often more prone to dents and scratches than hardwoods, which makes them less durable. If you want to place the flooring somewhere with high traffic rooms, such as living rooms, dining rooms, or kitchens, then you may want to reevaluate. Softwood floors will need to be re-sealed more often than hardwood flooring due to their lack of durability.
May Not be Suitable for High-Traffic Areas
One of the main disadvantages of softwood flooring is that it isn’t as durable as hardwood. This means it isn’t suitable for high-traffic areas or rooms with heavy furniture. Also, you need to be careful when wearing high heels, and canned goods shouldn’t lay around either. Wear and tear can happen due to how soft the softwoods are.
So it’s ideal to consider a low traffic room as pine and fir trees are too soft for foot traffic. There’s a lack of natural resistance. So, if this is a space where year round there is a lot of movement, then it’s best to reconsider softwoods.
Limited Range of Finishes and Colors
One aspect that makes softwood flooring stand out against hardwood flooring is the finishes. There truly aren’t very many softwood flooring options available. Softwood species are not pre-finished, so you only have three options: oil, varnish, or stain. On top of that, most softwoods are limited in the range of colors you can opt for.
Advantages of Hardwood Flooring
Known for its classic appearance, it’s easy to see why so many choose wood flooring over carpet, tile, or even softwood flooring. But what are the advantages that hardwood flooring offers?
Visually Appealing
Hardwood floors are the way to go if you want to make a lasting impression on your home. They add that touch of warmth and can help create an inviting space that complements the rest of the decor in your home. The visually appealing aspect of hardwood flooring is one of the biggest reasons so many homeowners opt for it. The elegance this flooring evokes cannot be competed with.
Can be Long Lasting
Durability is one of the major reasons why people prefer hardwood flooring over any other floor material. It’s fairly easy to maintain hardwood flooring, so proper measures can be taken if it gets scratched up. This alone allows the surface last for several decades.
Can be Re-Sanded
Hardwood floors can typically be re-sanded six to ten times before needing a replacement. You can count on the floor lasting up to thirty years with proper care; this is much longer than softwood flooring.
Disadvantages of Hardwood Flooring
Hardwoods offer plenty of benefits to it, after all. Even though there are some wonderful advantages to homes having hardwoods, you can count on this popular flooring to have some disadvantages too.
More Expensive than Softwood Flooring
Hardwood is one of the most popular floor covering materials because it can look stunning in any room. While the appreciation may be attractive, the price tag isn’t. Hardwood flooring is often more expensive than softwood flooring; the main reason is due hardwood is denser and more durable than softwood. Another thing that needs to be considered would be the installation cost, too, since a professional needs to step in for this.
May Require Professional Installation
If you love to DIY your home improvement, then you will consider this a con. A professional installation is going to be needed. Hardwood floor installation is labor-intensive; other than that, the installation is more than just laying down pieces of plank. The subfloor needs to be prepared, as improper preparations could create tripping hazards or destroy the flooring. Every step needs to be handled with care, and all the right tools will be needed too.
If you want to go the DIY route, you’ll most likely spend more money on the tools themselves rather than the cost of the professional. Overall, you’ll save money and a lot of hassle, but you cannot neglect the importance of installation.
Susceptible to Water Damage
Softwood species are resistant to moisture, but durable hardwoods are not. You can expect this flooring material to have major damage from built-up moisture, flooding, and water leaks. Even a spill on the floor that’s not cleaned up could put hardwood floors at risk for water damage. Hardwood floors are planks that have real timber; this means that they’re completely real timber.
Due to its porous nature, it will be particularly susceptible to water damage. If small spills or leaks go unresolved, water can penetrate deep into the wood, causing it to stain or become discolored. Plus, it will cause the timber plank to swell up, which is far from ideal for any home.
Softwood Floor or Hardwood Floor: Which is Best for You?
Ultimately, the decision between hardwood and softwood flooring comes down to individual preference. Consider all of the factors listed above before making a decision. Before concluding, you’ll have to consider the longevity, durability, cost, individual needs, and other factors of each type of flooring. With the right information, you can make an informed decision that’s best for your lifestyle and budget.