Wood and wood-look materials are an incredibly popular design category for flooring products, as shown through research from Home Innovation Research Labs and the National Wood Flooring Association. However, it's also incredibly broad, with a diversity of choices to make and trends to follow.
Does your project call for solid hardwood, or should you choose another material? How does vinyl or porcelain or pressed bamboo compare to natural wood, as far as performance and aesthetics? Will buyers prefer wide or thin planks, and what colors, stains and species are they looking for? Will they need to perform maintenance? Are the boards or tiles easy to clean?
We've highlighted a few of the latest wood flooring products and their properties, starting with solid and engineered hardwood varieties and moving through porcelain, vinyl, bamboo and solid surfacing.
Hardwood
Anderson Tuftex
Mystique hardwood flooring features an engineered maple base with a painted, distressed surface texture and UV aluminum oxide finish. It is available in five color palettes with contrasting high and low tones in blue, brown, and gray.
The planks measure 5 inches wide and 1/2 inch thick, with long, random lengths. Each one features a micro-beveled edge. andersontuftex.com
DuChateau
DuChateau’s newest engineered hardwood flooring products include additions to the Chateau, Riverstone, and Strata color collections. Bravone, new to the Chateau collection, features a mix of browns and warm grays with a smooth finish. Lys and Sava offer gray and yellow tones, respectively, with the Riverstone collection’s hand-sculpted finish. Slate-gray Umber and deep-brown Saand are new to the Strata color collection, and feature a distressed sawn finish.
DuChateau’s hard-wax oil finish provides ease of care, and is designed to develop unique patinas as the flooring ages. duchateau.com
Mannington
Norwegian Oak hardwood flooring combines a matte finish, subtle wire-brush grain pattern, and light color palette of muted grays, browns, and blues to create a calm, restful look inspired by Nordic design. The wide-format oak planks measure 6.34 inches wide and 3/8 inch thick, with varying lengths up to 45 inches.
The floors are crafted with Mannington’s Scratch Resist surface protection, which offers resistance to everyday household wear and tear. It is available in four colorways: Rawhide, Glacier, Elk and Flurry. mannington.com
Pioneer Millworks
The Modern Farmhouse collection of fresh-sawn hardwood flooring and paneling encompasses a variety of species, including ash, hickory, maple, walnut and white oak, sourced exclusively from sustainable and certified wood sources. Each product is offered in a high “clean” or live-sawn “casual” grade, both of which offer a uniform appearance with less tonal variation and fewer knots than Pioneer’s reclaimed wood products. Standard finish colors include linen, pure, straw, naked, white wash, and espresso.
Engineered and solid woods are available in face widths up to 9 inches as standard, with customization and full fabrication options available. pioneermillworks.com
AHF Products
The Paragon solid hardwood collection offers solid Appalachian hardwood coated with the manufacturer’s Diamond 10 technology, a scratch-, stain-, and wear-resistant layer infused with cultured diamonds. The coating is entirely clear, and does not affect the wood’s natural appearance.
The collection is available in two hickory colors, Mill Creek and Rawhide, and eight oak colors.
High and low-gloss options are available, as well as scraped or squared ends and micro or scraped edges. ahfproducts.com
Lumber Liquidators
The Builder’s Pride Great Plains Oak solid hardwood is a pre-finished white oak plank that features fine, even graining with occasional knots. Its whitewashed blonde color is recommended for use with contemporary, new classic looks and minimalistic décor.
It is available in 5 inch by 3/4 inch prefinished planks, and may be nailed or glued down for installation. lumberliquidators.com
Porcelain
Daltile
The Trellis Oak profile’s 36-inch porcelain floor planks are designed to emulate the look of waxed hardwood flooring. The tiles’ authentic oak wood visuals are available in a choice of four colors: grey-brown smoke, dark-brown espresso, and mid-tone amber and natural ash.
The floor tiles measure 3/8 inch thick, and are available in 9- or 6-inch widths, which may be mixed onto the same floor plane in a variety of pattern options. The collection also includes a series of 1-by-3-inch glazed ceramic lattice weave mosaics, as well as 18-by-36-inch decorative accents. daltile.com
Emser Tile
Glazed porcelain Hollywood tiles, the newest of Emser’s wood-look products, tap into contemporary preferences with the rustic knots and color variations of aged wood. The beige and oak tones offer a more classic look, while taupe and blue add cooler undertones to the woodgrain pattern.
The large-format planks measure 8 inches wide, 47 inches long, and 3/8 inch thick, and carry a V2 shade variation rating. emser.com
LifeProof
LifeProof slip-resistant tile, recent winner of a Home Depot 2018 Innovation Award, is a wood-look porcelain floor tile engineered for high-level slip resistance. The product is waterproof, stainproof, and scratch resistant, according to the manufacturer, with a low-sheen matte finish that is easy to clean. It is suitable for both indoor and outdoor use.
LifeProof is available in 6-by-24-inch planks in five colors: autumn, shadow, linen, Sierra, and toffee. Hex and weave mosaic accent patterns are also available. homedepot.com
Vinyl
Parterre
Based on the popularity of wood-look flooring, Parterre is introducing 12 new plank designs to its Vertu luxury vinyl plank collection. The new designs offer an artistic reimagining of popular wood flooring species, including oak, maple, bamboo and teak, with softer graining patterns in line with current wood flooring trends. The majority are based in oak, and bamboo and teak are new species to the collection.
Vertu’s planks are available in a 6-by-36-inch format or a 7.25-by-48-inch format. parterreflooring.com
Solid Surfacing
Dekton
Dekton by Cosentino’s Wild Collection includes four ultra-compact surfacing shades based on four species of wood. Makai is a soft white and brown pattern derived from decape wood, Borea is a dark, veined surface based on wengé, Aldem emulates worn oak wood with a gray, industrial style and Bento resembles pinewood with softer shades.
Dekton’s sintered stone surfacing is highly scratch, stain, fire, heat, and UV-resistant, and entirely non-porous, according to the manufacturer. It is available in thicknesses ranging from 8 millimeters to 30 millimeters. dekton.com
Bamboo
Moso
Bamboo Solida flooring is comprised entirely of high-density compressed bamboo strips, available in a variety of wood-look treatments. The boards’ click system allows for a floating installation without the need for additional tools or glue, and the boards themselves are highly durable and stable, shrinking and swelling less than natural wood species.
Solida is available in six colors: natural, caramel, quartz white, granite gray (shown), onyx beige, marble white and topaz brown. Marble white and topaz brown feature a rough-sawn finish, creating a vintage look. moso.eu
