Utilizing maple in your home can be tricky. Here’s a few notes about picking a maple floor for your home.
Hardness: Harder than oak, it is great to reduce denting into the wood. A lot of customers are looking for ways to lessen the dog nail and shoe damage that comes from everyday living. Maple may be a good choice.
Staining: This is SO IMPORTANT when looking at solid maple flooring. Typically you would choose a solid floor in part because of the sand-ability of the hardwood. You can renew your floor with a full sanding but job finished maples and prefinished maples are completely different looks. Prefinished stains are done in a factory and include the process of many coats of a topical stain. It usually hides the grain of maple. Job finished stains are grain-penetrating. Meaning, they will bring the grain of the wood out. The grain of a maple tree can appear “splotchy” when it is job finished. Make sure you like that look or you will be cornered into a natural finish in the future.
Grain Pattern Style: Maple, like most hardwoods, is a chameleon in design. But, you need to think about the lack of graining in the wood (when in is prefinished) or the abundance of graining when it is stained on-site. The stark look of a wood floor without much graining can give off a more contemporary feel while the busier visuals of a stained maple can feel very casual.
The most important note is to be sure you are hiring a professional with knowledge of maple floors. If you are in the Saint Louis area and need a professional opinion, give us a call. We can help with your existing maple floors or assist you in picking out something new in maple.
