The Best Wood Flooring Types For Landings

People often associate landings with only the turning point on a staircase near which a toilet may be placed or where there is at least sufficient room to take a break. Yet, landings may also include hallways, not only at ground, but also at upper floor levels. No matter whether the landing is mid-staircase, behind the front door or in front of all the bedrooms, it is crucial to choose the right flooring option for this purpose.

You may wonder why landing flooring should be approached in a special way and is more important than flooring in other interiors. It is all about the amount of footfall and traffic. Obviously, landings and hallways need to withstand a lot of wear and tear, and it’s crucial to remember about that when choosing the flooring and the flooring finish.

So, how to make a choice of the right flooring option? Which one is better: engineered or solid wood flooring? Theoretically, both engineered and solid wood flooring is appropriate for use in landings and hallways, but for a situation that you have an under floor heating (UFH) – in which case you will need to choose engineered wood flooring. And that is because most solid wood floors simply won’t withstand large temperature fluctuations caused by UFH without getting damaged. While engineered wood flooring is much more resistant to expansion and contraction as compared to solid wood, because of its structure. So, you always need to ask your flooring manufacturer or flooring supplier whether or not the option you’ve selected can be fitted over UFH.

Having chosen engineered or solid wood flooring, you can move on to selecting the colour and species of wood. It’s a good idea to pick a wood colour which will help you hide the dust and grime carried into the house from outside, as well as the signs of traffic, which applies especially to downstairs hallways. Obviously, a dark colour is usually your ally as regards hiding the dirt, but not always. Sometimes bright or honey-toned wood flooring with a lacquered finish will hide dust and grime that accumulate on a daily basis much better as compared to a dark matt-coloured finish. Having said that, it’s always your choice – you need to think and decide how much daily maintenance you can put up with and think about the colour you would like to see in your room.

Then, it’s all about choosing the right finish. Regardless of whether we’re talking about engineered or solid wood flooring, finishes can be oiled, lacquered or varnished. Oiled wood flooring finishes make wooden floors look natural and almost unfinished; however, they are not as hardwearing as lacquered or varnished wooden floors. If you expect a lot of wear and tear, lacquered or varnished finish is definitely your preferable choice.