Hickory has a hardness rating of 1820, hence making it one of the most durable hardwood flooring materials that you may install in your home. The grain of the material is closed and tighter with each other. You might want to go for hickory if you like the appearance of grainy wood.
It is available in a variety of colors such as white and creamy. You can even stain it in your favorite color. In addition to these features, other benefits of hickory include:
Grades – The flooring is available in different grades in which the higher grades are the most expensive. The lower grades are cost effective as they have more knots, flaws and defects. These flaws found in the lower grade flooring make it look rustic.
When purchasing the material you should always consider the design of the room. If you want the room to have a smoother finish, you must go for the higher grade hickory hardwood flooring.
Stability – Since it has the tendency to move, expand, and contract, hickory is less stable compared to other hardwoods. The cool thing is that you can overcome this issue by giving the flooring enough time to acclimate itself to the weather conditions of the room. For best results, you should let the flooring to adapt for 4-5 days before installing it. After the installation, it is recommended to clean up any liquid spills as soon as they occur.
Finishing Touch
It is usually a challenge to sand hickory hardwood flooring because the sanding marks are easily found on it. The flooring’s sealed grain does not have any stain. The good thing is that you can make the grain to hold stain by wiping it with a damp cloth. This method is known as “water popping” and it helps in opening the wood grain allowing it to accept stain.
Workability
As you may know, its wood is very tough and dense. These features make it a bit complicated to saw the wood using normal saw blades and hand tools. It is advisable to use Carbide-tipped saw blades when cutting those woods. When nailing down the flooring, you must be careful and use the right angle to prevent the wood from splitting.
Conclusion
These are the features of hickory hardwood flooring. As you have noticed, you need to be more careful in order to install the material correctly. If you want to have great flooring for your home, you should let the installation be done by a professional.
