Winter is here! If you have a mountain/ski home and you’re looking for the perfect flooring for it, wide plank hardwood floors could be a great choice.
When you’re building out your mountain home, figuring out which flooring to put down will take a lot of consideration. But you have to think about more than just the appearance of the flooring. You also have to take into account different factors like the type of flooring. and the type of finish that you want to apply.
Aesthetic considerations
The best wide plank floors for a mountain home are those which have a rustic look to them, because they have more character to fit the style of a mountain house. This is an especially great choice if you have exposed beams in your home, which the floor would nicely complement.
Choose a species with lots of knots and other naturally occurring character markings, such as white oak. Check out this project in which white rustic, reclaimed oak wide plank floors were used. This style of flooring would fit in well in a rustic mountain home.
Cover your character-filled floor with a matte finish. Putting a matte finish on top of a wood floor with lots of knots and other natural character markings allows the natural look of the wood is able to through without the distraction of a glossy finish.
Gray-washed hardwood floors can also fit well into a rustic style home. Note that the gray-washing process looks best on white oak flooring.
Other considerations for flooring in a mountain house
We highly recommend going with an engineered rather than solid floor because this will hold up to the fluctuations that are inherent in most mountain homes.
The environment in the mountains will expose your home to above average fluctuations in temperature and humidity. Wood floors will respond to too much or too little humidity by showing cracks, gaps, and splitting out. An engineered floor would be more likely to handle these fluctuations without such problems.
Stability is especially important to consider when working with wide planks, especially with anything over 5” wide because the stability of the flooring decreases as the planks get wider.
A few naturally dimensionally stable species include American cherry and ash.
For proper maintenance of the floors, make sure your HVAC system can provide adequate humidity of a minimum of 30% (NWFA standards) to keep the floors in good condition.
Looking for the perfect floor for your mountain home?
Wide Plank Floor Supply has got you covered. We have the expertise and a large variety of custom wide plank floors to choose from. You can browse our selection by clicking here or call us at 877-697-5265 to speak with a wide plank expert about your project.