Before embarking on any treatment, repair, cleaning or staining of your wooden floors, it’s important to be sure of the type of wood that adorns your home. Moreover, you need to be sure it is indeed, solid wood! The best indication of this is the grain; if it’s consistent in its pattern, it is unlikely to be solid wood.

Common types of hardwood used in flooring include oak, maple and walnut. While in their natural state, they are easily identifiable, if treated, it can be much more difficult to pinpoint the species. In this instance, it may be necessary to scrape some of the finish from your floor. For example, very different woods may look similar if they’ve been treated with a dark stain, however, don’t be fearful of scraping away stain, it can easily be re-stained later.

Alongside the base colour of the wood, differentiation can also be made by looking closely at the grain, tone and hardness of the wood. For instance, hardwoods such as maple have close curly grains.

Here is our guide to identifying three of the most common wood floors.

Oak Floors

Due to its wider availability and many different varieties, oak flooring is an affordable, resilient and popular choice. There are two types of oak; red and white. The former is a softer wood in pink to brown shades of red and is a more rustic choice due to its appearance. Red oak has a rough and open grain texture to it with a density that can aesthetically cover a multitude of sins making it a durable option.

White oak brings lighter tones and in contrast to red, has a fine grain texture, making a more likely choice for more traditional and classically styled homes. Because of its light shades, this oak option takes stains and finishes very well.

Maple Floors

A fabulously stylish choice of wooden floors can be maple. Similar to white oak, maple is lighter in colour but whilst it also has a fine grain, the patterns have dark, distinct streaks which makes it much easier to identify. Maple makes a stylish and contemporary choice for those looking for a more modern feel, however, it’s worth remembering it does not accept stain well at all.

Walnut Floors