When deciding what flooring to have in your home you will have several options to choose from and you will need to consider your needs and budget. Wood flooring is a great alternative to other flooring and you will see that there are many different advantages to having wood flooring. There are many different types of wood that you can have for your wood flooring and you will need to set a budget before choosing them as some can be expensive. Wood flooring looks great in all types of homes and in different areas of your house.

Wood flooring is durable, affordable and easy to clean and maintain and you can have wood that looks very expensive for half the cost. If your looking to save on cost then you can buy engineered wood which looks identical. Laminate flooring is also a very good option for your floors and looks amazing. It is very easy to lay and easy to keep clean which in today's houses is essential you will need to consider your needs before choosing a type of wood flooring.

If you have pets and children then wood is perfect as it is very hard-wearing and it will not take as much cleaning as carpets. The alternative wood floorings are good but must not be used in areas with a high moisture level such as bathrooms and kitchens. The water can damage the wood flooring and cause warping quickly. If you choose the right flooring for your home then it will not need replacing for a long time to come.

When it comes to hardwood flooring, many people notice the squeaking sounds that the floor can give. Along with this, you also may notice that your floor gives slightly in some areas. Because of that, you might consider adding cork underlayment beneath your floor.

Consider this, when you are dealing with a ¾" plywood base for your hardwood flooring, you will need to staple or nail it down. Often the squeaks we hear are a repair issue and adding cork doesn't always help to eliminate the problem. However, when these repairs have been successfully completed, you will begin to notice a reduction in all sounds thanks to the cork.

There may still be some other issues that come up as well. Especially when foot traffic is part of the problem, as you will see. In some cases, the subfloor can come loose and then become uneven. When this occurs, the boards will begin to rub against each other and cause the noises you are hearing. While adding cork underlayment to your hardwood floor can help, if the problem is upstairs, the sound will still drift down.

With this in mind, you might be asking if the new fasteners will hold up with this change. That is questionable at best. You see, most of these fasteners remain around 2 inches deep, so adding this small amount for them to go through won't make too much of a different. Most commonly the only problem is when you are nailing in your plywood, which most people don't do.

As you can see from this, cork underlying can be a great way to deal with some of the sound problems you are encountering with your hardwood floors. Keep in mind though, in some cases you might need to do deal with the problem by doing a little repair work as well.