Hardwood floors are made of maple wood, birch wood, oak wood, ash wood or beech wood. Each kind of wood will give your hard wood floors a different look and feel. Hardwood floors can come in a variety of colors and are becoming more affordable and easier to maintain. hardwood floors are now being developed with sophisticated techniques so that they are harder and more durable.

If you want a custom stained hardwood floor, or a hardwood floor to match existing trim than a job-site finish is your answer. Job-site finish means you start with a bare (unfinished) hardwood floor and than the hardwood floor is sanded, stained, and finished in the home. The other advantage of a job-site finish is if you are concerned with uneven heights between planks, the sanding process will smooth out the hardwood floor. Be warned, this can be quite a mess and the process does take several days.

Some of the finishes used today to maintain your hardwood floors include:

UV-cured hardwood ? Factory finishes on hardwood that are cured with Ultra Violet lights versus heat.

Polyurethane hardwood ? A clear, tough and durable finish for hardwood that is applied as a wear layer.

Acrylic-urethane hardwood ? A slightly different chemical make up than Polyurethane with the same benefits for hardwood.

Ceramic hardwood ? Advanced technology that allows the use of space-age ceramics to increase the abrasion resistance of your hardwood floors.

Aluminum Oxide hardwood ? Added to the urethane finish for increased abrasion resistance of the hardwood, which is becoming extremely popular on the better grade hardwood floors.

Acrylic Impregnated hardwood ? Acrylic monomers are injected into the cell structure of the hardwood to give increased hardness and then finished with a wear layer over the hardwood.

Water Based Urethane hardwood ? Water is used as part of the chemical make up of the polyurethane hardwood finish.

Solvent Based Urethane hardwood ? Oil is used as part of the chemical make up of the polyurethane hardwood finish.

Moisture Cured Urethane hardwood ? A similar chemical make up as solvent based urethanes but, this hardwood finish needs the humidity (moisture ) in the air to cure.