Exploring Outdoor Wood Flooring Options for Front Yard Shed

Decorating your outdoor shed, front yard, or porch with wood flooring is one of the best options to choose from. The wood finish not only gives your home a natural look but also makes it modern and unique.

However, there is one question that you need to ask yourself before selecting the type of wood for your outdoors – which wood can survive in your outdoor conditions?

Top Outdoor Wood Flooring Options for Front Yard Shed

Solid Wood

Solid wood includes two different kinds of wood – softwood and hardwood. The planks that combine to make the floor are all made of original wood without any additives. However, they come in finished and unfinished variants that differ in price.

The unfinished hardwood is cheaper than the finished variant, but keep in mind that you will need to apply the sealing and let it dry for 48 hours before using the floor. Moreover, hardwood requires a wooden subfloor to be installed correctly, as you can’t directly place it on the concrete floor. On the other side, one great advantage of installing these outdoor wood floor tiles is their lifespan. You can re-sand the backyard wood flooring and take proper care of it to extend its life by decades.

Pros

• Longer lifespan than other wood flooring options
• Good resale value
• Can be refinished multiple times

Cons

• Sub-flooring is required for installation
• Require you to hire a professional worker.
• Can be scratched easily
• Vulnerable against moisture.

Engineered Wood

Engineered wood is another great choice for wood shed flooring. In most places, it has surpassed the sales of hardwood floors due to their affordability and easy installation. As a homeowner, you can install the floor yourself outside of your house. The plank of the floor is made with a mix of veneer wood and plywood.

The top 25 percent of the plank is made of veneer wood, whereas the bottom 75 percent is built with plywood. The combination of these materials makes outdoor wooden floor tiles a bit stronger than hardwood when it comes to moisture. As far as installation is concerned, you can use it as a flooring floor or nail it down like hardwood.

Pros

• More affordable than other quality wooden floors
• Can be installed easily
• More durable against light moisture than hardwood

Cons

• 30 years of life compared to 100 years of hardwood life
• It can only be re-finished once

Bamboo

Bamboo flooring is quite popular for outdoor environments for its environment-friendly features and appearance. It is a renewable resource that can be farmed sustainably. The bamboo stalks are harvested every 5 to 6 years, which makes their use less harmful to the world. A bamboo floor looks very similar to a hardwood floor. However, one additional benefit you will get is its complete resistance against moisture.

Pros

• Eco-friendly
• Easy to install
• Moisture resistant

Cons

• It can get scratched easily
• Can get cracks in humid environments

Laminate

Laminate flooring is a mix of wood-chip composite and resin-infused paper. The paper is pasted on top of the composite to look like wood when it is actually not. When you set it up as a floor, you won't be walking on real wood, but just paper that looks like it. However, there are plenty of benefits that you get with this kind of setup, such as scratch resistance and low cost.

Pros

• Scratch resistant
• It can be installed easily
• Cheaper than other wood flooring options

Cons

• Vulnerable against moisture
• The floor can get a bit slippery due to the low grip
• Cannot be repaired or re-sanded

Luxury Vinyl

Vinyl planks are the best flooring solutions for those who want the exact same look as wood on a tight budget. The outdoor shed floor is installed as a floating floor where you don't need a subfloor for installation. The quality and feel of vinyl is much similar to laminate floors. However, there is one exception. Vinyl floors are quite strong against high-moisture conditions and are completely waterproof. Installing a vinyl floor would save you money and keep you covered for at least 20 years.

Pros

• Waterproof surface
• Floating floor without subfloor requirements
• Light on the pocket
• Easy installation

Cons

• It cannot be repaired

Wood Look Ceramic Tile

Ceramic outdoor floor tiles are ideal for places such as kitchens and bathrooms or any other place prone to moisture. The tiles come in 4 to 16 inches squares that look like wood, but this shape doesn't really resemble natural wood when placed. So, we would recommend buying long and narrow tiles made specifically to look like natural wood. Once you get a ceramic tile floor for your outdoors, you will be covered for at least 20 to 50 years, depending on how well you maintain it.

Pros

• Waterproof tiles
• It cannot be scratched easily
• Easy installation

Cons

• Wood does not look very natural.

Guide to Selecting Outdoor Wood Flooring for the Front Yard Shed

Humidity and Moisture Resistance

The first thing you need to consider before buying a wooden floor for your outdoors is its resistance against moisture and humidity. The more vulnerable the floor options would be, the less life you will get out of it. For example, solid wood is not strong against heat and humidity, whereas engineered wood is, so you need to know what conditions you are going to expose your floor with.

Hardness

The durability of the wood is determined by the amount of force it can resist. Check your floor on the Janka hardness scale and see if it can hold the outdoor furniture you are looking to place on it.

Photosensitivity

Wood, when exposed to direct sunlight, can change its color. Make sure to check if your wood floor type is photosensitive to see if it can survive in your outdoor conditions.