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Hardwood Flooring

Nothing adds the warmth and richness to a home like real hardwood flooring.  With today’s sophisticated hardwood manufacturing consumers can choose from a variety of wood types, wood species, wood finishes, and installation methods to best suit their decorating tastes, and their family lifestyles.

Solid – These planks, or strips, are one solid piece of wood, milled right from the tree.  They are generally ¾" thick, however new technology in milling is allowed for a 5/16" thickness as well.  The most commonly recognized width is 2 ¼", but solid planks also come in widths from 1 ½" strips to 7" wide boards.  Generally these floors are always nailed down to a wood subfloor that is on, or above grade.

Engineered – These floors have several plies of various hardwoods that are laminated together.  By cross-graining the plies, engineered wood floors become very stable so they do not expand and contact like solid products.  Engineered floors can be installed on any grade level of the home; below grade, on grade, or above grade.  Installation options for these floors are nail down, staple down, glue down, or float with most engineered wood flooring.

Parquet – Comes in many unique patterns, but generally thought of as a 12"x12" square.  Six 1" fillets are assembled into 6"x6" squares and then four of these are quarter-turned to make the 12"x12" square.  Parquets are for glue down installations, either on grade, or above grade.
 
 

UV-cured – Factory finishes that are cured with Ultra Violet lights versus heat.

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

Acrylic-urethane – A slightly different chemical make up than polyurethane with the same benefits.

Ceramic – Advanced technology that allows the use of ceramics to increase the abrasion resistance of the wear layer.

Aluminum Oxide – Added to the urethane finish for increased abrasion resistance of the wear layer.

Most pre-finished hardwood floors have several coats of UV-cured, polyurethane finish applied to the wood’s surface.  As example, some manufacturers apply 7 coats of UV-cured urethane.  This would be extremely difficult for someone to duplicate on a job site, not to mention how many days it would take.  This is one of the main reasons why many flooring mechanics, retailers, and builders are suggesting pre-finished hardwood flooring.  Instead of taking several days to install, and finish a new hardwood floor, a pre-finished hardwood floor can generally be done in one day.
 
 

• Vacuum your hardwood floor regularly.
• Use non-staining mats at all exterior doors to keep sand, dirt, grit, grease, and oil outside.
• Use protective pads underneath furniture legs and feet to prevent scratching.
• Keep all pet’s nails trimmed.
• When moving heavy objects, such as furniture, or appliances, use a dolly and protective sheets of plywood underlayment to protect your floor’s finish.
• Be careful about exposure to the sun, and its UV rays, which will accelerate the oxidation, and aging of hardwood floors.  This can cause the wood stain to fade and/or change color.
• Be careful with what you use to clean your hardwood floor with. Follow the hardwood flooring manufacturer’s recommended cleaning procedures.  Avoid water on any hardwood floor, this may cause the wood grain to rise, or the boards to cup.