Hardwood Flooring

Hardwood flooring is an attractive and practical option when it comes to flooring.  Homes with hardwood flooring hold their value better, sell faster, and fetch higher prices.  It is the most versatile floor covering there is, wood goes with contemporary, traditional, and all styles in between.  Designers rate natural materials as superior to man-made materials in beauty, prestige, style, maintenance, and durability.

There are a variety of woods and finishes available to complement the style of any room.  Oak and maple are the most popular woods, but some homeowners are investing in exotic woods like Brazilian cherry and purple-heart to give their room a unique style.  Another appearance related attributes such as texture, grain, and color are important to factor in when you are choosing your new flooring.

Wood floors are softer and more supple than other surfaces.  Wood provides greater resilience, improved shock absorption, and increased energy return.  Wood flooring is unique because it can take a pounding and still look beautiful.  The urethane finishes on most new wood floors stand up to water and traffic, bringing wood flooring into bathrooms, kitchens, and other higher-stress areas.  These finishes resist wear and stains better than other finishes and require no stripping, no buffing, and no waxing.

Each hardwood has its own unique appeal and all our woods can be used in different floor designs and we can even design features specifically for your home, giving your hardwood floor true distinction. Different finishes and edging can also help to make your wood floor truly unique.

We work hard to ensure every project we work on is completed to standards of the highest caliber and the result is a long history of satisfied customers who continue to take pleasure in their wood floor many years after the installation.

All manufacturers make different products.  Some may offer random length or one set length hardwood.  Its easy to confuse one length hardwoos as being too uniform in appearance.  One length products should be in stalled randomly.  Creating the random look begins with using different sized boards at the starting area.  The should be cut adjacent to them.

Glue Down Hardwood Floors

Gluedowns are installed by trowel spreading of adhesive on the subfloor in a predetermined area.  Usually professionals will measure out three feet, or enough for twelve rows to cover, using a three inch wide board as an example.  Each and every individual board is placed one at a time into the adhesive until the glued area is covered.  Not all products can be glued easily.  Gluing solid 3/4 hardwood is difficult, but some premium urethane glue manufacturers will warrant their use.  The difficulty with solid hardwood is the lack of flexibility compared to more common products that are glued.

Thickness will vary from 14 inch to 5/8 inch depending on the manufacturer.  During manufacturing the bottom sides of many products are milled with relief cuts.  This ensures the flooring can bend to minor irregularities in the contour of the subfloor, while increasing the bonding contact with adhesive at the same time.

Most people prefer the solid feeling of hardwood floors versus the hollow feeling to a floating floor.  A properly glued hardwood floor will feel and sound very much like a traditional sold floor.

Nailed Down Hardwood Floors

Installing hardwood floors by traditional nailing methods has changed considerably over the years with the advent of pneumatic fasteners, now flooring can even be stapled.  Insuring you have a suitable subfloor is the most important part for a successful installation, otherwise you will have a spongy, creaking, and popping floor.

How long the installation takes depends on the width of the boards chosen.  For a standard 400 square foot room, common 2 1/4 strip flooring will take 10 to 12 hours for an experienced installer.

Floating Hardwood Flooring System

Floating hardwood floors are designed to lay on top of a cushioned underlayment and are not secured to any subfloor.  In recent years easier types of floating flooring have been created. Click Together flooring can be installed by the floating method but without glue.  Manufacturers will vary in that the design is slightly different, but all click floors have one thing in common, a mechanized system milled into the boards that alloy the floor to stay in place by tongue and groove once they are connected.

Lock and Fold flooring is another fairly new product.  No clue or tapping is required.  Boards are placed on a cushioned underlayment connected one by one with adjoining pieces actually folding over to create a secured connection or fit.

Moldings

• T-Molding: Most commonly used between tiled surfaces and wood floors.  Also used for connecting to existing wood floors
• Reducer, One Sided Reducer, Flush Reducer: Used with floor coverings of lower vertical heights such as vinyl, or concrete.  Sometimes used around fireplaces and other fixed objects while becoming more of a design aspect than anything.
• Overlap Reducer: Used mostly to connect floating floors to other floor coverings with lower vertical heights.  Also used to transition carpet and floating floors.
• Bi-Level Reducer: Used for transitioning solid 3/4 hardwood floors to lower vertical heights such as ceramic tile.  Can also be used with carpeting.
• Baby Threshold, Threshold: Used at sliding door areas where expansion is needed.  Can also be used to transition with carpeting.
• End Cap, Square Nose: Similar functions as a baby threshold.
• Overlap Stair Nosing, Bull Nose: Used with some floating floors on steps and landing areas where expansion area is needed.
• Flush/Square edge Stair Nosing, Bull Nose: Used for transition when placing plank or strip on stairs, landings, or step downs.
• Quarter Round: Used against baseboard, toe kicks, and other fixed objects.
• Shoe Molding: Similar function as quarter round, has a less pronounced appearance.
• Wall Base, Baseboard: Installed on finished wall where expansion space is needed.

Care and Maintenance

Surface finishes like polyurethane require only simple care.  Just dust mop, sweep, or vaccum regularly.  When cleaning no longer restores shine, recoat the floor with a surface finish.  The frequency of re-coating depends on the amount of traffic.  Never wax a surface finished floor and never use vinyl or tile floor care products on any wood floor.

Depending on traffic, a properly maintained wood floor should need waxing only once or twice a year.  Be careful not to over-wax a wood floor.  If the floor dulls, try buffing instead.  Avoid wax buildup under furniture and other low-traffic areas by applying wax half as often as in higher-traffic areas.

If the wax finish is discolored or has dirt built up, use a combination liquid cleaner/wax made specifically for wood flooring.  Make sure it is solvent rather than water-based.  Spread the liquid cleaner/wax with a cloth or fine steel wool and rub gently to remove grime and old wax.  Wipe the floor clean, let it try for about 20 minutes and buff.

If you have a question about hardwood floor refinishing would like to schedule your free in-home estimate, please call our office at: (773)  930-4533 email us at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or simply fill out an online estimate form for a free in-home consultation.