How to choose hardwood floors in five easy steps

(NC)—According to hardwood flooring experts, the process of selecting your new floor should lead you through five common steps – choosing your colour, whether you require solid or engineered flooring, the species and grade, width and finally gloss level.

1. Choose your colour.

“We’ve found that today the number one consideration for consumers is selecting the right colour for their flooring to match their decors,” said Tom Gormley, President of Silhouette Hardwood Flooring.

Typically, hardwood flooring manufacturers offer a series of standard popular colour choices. Often these stain colours aren’t exactly what discerning consumers are looking for and they spend the next days and weeks searching different manufacturers for that particular elusive stain colour that will harmonize perfectly with their home design.

Canadian-based manufacturer Silhouette Hardwood Flooring has revolutionized this process by offering clients customized colours for their flooring with its exclusive “Designer colour match” system.

“We can easily match any color you see offered by most of our competitors at no additional charge,” explained Gormley. “Even if you have a unique color in mind, simply supply your local Silhouette dealer with any kind of sample to match and we will reproduce it to create your one of a kind beautiful new floor.”

2. Determine whether you’re using solid or engineered flooring.

Solid flooring must be nailed or stapled into an existing wood subfloor and is only recommended on or above the grade level (soil line) around your home.

Engineered flooring’s construction allows it to be installed over virtually any type of subfloor whether above, on, or below the grade level. Silhouette’s Symmetry Engineered flooring, for example, has the most versatile design, allowing it to be nailed, stapled, fully glued-down, or even floated.

3. Choose your preferred species and grade.

Examine the natural colour of each species, their distinctive grain patterns, grades and visual characteristics such as knots, and mineral streaks to find what appeals to you. Also consider the relative hardness of the different species. If you have an active high traffic household or a large pet, harder species may be an option as they will show less dents and traffic patterns.

4. Choose your board width.

Narrow boards, or strip flooring, performs well and has a certain appeal particularly in smaller rooms, while wide boards are often perceived as being of higher value, and have greater appeal in larger rooms. Up until now many hardwood dealers recommended against choosing flooring wider than 3 ¼”, because of fear that the floor would develop unsightly and unhealthy gaps over time due to uncontrolled swings in relative humidity within a home.

Gormley explained this is no longer the case thanks to the added protection of Silhouette’s unique Contour Guard finishing process which envelopes each of its floorboards to eliminate any possible unattractive and unhealthy effects from these gaps.

5. Choose your gloss level

The final choice is the degree of light you wish your floor to reflect. A Semi-Gloss finish reflects approximately 50 per cent of the light shone upon, while a simulated-oil look reflects approximately eight per cent and a satin-gloss finish reflects at a 30 per cent rate.

More information on the latest in premium hardwood flooring is available at www.silhouetteflooring.com.

www.newscanada.com

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Wood Flooring

Home décor advice

By Michel Collin, Mercier Wood Flooring

Q: What’s the difference between laminate flooring and engineered wood?

A: Laminate flooring may often look like wood but it’s not. It’s made of melamine-infused paper glued to a wood chip composite. Engineered wood, much like solid hardwood, is real wood. It is a veneer of hardwood in the species of your choice glued on top of (in most cases) three to five thin sheets of crossbanded wood.

It’s ideal for kitchens and basements where 3/4” solid wood floors are not recommended because of high moisture level variations. Solid wood will expand or contract with heat and moisture, whereas engineered wood flooring, because it’s made of crossbanded layers of wood, offers more dimensional stability. Mercier’s engineered wood flooring offers optimum stability because it contains seven crossbanded layers of wood. Another advantage of engineered wood flooring versus laminate is that engineered wood can be sanded after scratches and dings develop. Engineered flooring is also a great choice for renovations because it can be installed directly onto most existing floors.

Installation is even easier now thanks to our latest product category innovation called “LOC”. It’s an engineered floor that does not require glue or mechanical fasteners to install. Instead it features a user-friendly locking system which is easy to install and ideal for multi-story developments, basements, and do-it-yourself project

Q: What are the advantages of prefinished wood floors over traditional installed wood floors?

A: First of all prefinished wood floors are stained and finished at the factory so you don’t have to deal with toxic fumes, sanding dust, labour and the long wait required for staining and applying coats of finish at home.

Another advantage is that the finish is applied under controlled conditions, which means that you don’t have to worry about dust or other contaminants affecting the finish. Manufacturers can also apply more coats of finish giving you added protection. In fact, the Mercier Generations finish features ten coats applied at the factory with extreme accuracy. It produces a smooth, uniform finish with unparalleled abrasion resistance and beauty. Lastly you save on the cost because it cuts down on the labor required to install. More information on wood flooring is available at www.mercierwoodflooring.com.

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Also, for more on wood flooring and engineered hardwood flooring visit A1-Wood-Flooring.com.

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While many homeowners like the warmth and comfort of carpeted floors, they are often hit with the harsh reality that carpet comes with a host of problems. Besides being very difficult to clean, carpeted floors can also be a health concern. Bacteria, dust, dirt and odors can easily become imbedded in carpeting and beyond the reach of vacuuming. What’s more, homeowners with carpet could also run into problems when trying to sell their home; many new homebuyers prefer the more modern look of hardwood flooring or other comparable options.

Replacing carpet with another type of flooring doesn’t have to be an investment – or time-consuming. There are hundreds of flooring options – materials, colors, textures – for all homeowners, project parameters and budgets.

“Recent technological advancements have greatly increased the number of attractive and affordable options for flooring,” says Tom Sullivan, founder of Lumber Liquidators, the nation’s largest specialty retailer of hardwood flooring.

Among the most popular alternatives to carpet floors are hardwood, laminate, resilient, engineered wood, bamboo and cork floorings. Each has its own distinct advantages.

Hardwood flooring – Solid hardwood has become the gold standard for flooring in homes. Besides adding elegance and beauty to a home, properly cared for hardwood floors have been known to resist the microscopic allergens that carpet can trap, including pet dander, pollen, mites and mold.

Companies such as Lumber Liquidators offer hardwood floors in multiple finishes: prefinished domestic floors, prefinished exotic floors, prefinished stained floors, unfinished floors and handscraped. Solid hardwood floors are also a more eco-friendly option than carpet. Carpet typically lasts eight to 10 years, according to BankRate.com, and then gets tossed or recycled. But hardwood floors can last nearly a lifetime.

Laminate flooring – An inexpensive and versatile substitute for carpet, laminate flooring is made by attaching a photograph to a high-density fiberboard using heat and pressure. Recent advancements in high-definition imaging have created laminate floors that are unbelievably realistic looking.

In addition to being very budget-friendly, the construction of laminate flooring makes it well suited for higher-moisture areas. It’s relatively dent- and scratch-resistant, and is easy to install. The lifespan of well-maintained laminate flooring varies, but it is possible to find 12-millimeter laminates that feature a 30-year warranty.

Resilient flooring – Made from vinyl, resilient flooring is water-resistant and perfect for damp environments such as bathrooms, kitchens and basements. As with laminate, resilient flooring can also be manufactured to look like a variety of wood species, ranging from African Mahogany to Elgin Oak.

Perhaps the greatest advantage of resilient flooring is its price: It can be found for as little as 89 cents per square foot. Resilient flooring is available with a 25-year guarantee.

Engineered flooring – A misconception is that engineered hardwood flooring is not “real.” It is in fact real hardwood that is constructed for specific applications such as a basement. Virtually indistinguishable from solid hardwood, engineered flooring is constructed by adhering a solid hardwood layer to multiple cross-grain plies. This construction makes it more moisture-resistant than solid hardwood, enables a variety of installation options, and makes it a perfect choice for radiant heat and below-grade installations.

Brands such as Bellawood Engineered flooring offer a lifetime structural warranty and a 50-year warranty on the finish. Unlike laminate or resilient, engineered flooring can be sanded and refinished to even further extend its lifespan.

Bamboo and cork – Bamboo and cork are two newer additions to the flooring family. Both great alternatives to carpet, bamboo and cork are also ecologically sound choices. Bamboo is one of the fastest-growing plants on Earth. It is actually a grass with an extensive root system that creates new bamboo shoots and requires no replanting. Cork flooring, which is durable, acoustical and insulating, comes from harvesting the outer bark of the cork oak tree – found mostly in the Mediterranean region. It is considered a green product because the same tree can be harvested numerous times.

“With so many flooring options, selecting the one that’s best for you really comes down to personal preferences and budget,” Sullivan says. “But regardless of which type of flooring you choose, you’ll be impressed by how the hardwood flooring look improves your home.”

Courtesy of ARAcontent

Related Sites:

A1 Wood Flooring

A1 Bamboo Flooring

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