Hardwood flooring 101
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The richness of a natural hardwood floor can add warmth and charm to any room. Today’s hardwood floors come in more species, widths and colors than ever before and more durable. With proper care and cleaning hardwood floors can last more than a lifetime and will add value to your home.
- Solid Wood Floors (prefinished & unfinished)
- cut from tree as a solid piece of wood
- plank widths vary from 2-1/4″ to about 12″
- plank thicknesses vary from 7/16″ to about 3/4″
- will react to changes in humidity
- recommended for above grade installations
- nail-down installation to a wood type sub floor
- solid wood needs proper expansion allowances along vertical walls
- Engineered Wood Floors (prefinished & some unfinished)
- 3 to 9 wood plies glued &laminated together
- plank thicknesses vary from 3/8″ to about 9/16″
- top finish veneer may be domestic or exotic wood specie
- plank widths vary from 2-1/4″ to about 7″
- glue, float, staple, or nail-down on all grade levels
- wood subfloors or dry concrete slabs
- glueless engineered wood floors install similar to laminate floors
- dimensionally stable, most may be net fitted to vertical walls.
- less effected by humidity changes than solid wood floors
- with a job-site finish they sand the floor smooth, less chance for overwood
- custom stained colors, generally 2-3 coats added of finish
- this can be fairly messy, takes several days
- usually installs in less than a day
- less messy than job-site finish
- limited to manufacturer’s colors
- manufacturers can apply 7-10 coats of finish
- factory finishes are extremely wear resistant
- some manufacturers add aluminum oxide for additional durability
- today’s factory finishes are much easier to care for than the old waxed finishes.
- prefinished trims are not an exact match to the floor.