When I was in flooring sales, this used to be one of my favorite times of year—tax time. Especially now, when investing in the markets can be tricky (as well as scary), people are grabbing their refunds and plunking it straight into their biggest investments—their homes.
Myself, I’m looking to do a rich hand-scraped hickory in my master bedroom. I’m fortunate, however, because I know what I want, what will work with my home structurally and what styles work to keep the design integrity of an 85 year old house. I just wish that I was still selling flooring so I could get it at cost!
The average consumer, however, has no clue about flooring, which makes perfect sense because it’s certainly not something that is purchased every day. There are thousands and thousands of flooring types, manufacturers, distributors and retailers out there. Where do you start?
We put Unbeatable Flooring together as a jumping off point into the world of flooring. Eventually, we hope it will be the alpha and omega of flooring information. It’s not yet, but considering that the site is only a week old, it isn’t too shabby. And even more good stuff being added daily.
You can get a lot of information and ideas by following the links to manufacturers and retailers. Go ahead. Check it out. Tell me what you think.
Hardwood Flooring comes in many different species, colors, sizes, finish, looks and types. There are 3 main types of hardwood flooring. The first type is solid hardwood flooring which usually comes ¾” thick. The next type of hardwood flooring is engineered which has multiple ply’s of wood with the actual look as the top ply of wood. The last type of hardwood flooring is locking which is a newer category of hardwood flooring where any do-it-yourself-er with some mechanical abilities can install fairly easily.
Solid hardwood flooring, for years, was the most common type of hardwood flooring. You can purchase solid hardwood as an unfinished product or a prefinished product. The unfinished product will end up getting sanded and finished after it is installed in the home as a raw material. The unfinished hardwood is usually done in new home construction. The prefinished hardwood is usually installed in homes that are already being lived in. This is not always the case for both situations but due to the mess from sanding and finishing in the home, many consumers choose to go with the prefinished floor unless they are looking for a completely flat surface. When installing a prefinished floor the ends and edges usually have a micro-bevel on them and so dirt can catch in the grooves. A solid hardwood floor is meant to be installed if you have a plywood sub-floor so it can be nailed into the sub-floor. You can also have medallions and borders installed with your solid hardwood flooring. This is mostly done with the unfinished floors in order to achieve a great look.
Engineered hardwood flooring is usually installed over concrete slabs where solid hardwood flooring cannot be installed easily. Depending on the manufacturer specifications engineered hardwood flooring can either be: glued down, floated into place, nailed down, or stapled down. You must check with the manufacturer for their installation guidelines before purchasing and installing your floor. Many times engineered hardwood can be installed on, above or below grade and can sometimes be installed over radiant heat. Engineered hardwood flooring will come in many different thicknesses and ply’s. We will explore engineered floors deeper in an upcoming post.
Locking hardwood flooring is the newest of categories and is growing. Kahrs Hardwood Flooring has been manufacturing the locking hardwood flooring for many years. Now many more manufacturers are adding this category to their product line up. The locking hardwood flooring is much like a laminate floor in the way that it installs. Many do-it-yourself-ers can now install real hardwood in their homes without being expert installers or without having experience installing hardwood floors.
Whether choosing a solid, engineered, or locking hardwood floor it will be a great investment to your home. You will have many options to choose from whether you want a light or dark floor, different widths, hand-scraped, and a dull or shiny finish are just a few of the choices you will have to make when picking out a new hardwood floor. We will talk more in depth about each one of these products in posts to come.
This blog will be intended to give consumers, installers, and industry professionals a vast array of information related to all aspects of hardwood flooring. We will focus on all the different manufacturers out on the market and the types of hardwood they sell. We will also focus on the different types of hardwood, new products, tools, installation, and also tips and tricks of purchasing and installing hardwood flooring. This blog is only intended as a starting point for information and we recommend you follow the manufacturer’s instructions and contact certified professional installers to install your hardwood floors.
When I was in flooring sales, this used to be one of my favorite times of year—tax time. Especially now, when investing in the markets can be tricky (as well as scary), people are grabbing their refunds and plunking it straight into their biggest investments—their homes. Myself, I’m looking to do a rich hand-scraped hickory in [...] […]
Hardwood Flooring comes in many different species, colors, sizes, finish, looks and types. There are 3 main types of hardwood flooring. The first type is solid hardwood flooring which usually comes ¾” thick. The next type of hardwood flooring is engineered which has multiple ply’s of wood with the actual look as the top ply [...] […]
Welcome to Hardwood Flooring Blog.com! This blog will be intended to give consumers, installers, and industry professionals a vast array of information related to all aspects of hardwood flooring. We will focus on all the different manufacturers out on the market and the types of hardwood they sell. We will also focus on the different types [...] […]
