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| Choice of
Wood Flooring Wood flooring is available in
a number of sizes and make-ups, each offering has its own distinct
advantages. People are often surprised by the unlimited choices that wood
flooring offers. Today's wood flooring is right for virtually every room.
Choosing the right kind and style of wood flooring is not hard if you are
familiar with several industry terms.
1. Unfinished Solid wood
flooring
Unfinished flooring is a product that
must be job-site sanded, stained if desired, and finished after
installation. This has been the American staple in hardwood floors for many
years. Commonly called "Strip flooring", this product has not changed for
many years as to size, cuts & grades. A 3/4" thick unfinished strip floor
can be sanded from four(4) to six(6) times in it's lifetime. This type of
flooring provides endless option especially if you want a custom job. Solid
unfinished floors are really " A beauty of a Life time "
2.
Engineered wood flooring
Laminate wood flooring is produced by
bonding layers of veneer and lumber with an adhesive. Laminate wood flooring
is available in pre-finished and unfinished. These products are more
dimensionally stable and are ideal for glue-down installation or float-in
installation above grade, on grade or below grade, including basements and
humid climates.
3. Pre-finished wood flooring
Pre-finished wood flooring is
factory sanded and stained and finished flooring that only needs
installation. Comes in many colors, finishes, species and sizes. It can be
solid or engineered.
Each Category has 3 Sub-Categories
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Parquet |
Wood pieces forming a
pattern/design-thicknesses of 1/4"- 5/16" 1/2" & 3/4" mostly glue
down. |
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Strip |
Strip flooring is linear flooring that
is usually 2 1/4", 1 1/2", or 3 1/4" wide. It creates a linear effect
in a room often promoting the illusion of a large space. |
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Plank |
Plank flooring is also linear, however,
it is wider in width. Common widths of plank flooring are 3", 5", and
6". |
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Quality and Grade
Like anything in
life, wood floors come in different grades and quality.
Grade
It has more to do with
selection of the planks. Uniformity of color, grain , knots, etc… For instance,
in oak we have; clear, select or better, number 1, and number 2.
On exotic species we have -
clear, select, and common:
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Clear or First - free from
most visible defects and discoloration, contains only minor visible
imperfections |
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Select or Second - may
contain slight imperfections, such as color variations |
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Common or Third - contains
knots and color variations, often classified as "rustic" wood |
Quality
It is regarding with drying,
milling, finishing and quality control on production of the wood. An inferior
product usually has irregularities of thickness, witness, and bad finish.
In summary every wood floor
is not the same, usually we pay for what we get. When comparing prices take this
is consideration.
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