Hardwood

Hardwood 101: know before you buy

Purchasing hardwood floors is an investment in your home. We suggest doing thorough research to be sure you end up with the floor you want, that will perform as expected. Important considerations are your home’s basic construction-heating systems, grade level, sub floor material, the region in which you live, your lifestyle and taste. Start here and then meet with one of our knowledgeable sales associates for personalized advice.

Types of Hardwood Floors:

Solid
Solid wood floors are one solid piece of wood, generally ¾” thick, available in a variety of wood species and board widths. Unfinished solid wood floors are bare wood that requires sanding/staining/finishing once it has been nailed down. This is a multi-step process that requires a few days to complete.

Pre-finished floors are completely sanded, stained and finished in high-tech facilities board by board. They arrive to the jobsite ready for installation and can be walked on immediately after being nailed down.

Most wood manufacturers apply a 7-9 coat finish enhanced with aluminum oxide or titanium for extended life of the finish. Most pre-finished floors come with a 25 year or more finish warranty. Many also offer sun shields to keep light floors from yellowing.

Engineered
Engineered wood floors are created by bonding multiple layers of hardwood together into planks. Cross-ply construction provides more stability, reducing expansion and contraction of the planks caused by variations in moisture and humidity. This makes engineered floors suitable for more installation applications than solid floors- traditional nail down, glued to concrete, installed over radiant heat, and some can be floated over slabs in below grade applications.

Click Together
Some engineered floors have a locking joint system that allow for quick, easy installation. Simply click the panels or planks together over a thin pad- no glueing or nailing necessary.

Properties & Behavior of Wood Floors:
Wood is a natural product, and therefore no two boards will look the same. The appearance, or amount of natural color variation, determines its grade Wood grading is a classification system that rates wood planks based on their natural color variations. It is merely a color indicator, all are of equal quality and strength.

While unfinished floors have a standardized grading system– pre-finished floors do not. The only standardized grade for pre-finished floors is Select and Better - where knots and mineral streaks are eliminated to leave as uniform a look as possible.

All other terms used (selected, pacific, #1 common, celtic, country, etc.) are blends– incorporating various percentages and degrees of wood character– knots, mineral streaks and color variation.

It is important to ask your flooring sales representative what the names mean and to view samples or pictures. While grade refers only to visual characteristics and does not reflect quality, that is also an important question to ask. The milling, board lengths and finishing process are also going to affect the overall appearance and quality of your floor.. The different speciesThere are many different species to choose from when selecting a hardwood floor. Each species’ distinctive character is created by it’s typical color & grain patterns. Species available today, range from traditional domestic woods like maple, oak, birch and cherry to exotics from around the world like tigerwood, brazilian cherry, and Andiroba. each have a unique color and grain pattern. Adding a stain color and board widthhardwood floors are available in a variety of widths. Typical widths are 2 ¼” or 3 ¼” or 4”, although wider planks of 5” or 6” are gaining popularity today. Mixing widths creates is a unique way to create a custom look. Just remember- that narrower boards are less suseptable to expansion and contraction than wider boards, making them more suitable for homes with variable climates. selection also influence the appearance and performance of your floor. All hardwood will get dents and scratches over time- proper protection and maintenance will minimize this. The Janka RatingThe Janka test measures the force required to push a steel ball with a diameter of 11.28 millimeters (0.444 inches) into the wood to a depth of half the ball's diameter, thereby giving an idea of it's hardness and durability. The higher the number the harder the wood, but all hardwood will get dents and scratches over time- it’s just a matter of how far into the wood they penetrate.

So. Yellow Pine	690
American Cherry	950
Teak	1000
Black Walnut	1010
Carbonized/ Carmel Bamboo	1120
Heart Pine	1225
Yellow Birch	1260
Red Oak (Northern)	1290
American Beech	1300
Ash	1320
White Oak	1360
Australian Cypress	1375
Natural Bamboo	1410
Hard Maple	1450
Brazilian Oak	1460
Brazilian Maple	1500
Angelim	1720
Hickory/ Pecan	1820
Purpleheart	1860
Moabi	2050
South American Pearwood	2100
Tigerwood	2160
Santos Mahogany	2200
Tatajuba	2220
Jatoba (Brazilian Cherry)	2760
Tiete Rosewood	3200
Cumaru (Brazilian Chestnut)	3540
Ipe (Brazilian Walnut)	3680

is a test that measures the hardness of wood.

Most solid wood flooring will contract during periods of low humidity (usually during the heating season), sometimes leaving noticeable cracks between boards, or else expand during periods of high humidity. To help minimize these effects, users can stabilize the environment of the building through temperature and humidity control.

When humidity is too high or wood is introduced to water, cuppingcupping or “washboard” is the result of excess moisture being introduced to the bottom of the boards. The boards will appear higher on outside edges than the center.



To correct: identify and elimate moisture source, allow time for floor to dry out and correct itself, then sand flat and finish. If you sand down while still “swollen”, when it dries you will end up with a crowned floor(see below). or crowningcrowning is the result of excess moisture being introduced to the top of the boards, or from sanding a cupped floor before it has completely dried out.



To correct: identify and elimate moisture source, allow time for floor to dry out and correct itself, then sand flat and finish. can develop. Be sure to contact a wood flooring professional immediately if you notice either of these conditions in your wood floor.

Wood performs best at the same humididty and temperature as we do! Relative Humidity of 40%-50% and Temperature of 60-80 degrees Fahrenheit.

A good understanding of what you should and should not expect from your wood flooring will ensure your satisfaction with it. Please contact one of our sales associates if you’d like more information.