When consumers are looking to update the floors in their homes, more and more buyers are turning to engineered hard woods. Both durable and eco-friendly, engineered hardwoods are becoming a popular choice flooring choice for home owners.

While this earth-friendly and aesthetically appealing material is growing in popularity, not all consumers are totally familiar with engineered hardwoods.

So what are engineered hardwoods and how are they made?

Engineered wood flooring is made up of layers of wood that are glued together and
cross layered. The layers are comprised of thin pieces of plywood and the top surface is a wooden veneer that is readily available in practically any wood type.

And this is wear the eco-friendly aspect of engineered flooring comes in.

Because the material is made up of layers, the top layer of fine wood is much thinner than standard wood floors. For consumers who want hardwood floors made of luxurious, rare or exotic woods, choosing engineered wood floors will help conserve the source of the wood. According to Hosking Hardwood, for each square foot of solid three-quarter-inch hardwood that is manufactured, approximately four times the amount of engineered hardwoods can be made. Because the floors are made of layers, they are great choice for flooring in areas that are prone to high moisture and humidity.

The manufacturing process of engineered hardwoods is usually done in one of two ways: sliced with a saw blade or rotary cut with a knife blade. The finished product generally ranges between three and seven inch pieces and is sometimes available in thicker wear layer. Contrary to popular belief, engineered hardwood floors can be resurfaced and have an average lifespan of 60-80 years.

Aside from the great finished look of the floors, the installation process can be fairly simple. Because of the layered ply pieces, engineered hardwoods can be installed over a dry concrete surface or even on top of some existing flooring materials such as wood laminates or tile. When installing engineering wood floors, it is vital to ensure that the moisture content does not exceed four percent.

Although it is made manufactured differently than hardwood flooring and the finished product is different, engineered hardwood floors adds the same value to your home as traditional hardwoods. And, if you choose a rarer or exotic top layer, you may be adding more value than choosing a more common type of traditional hardwoods.

If you decided that engineered hardwood flooring is the right material for your home, make sure you find a retailer that gives you a variety of finishes and woods to choose from. Many retailers offer different woods and even different finishes, such as the newly-popular hand-scraped look. Hand-scraped hardwoods provide a rustic finish that really showcases the different grains and textures of the wood.

Before you decide on whether or not engineered hardwood floors are right for you, visit a flooring retailer and do some research. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Making an informed decision and purchase will result in you being much happier with your finished product.

From flooringnews.com

Yes, a polyurethane-finished hardwood floor may have additional coats of polyurethane applied.
The process:

1. Lightly sand with a dull 120 to 150 grit abrasive screen or #2 steel wool under a heavy floor buffer.

2. Hand sand corners, edges and under cabinet kick plates.

3. Sweep up dust with a broom then vacuum clean the whole floor well.

4. Run a damp tack cloth over the floor to pick up what the others have missed. Dampen cloth with water, formulated floor cleaner or paint thinner.

5. Coat the edges of the floor with a brush and then do the center of the floor with a natural lamb’s wool applicator. Always apply finish with the grain direction. On a parquet floor the grain direction doesn’t matter.

If you are using water-based polyurethane…

* Don’t sand the floor with steel wool
* Don’t tack the floor with paint thinner
* You will need a special water based polyurethane applicator.

If you are using oil-based polyurethane and would like a very thin coat then use a synthetic paint pad instead of a lamb’s wool applicator. Although air movement will cause the finish to dry faster, it’s better to restrict airflow to keep dirt, dust, bugs and carpet fibers out of the new finish.

Regular maintenance will prolong the life of your floor!!

Keep the floor clean, use furniture floor protectors and expect to apply a new coat of polyurethane on the floor every five to seven years. Usually there is little or no loss of polyurethane and no danger of damage to the wood floor after only five to seven years of use. But there are normally enough scratches, dings, dents and dull spots to warrant an additional coat of polyurethane on the floor for cosmetic reasons. If your floor looks good you need not coat it, if your floor is showing wear, you need not wait, do it now.

When we sand through finish a hardwood floor, we always apply the minimum two coats of polyurethane. If the floor-owner wants more polyurethane on the floor, we will suggest they get some wear and tear out of the first two coats before more is applied. No matter how many coats of polyurethane are on the floor, it’s the top one that takes the beating and the floor will still need an additional coat of polyurethane in five to seven years. This is the industry standard.

A ¾ inch thick hardwood floor has a wear surface, the thickness above the tongue, of a little over ¼ inch thick. This thickness will allow the floor to be totally sanded to the wood twelve times. If the floor is sanded to the wood twelve times and each sand job lasts fifty years, then the floor will last for six hundred years. Whereas if you sand to the wood every five to seven years the life of the floor is shortened to sixty to eighty five years.

Never use wax, oil soaps, or other coatings on your polyurethane floor!!

Since coating the floor with polyurethane occasionally is expected, you must always be careful never to apply anything that will interfere with a future touchup of the finish. Never use wax, oil soap or acrylic floor dressings, such as Mop & Glow, on your polyurethane finished wood floor. Just vacuum your wood floor often, wipe up spills as they happen and occasionally damp mop with water. Or better yet, use a formulated hardwood floor cleaner with a special hardwood floor mop to minimize the amount of water that the wood floor is subjected to.

A common reason that a flooring contractor won’t coat a used wood floor with an additional coat of polyurethane is that very often the floor-owner can’t guarantee that the floor has never been treated with something that will inhibit a new coat of polyurethane from adhering to the existing finish.

Too many coats of polyurethane are not good!

Although each additional coat of polyurethane applied to the floor makes the floor easier to clean, it also changes the way that the floor looks. If you like the way that your floor looks with only two coats of polyurethane on it, then you may be surprised by the resulting build up of polyurethane finish.

Unfortunately, you can’t just sand just the polyurethane off of a hardwood floor and not remove wood too… if you try you will burn through to the stain or wood in some spots while totally missing others. So you will end with a blotchy-looking floor. The best method is have the floor prepared for recoating as described above, and then have a very thin coat of polyurethane applied to minimize finish build up.
Polyurethane will not make a wood floor any harder than it already is!

Additional coats of polyurethane will not reduce the dings and dents. Wood, in general, does not scratch but the more hard coating, polyurethane, you put on top of the floor, the greater the bed of material that can be scratched.

Professionally speaking,

www.naturalhandyman.com/iip/inffloor/infrefinpoly.html

Tools Required:

Chalk Line
Rubber Mallet
Hand Saw
Plastic or Wooden Spacers (1/4”)
Pneumatic Flooring Package (air compressor and hose, gun, mallet and staples)
Note: This package can be rented at most rental centers. Make sure you get the correct staples for the gun. The staples may look alike, but it is important to get the proper gauge that fits the gun.
Preparation
Remove shoe moldings and make sure the sub-floor is even, clean, dry and smooth. Sanding may be necessary in order to obtain smooth, even surface. If sanding is needed, make sure the floor is completely cleaned of dust and debris afterward. Also, if you notice any floor squeaks, correct them now by securing the sub-floor to the joists as needed. Door jambs may also need to be cut so planks will fit under them to create a finished look. Simply place a piece of flooring against the jamb, mark it and cut the jamb at the line.
Once you have received your bamboo flooring, it must first be allowed to acclimate itself in the room in which it will be installed. Bamboo flooring should be removed from its boxes and stored in the room it will be installed in for a minimum of two days, preferably three to five days before installation. This will let the floor adjust to the room’s humidity and temperature. Because of natural variations in the bamboo flooring, it is recommended you layout the planks to get an idea of how you want them arranged before making any cuts or nailing any boards down.

Installation It is recommended that you install bamboo flooring parallel with the longest wall of the room for the best visual effect. Measure the width of a plank from this wall and add 1/4” to the measurement. Next, at this spot, snap a chalk line across the room to mark where you will begin flooring. This 1/4” is important to provide expansion/contraction room for the flooring.

Arrange the first row with the groove for the flooring facing the wall. Also, begin placing spacers between the bamboo flooring and the wall. Spacers should be inserted approximately every 12 inches and at each joist. This gives you a firm base to install against, but ensures you maintain your 1/4” gap. This starter row should be nailed to the flooring joists underneath the sub-floor. The edge of the flooring which faces the wall (groove edge) may be face nailed since it will be covered by shoe molding after installation. The other edge should be secured by blind nailing with the pneumatic gun approximately every ten inches, no closer than 6 inches. Also avoid nailing to close to the end of a board to avoid splitting the board.

As you begin your next row, make sure your board joints are staggered. In other words, no two ends of adjacent rows should meet. You can achieve this by cutting off 6-8 inches of the first board in your next row. This varying board length is not only for visual effect, but is also essential so as not to weaken the floor.

Tip: Make sure you match tongue to groove as you lay each row. Otherwise you will create very unsightly gaps and an uneven floor. Also, use a scrap piece of bamboo floor braced against the piece you are installing and tap against the scrap piece with the rubber mallet to work the flooring into place.

On the last row, blind nailing by hand will be necessary since the pneumatic gun will not fit. As a last resort, the last row can be face nailed in lieu of blind nailing.

Finishing Up:
Once all the bamboo flooring is has been laid, replace the shoe moldings and give the floor a final sweep up. Now it’s time to bring back in furniture, rugs, etc. and your room remodel is complete.

-www.freeflooring.com

There is no doubt that teak hardwood flooring is a very popular flooring choice for those seeking a durable, resistant wood flooring. The unanswered question for most consumers is the high price. In short, is the investment in teak hardwood flooring worth the current asking price?

One can choose to look at this question in a few ways. The easiest to evaluate is the simple return on investment, while the hardest to evaluate may be the intangible benefits. Oddly enough, the latter consideration when summed up has the potential to actually be worth far more than the former.

Before attempting to evaluate teak hardwood flooring as an investment it is important to understand the basics of the teak industry and its history. Most affordable teak is cultivated from meticulously organized plantations around the globe. This is primarily due to the fact that the global supply of old growth teak forests is rapidly dwindling, and many old growth teak forests are falling under strict government protection.

The fact that teak trees take several decades to reach maturity, even when their growth is accelerated by modern agronomic techniques. Once teak trees are harvested the process of creating handsome and durable teak timber is also somewhat time consuming and expensive, especially if environmental concerns are important to the vendor.

The net effect of these facts is that the combined teak production from sustainable plantations is rapidly increasing. This might lead some consumers to speculate that as new plantations come online and existing plantations continue to increase output that the asking price of teak may be inclined to drop and thus it is advisable to wait as long as possible before purchasing.

This may or may not be true. As the world population continues to grow at approximately 1.8% annually and many heavily populated regions such as China and India continue the systematic reduction of generational poverty so the demand for wood products increases. One of the quickest growing segments of this surge in demand for wood products are those made with timber cultivated from forest trees such as teak.

It is hard to predict whether demand or supply is increasing factor and if the general supply for wooden products could one day cause a wider audience to be interested in products such as teak hardwood floors. Predicting the future trends for any commodity can be difficult but products made from teak are probably more difficult than most. For that reason it is exceedingly difficult to properly assess how a teak hardwood floor would affect the resale value of a house over any given period of time, apartment, or office.

What if a consumer has no interest in the resale value of a particular piece of property? There is another quantifiable question to consider: does the longevity of teak hardwood flooring justify the extra expense?

While it is true that teak hardwood flooring shows surprising resilience to fungus infestation as well as to elements such as rain, snow, and even mud, it is not totally impervious and still needs proper care. Teak hardwood floors also rate very high on the Janka hardness scale. The Janka hardness scale determines how difficult or easy it is for wooden flooring to be dinged, chipped, dented, or otherwise damaged.

A high Janka hardness score is very important for active families, especially those with large canine companions possessing sharp floor-damaging claws. Consumers fitting this profile are likely to be attracted to hardwood flooring in general due to its easy to clean nature, though may not know just how important Janka hardness ratings are to selecting an appropriate hardwood flooring that will become a long lasting investment. Excellent illustrations of the longevity of teak hardwood can be found in the ancient temples found in southwest India which have original flooring dating back approximately two thousand years.

For consumers still not swayed by the monetary benefits of teak hardwood floors or simply more interested in the qualitative aspects of teak hardwood floors these is much to consider. They create a very ‘homey’ atmosphere to any workplaces and homes in a way that is hard to accurately describe. An entire branch of psychology which focuses on colors and environmental elements suggests that hardwood flooring such as teak may be beneficial for the entire family.

The bottom line is that it is very hard to determine whether or not the investment in hardwood flooring is a wise one or not. It depends on a wildly fluctuating market an whether or not intangible benefits such as impressing visitors rates high on ones list of priorities.  

www.teakflooring.com

Contrary to popular belief, bamboo is not an extremely rare wood that can only be found in remote parts of the world.  The majority of bamboo that is used in the United States comes from Southeast Asia.  This is an extremely arable land source that is able to produce large amounts of bamboo.

Not only are large amounts available, bamboo is also able to re-grow extremely fast.  Some species of bamboo have been known to grow more than three feet per hour. That makes bamboo the fastest growing plant on earth.  It is common to harvest large quantities of bamboo, only to have the plants come begin to grow within several months. A typical bamboo plant only requires four years to reach maturity.  This a stark contrast from lumber which can require around 65 years to replace a 75 foot tree.

Because of growing environmental concern, people are becoming more open to buying less damaging materials. We are currently losing around 1 million acres due to deforestation every week. For this reason, purchasing an easily renewable resource such as bamboo is less environmentally damaging than other hardwood flooring options.

Bamboo flooring has another benefit over traditional wood floor materials. Because it is so easily attainable and replenishable it is relatively inexpensive. Luckily a lower price does not mean a low quality product. Bamboo is very aesthetically appealing, and always increases the quality of the room it inhabits.  It is also long lasting. Typically you can expect a 20 year life span from bamboo flooring if it is maintained regularly.

There are many benefits to installing a bamboo floor. However there are a few factors to consider before you make a final decision. For example, make sure the surface that you plan on using has been measured accurately and is not prone to induce bending in the bamboo.

Make sure that you won’t be installing in an area that is inclined to flood or be exposed to water damage.  Bamboo is resilient to spills mopping, however serious exposure to underlying water may cause bending.

Because of its economic advantages, reasonable price, and beauty, bamboo flooring is an excellent addition to any décor. Make sure you consider using bamboo when you decide to install a new floor.

Laminate is an extremely versatile substance.  People used it back in the 70’s as countertop coverings. It developed over the years in many forms. It can resemble stone, marble, tile, or more commonly, wood. This is the most common appearance of laminate today. The actual term laminate does not refer to the physical material that constitutes the majority of the paneling, only the protective top layer.

Advantages of laminate include durability, and ease of installation. Normal laminate planks are two to three times longer than their hardwood counterparts. This is because the synthetic material can be created at almost any size. Unlike authentic hardwood, there are no real size limitations.  Another benefit of laminate surfacing is that it can be installed on concrete and other surfaces that are difficult for hardwood installation.

Hardwood floors are on the opposite end of the spectrum. They are not new. People have been using hardwood floors ever since they were able to erect wood cabins hundreds of years ago. It’s not easy to install either. Unless you have a high skill set, installing it on your own can be troublesome.  Because they come from limited material (trees) they are more expensive than synthetic laminate.  However, scarcity creates value. If you have real authentic hardwood floors in your house, its value will increase. This can’t be said for laminate.

Hardwood floors are also more aesthetically appealing. All other surfaces are imitations. Ultimately you can’t beat the real thing. There are many arguments that support installing laminate including ease of installation, and low price. However, the long term value of this shortcut pales in comparison to that of a hardwood floor.