The Importance Of Sanding Hardwood Floors

Many of those who are into restoring hardwood floors would say that sanding is the hardest (even the most unpleasant) part of the process but also the most satisfying one. They have come to realize the importance of sanding hardwood floors.

Even though sanding is a laborious process, this part of the restoring process is the one that can give your flooring that elegant look. And if you are looking to sand hardwood floors, the job doesn't really have to be unpleasant; all that's needed is adequate knowledge on how to do it right.

You're not alone in wondering why would you want to sand your hardwood floors if doing so is such a hard and laborious process. Not only that it can be costly because you'll have to either rent or buy special tools for sanding.

There is a good reason why sanding hardwood floors is vital despite it being a difficult, time consuming and costly process. Sanding is the part of the hardwood restoration or repair process that would truly bring out the visual quality of hardwood floors.

Knowledge of how to sand your hardwood floors and proper application of that knowledge can bring out the beauty of it. This beauty is a combination of wood grain, color tone and shine. Sanding is what helps bring out the hardwood's grain quality. In addition, sanding makes for smoother hardwood flooring, thereby increasing the comfort value of the flooring.

Be aware that the tools you will need for sanding are not your usual power tools. You'll have to either buy these tools from a hardware shop or rent them from a tool rental company for a few days. Between buying and renting these sanding tools, go with renting. It isn't really cost effective to buy them if you are only going to refinish your hardwoord flooring every few years or so.

The sanding tools you'll need are:

- sandpaper with at least three ratings (heavy, light and in between)
- vacuum cleaner
- buffer
- sander
- edger
- masks, goggles, gloves, etc. for dust protection

There is good sanding and bad sanding. It is vital that before you start sanding, you clean the floor thoroughly. There should not be any nails sticking out and the floor must generally be even.

First, you need to apply the heaviest sandpaper. Make sure you run the sander on the floor in even strokes. Take note that this process takes a while and involves expending a lot of energy so be prepared; otherwise, you'd get a bad back ache. When the heaviest sandpaper layer is used up, use the lighter sandpaper on the hardwood flooring next. Finally, use the lightest sandpaper.

The edges and corners of your hardwood flooring are hard to reach areas so you'll have to sand them using a handheld edger.

Be warned that sanding involves dust particles flying all around so be sure to wear protective gear while sanding hardwood floors. In addition, close all vents that connect the room you're working in to the other rooms in the house. The last thing you want is dust throughout the house. Make sure that the only vent on is the one that's connected to the outside of your house. Close the doors in the room where you're sanding and place wet sheets or towels along the doors to keep dust from seeping out.

Wholesale Hardwood Flooring - Isn't That Just For Retailers

You can buy wholesale hardwood flooring directly from the major manufacturers such as Dupont, Armstrong, Mohawk, Hartco and others. Usually hardwood flooring at a wholesale price is reserved just for wholesalers or for flooring retailers. However, many companies do offer their customers the chance to purchase wholesale hardwood flooring at prices far below the retail price, even though they may not actually be as low as wholesale.

One of the ways you can save money by buying wholesale hardwood flooring is to look at the selection of laminate hardwood flooring. The difference in the price of laminate flooring as compared to solid wood will make it seem as you are buying wholesale wood flooring. With the recent advancements in the manufacture of laminate flooring, it is much harder to tell the difference between laminate and hardwood. You can kill two birds with one stone - you get the flooring you want at a wholesale price and you get the look of hardwood that you always wanted.

Hardwood flooring wholesalers often offer customers the chance to buy hardwood flooring at a wholesale price. These events are usually an annual event when the wholesalers want to clear out their warehouses to make room for more stock. You buy the wholesale hardwood flooring as is, which could include some damaged boards or there may only be a small supply of certain woods or finishes. You do need to make sure that you buy enough hardwood because if you do spoil a few boards or run out before you get the room completed, you may not be able to get the hardwood to finish it.

Even when you are buying wholesale hardwood flooring, the sales staff will help you choose the right color to suit your furniture. If you are not sure how to calculate the amount of hardwood flooring you need, hardwood flooring wholesalers will do this for you and many of them also have delivery service available as well. Wholesale wood flooring sales usually draw large crowds of homeowners who are either building a new home or considering a remodelling project.

Wholesale hardwood flooring is available in all grades of hardwood. This is an excellent way to get the best quality hardwood for your flooring needs at prices you would expect to pay for the lesser quality boards. Even if you plan a flooring project in the future, you can buy the wholesale wood flooring and store it until you are ready to use it. However, hardwood flooring wholesalers will not accept a deposit with this type of sale or agree to keep it in the warehouse until you are ready. You do need to have a place in which to keep your wholesale hardwood flooring.

Hardwood Flooring Considerations

Here are some Considerations before buying Hardwood Flooring

Hardwood Floors are a beautiful addition to any home, but there are certain things you need to think about before making your purchase. Is hardwood right for your home? Do you have an unusual amount of traffic in your home that will make a hardwood floor look really worn in a short period of time? Big dogs? Kids? Heavy traffic of people? Equipment that needs to be moved on a continuous basis? A room that is a play room, where kids skate or skateboard or practice their tumbling exercises? It is important to consider all these types of uses.

You can of course have all these existing conditions in your home and still own hardwood floors. But, just know this, Hardwood flooring is beautiful, but it is a natural product that scratches very easily. Some manufacturers say that their finish is “the best finish on the market, the toughest finish, no scratch finish” etc. But, let me tell you, there is no such thing when you have hardwood floors. They do scratch if you abuse them.

If you have high traffic areas like these, here are some suggestions. There are products that are called hand-scraped or rustic. These products start off looking slightly used, and that is part of their charm. They hide normal wear and tear in heavy type traffic situations. Another suggestion; put area rugs in your highest traffic areas. Entrances, or hallways or kitchens.

Also; you might consider making your home a no shoes home. This helps reduce scratches and the dirt that comes in to your home. Last; protect your hardwood floor from your furniture! The moment you have the new floor installed, put furniture protectors under all furniture legs. Learn from my mistake, and don’t go through the agony I did. I had just finished installing my mother’s hardwood floor, it looked beautiful. I was moving the furniture back into place. I pushed the couch across the floor and to my distress, noticed huge scratch made by the couch legs. I can’t tell you how upset I was, being that I had just finished the installation the day before and the floor was brand new. So, please learn from my mistake, so you don’t have to rush out like I did and buy a floor repair kit!

The second consideration when buying hardwood flooring:

What type of climate do you live in? Do you have tons of humidity? Are there extreme changes in temperature between seasons? Do you live in an environment that you like to keep the doors and windows wide open to feel the ocean breeze? Do you have lots of snow and wet snow shoes coming in your home? Do you have a pool or an ocean near you where there is water from wet people coming in a lot?

First off, let's talk about the humidity. You can have hardwood flooring in an area where the humidity is high, but the most recommended type of flooring is an engineered hardwood. It is manufactured specifically for this type of situation. Engineered hardwood is not a laminate. It has several plys of wood underneath, with a real wood layer on the surface. The wood plys are glued together in opposite directions, so that the product expands and contracts less with humidity. The main thing to consider is the wear layer when buying a product like this. Look at the wood wear layer and make sure it is not paper thin. You can of course use a solid hardwood floor in this type of situation as well. But, be prepared for the trouble you might experience. All of our installation business is right on the coast in Florida with high humidity. We take all the precautions we can when installing a solid hardwood, but we have still had swelling and buckling problems when people do not take care of their floor properly. Many people don’t know this about Hardwood. You have to manage the temperature. You can’t let it get up to 90 degrees in your room, you can’t let it get extremely cold. That means, you can’t leave the windows wide open all the time to feel the air outside. Because, many times these situations cause hardwood to swell, expand, contract, etc.

The last point I want to make is about water getting on to hardwood. If you have a pool and you have kids running in and out that constantly get the floor wet, you will have problems. Wood absorbs moisture. And, when it gets wet, it gets ruined. This seems a silly thing to mention, but many people do not take this in to consideration. I would always suggest you have an area (main entrance) that has tile, rubber, vinyl. Use this area to dry yourself off before coming in to where your hardwood flooring is. Once you get hardwood flooring wet, it is ruined. It will not dry out later, then be ok. It will have to be replaced.

5 Types Of Hardwood Floors Popular Today

There are types of hardwood floors that look good in virtually every type of room. Before choosing a type of hardwood floor to install in a room, you need to learn about the advantages and disadvantages of the various types. There are currently five popular hardwood flooring types. When you know the hardwood flooring types that are popular today, you will be able to make a choice you will be happy with for years to come.

- Types of Hardwood floors: Prefinished

Prefinished hardwood floors have quickly become the most popular type of hardwood flooring. They are easy to buy and completely ready for installation. Purchasing is just a matter of finding a wood grain and finish that matches your home. In most cases, for installation, all you have to do is lay the floor panels down and make a few cuts to fit them as you reach the wall with each row of paneling. This is by far the easiest among the types of hardwood floors to install.

- Types of Hardwood Floors: Unfinished

When you put your floor together with unfinished hardwood, it is left to you to manually handle the finishing process. This means you will need to sand, buffer, stain, and coat the hardwood floor after you install it. This is a big time and labor disadvantage from the prefinished floor.

But there are reasons why you may prefer an unfinished hardwood floor installation. One of the best reasons for installing this type of floor is if you are planning on selling the building soon. You can then have the new tenants choose the color that matches their needs or desires before finishing the wood. If you install prefinished wood in such a scenario, you would face a choice of losing a customer or reinstalling the wood floor.

- Types of Hardwood Floors: Solid Wood

This was a popular hardwood floor type until recently. It is very hard to install and to remove. You can find the lumber for solid wood floors in the form of either parquet, plank, or strip. Strip is the easiest to install by far, but those looking for ease would do better with one of the other types of hardwood floors.

- Types of Hardwood Floors: Engineered Wood

Engineered wood is made out of multiple layers of veneer. These layers of wood are glued together with high quality glue. This design makes them very sturdy, as they benefit from the grains and features of each layer of veneer. Also, this allows you to use one wood at the surface to match your house, and higher quality woods make up the lower veneer layers.

For example, if you want a house full of birch furniture, you can have the surface layer of the floor made of birch, with sturdy oak layers supporting the floor. This combination would give you the durability of oak with the beauty of birch.

Engineered wood flooring can also handle a wider variety of climates. They are much more immune than the previously mentioned hardwood floor types to humidity, spills, and temperature extremes. This is why engineered wood floors are often recommended for basements where water is often prevalent.

- Types of Hardwood Floors: Acrylic Impregnated Wood

Acrylic impregnated wood floors are similar to prefinished floors, except that they are built with a special new process. The coloring and acrylic are put into the wood planks' pores under high pressure. The floor planks that result are very durable. These floors do not get as easily scratched as the other hardwood floors. They do really well in busy places and with frequent furniture moves. They are also much more resistant to climate extremes than the other types of hardwood floors.

Hardwood Flooring Adds Beauty and Value

For one of the best investments you can make in your home, consider installing hardwood floors. The look of hardwood floors changes everything. They can make a room look bigger because of the clear open space, but at the same time keep it warm and inviting because it is wood. Hardwood flooring is more expensive than other flooring alternatives, but well worth the extra cost because it is so popular among home buyers.

The simple elegance of hardwood flooring has always been in vogue, but never as much as today when people like clean, elegant looks for their homes.

It doesn't matter what kind of decor you have chosen; hardwood flooring looks equally beautiful in a formal dining room or in the casual family room.

Hardwood flooring adds warmth and beauty to a home, and in today's hectic world, the home has become a sanctuary where we seek such peace and beauty to comfort us after a hard day's work. Picture coming in the door after being out in the cold winter and being greeted with the warm ambiance of glowing wood.

Another valuable feature of hardwood flooring besides its beauty and the warm feeling it imbues, is the fact that it is so durable and long lasting, moreso than laminate flooring. If you take proper care of your hardwood floors, they will last for years and years. Follow the manufacturer's recommendations regarding proper cleaning and treatments, and you will not only keep them looking gorgeous, you will also be protecting your valuable investment in your home. Keeping on top of any minor repairs will forestall larger problems in the long run, so be sure to do the proper upkeep.

You will be amazed and even a little overwhelmed when you start to shop for hardwood flooring since the range of choices is so great. You want to make sure you make the right decision, since this is a large, long term investment in your home. Better to spend some time in shopping and researching exactly what the right kind of hardwood flooring is best for you than to shop in haste and be disappointed in your decision.

Another thing to be careful about is looking for a bargain when you are shopping for hardwood floors. Yes, they do exist, but there are many inferior products that just sound like bargains but may not be over the long run. If you end up replacing these floors after a few years, they really cost more than the better quality, more expensive ones. For such a large item as hardwood flooring, you can usually get financing for the product, or you may consider a home equity loan since it is an improvement to the property.

You do have to give your hardwood floors a bit of the velvet glove treatment. You don't want to put heavy furniture on it without pad under them, and you certainly don't want to drag any furniture over the floor. High traffic areas should be covered with area rugs, and you might consider scuff rugs for entrances, so that dirt, sand or grime is not dragged onto the floor. Kitchens are not considered the ideal place to install hardwood floors because of the high risk of exposure to moisture and water damage. If you do decide to use hardwood flooring in the kitchen, just be prepared for frequent repairs or replacements.

Hardwood Floors 101

Hardwood floors can be installed anywhere in a home and can be prepared from several species of wood such as elm, ash, oak, amendoim, cypress, teak, cherry, walnut, rosewood, hickory, and maple. The hardness, stability, color, and alterations in color vary with wood type. Chestnut, Douglas fir, and North American Cherry offer low hardness whereas hardwood from Brazilian Walnut, Caribbean Cherry, and Bloodwood is extremely hard. The stability of hardwood flooring has an inverse relation with the moisture inherent in the wood and is independent of the engineering. The appearance of unfinished hardwood flooring plays an important role in the grading process. The commonly assigned grades to hardwood flooring include clear, select, common 1, common 2, grade 1, grade 2, and grade 3.

Hardwood flooring enhances the look of a room and when laid in harmony with the furniture and other elements in the interior design of a room, it bestows an elegance that synthetic flooring is unable to match.

Hardwood flooring can be installed using the following methods:

Nail Down: Nails are used to attach hardwood to the subfloor either on grade or above grade. Nails are usually used for hardwood with a thickness of 3/4”.

Staple Down: Nails can be substituted with a pneumatic stapler for attaching the hardwood to the subfloor. Stapling is easier to accomplish as compared to nailing and is therefore favored by DIY enthusiasts.

Glue Down: Patterned wood panels or parquets can be glued to the subfloor on, above, or below grade. The subfloor can be either wooden or concrete.

Floating: Engineered and Longstrip floors can be installed using the floating process in which a pad of foam is placed between the floors and the subfloor. The hardwood boards are held in place by means of adhesive that is applied in the tongue and groove portion of each board. Floating enables the installation of hardwood on uneven surfaces.

Hardwood flooring is easy to maintain and the following guidelines should help homeowners to ensure the beauty and longevity of their hardwood flooring.

• The flooring must be swept and vacuumed regularly to prevent the accumulation of dust that may scratch the finish

• Doormats and rugs at entrances prevent sand particles from abrading the hardwood flooring

• Furniture and chairs should have padding on the legs in order to prevent scratching the floor while dragging/moving furniture

• The dimensions of hardwood flooring are liable to change with humidity; a relative humidity of around 45% should be maintained all year round

• A rug or mat should be placed in front of workstations, washbasins, kitchen sinks in order to prevent scratching and staining from utensils, detergents, and water

• Hardwood flooring should be protected from direct light, whether natural or artificial. Intense direct light can lead to discoloration of the floor

Hardwood floorings can be treated with surface finishes that lend it a gloss, increase resilience, and make it water-resistant. The finishes consist of urethanes and polyurethanes. A hardwood floor with a surface finish does not require waxing.

Wax finishes penetrate the cells of the wood and offer a low-gloss finish. Periodic buffing helps to restore the sheen of wax-finished floors. Hardwood flooring used in areas of high traffic such as stores and restaurants are impregnated with acrylic finishes that increase its hardness and durability.

Hardwood Floors - Some Useful Tips

Carpet used to be the most popular floor covering around, but it’s always had it’s problems. Dust and dirt get trapped in carpet easily, making it difficult to clean, and likely to start looking bad and aggravating people’s allergies over time. It is also difficult to have carpet in nice colours, as light colours are much more prone to being stained by dropped food or drink, necessitating the use of expensive cleaning products that may not even work.

Hardwood flooring solves all these problems. It can be light-coloured while remaining easy to clean, as there is no way for stains or dirt to get attached to it. Wood floors also tend to have interesting natural patterns, which are usually much better than the flowery or swirly-patterned carpets they replace. Also hardwood, as opposed to softwood, will not dent or scratch if heavy objects are dropped or placed on it.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that hardwood flooring doesn’t have problems of its own. To begin with, it is often expensive, as natural materials must be used instead of synthetic ones. It also tends to take longer to lay, as it must be laid in strips instead of being cut to size and laid all at once as carpet can be. Wood floor can lose its shine over time, making it dull in appearance, yet at the same time stays slippery, making it dangerous to walk on in socks.

For most people, though, the advantages of wood floor over other kinds of flooring outweigh the disadvantages. If you’re thinking of getting hardwood flooring, it is usually best to get the highest quality floor you can afford. If you’re not convinced of the value you’ll be getting for your money, have a walk around in a house that has cheap wood flooring compared to one that has gone to some extra expensive: the worst wood floors are little better than laminate, while the best ones can be truly excellent.

Putting In Bamboo Flooring

As beautiful and popular as hardwood flooring is, many are choosing bamboo flooring as an alternative. Not only is it beautiful, but it is also an environmentally friendly type of home flooring. Many major manufacturers such as Columbia Flooring, Mohawk Flooring and Armstrong Flooring all carry some type of bamboo product for your floors.

Next to steel, bamboo is one of the strongest flooring products. Even stronger than some wood flooring, its durability makes it the perfect choice for your floor. It's more comfortable on your feet than stone flooring and stronger than linoleum. The density, feel and weight of bamboo is similar to real hardwood flooring.

You have your choice of using an engineered product or solid bamboo. Engineered bamboo is combined with another type of wood, usually a bamboo surface with a core of plywood. You can then stain the bamboo with a coat of urethane as you would with hardwood floor. Bamboo floors are installed in the same way as hardwood floors, either nailed or glued to the sub floor. You can also get some of the newer versions that lock together like tongue and groove. This eliminates the nailing and gluing and gives a "floating floor" appearance.

It's important that the sub floor is level before you begin installation. If it isn't level, you can use asphalt shingles to make it level. The sub floor needs to be clean and completely dry as moisture may damage your new floor.

Besides the beauty and ease of bamboo, many are choosing to use bamboo as a means to help the environment. We're all being made aware of the depletion of hardwood products. Many of these woods such as walnut and oak trees do not grow fast enough to keep up with the "supply and demand". As a way to save our natural resources such as wood, many environmentally conscious people are choosing to using alternatives such as bamboo. Bamboo, unlike hardwood, grows faster than any other tree used in the manufacture of wood flooring. It only takes five years for a bamboo plant to mature. Even when they're harvested, new shoots begin to grow quickly.

Bamboo floor is very easy to maintain, needing only dusting and mopping. A cleaning solution consisting of 4 parts water to 1 part vinegar does an excellent job of cleaning with a damp sponge mop. The floor needs to be dried immediately with a towel so the moisture doesn't damage the bamboo. Simple spills can be wiped with a damp cloth and dried immediately. To keep the floor looking shiny, you can buff it with a buff sander. Your bamboo floor will look new for many years with proper care.

Wide Plank Hardwood Floors

Old houses usually have wide plank hardwood floors. It was the practice during the colonial times to cut through the tree to the center. The boards produced varied in width as they moved closer to the core.

The bark was removed from around the edges. The boards were then smoothened and straightened. The end results were floors featuring boards in different sizes.

Hardwoods for Floors

Different kinds woods are suitable as material for floors. The most common, although most expensive, are oak, chestnut, and maple. There are also other exotic kinds of wood from different parts of the world. But before you order, make sure that they come from sustainable forests.

Hand scraping, a process that gives new floors an antique look is popular among manufacturers who customize hardwoods. People just love the rustic charm that comes with floors that display a bit of history; of it being part of some exciting and interesting past. Wood gives that added elegance to any room.

A ballroom for example will look good with a floor made from wide planks of hardwood. Or a lobby will look all the more imposing and grand with richly textured and colored wide wooden planks.

The Wider The Better

Depending on the size and importance of the room, the width of the hardwood planks varies. Some people, however, believe that the wider the planks, the more elegant the hardwood floor looks.

Nowadays, production of hardwood floorboards undergoes strict quality control. They come in prefabricated sizes and specifications. This new breed of flooring is oftentimes engineered to allow easy installation. And these materials are easy to care for and maintain.

Wider planks create a look of elegance and style. The patterns on the wood are more visible. The whole floor looks decadent and rich with texture.

You may encounter a bit of a problem with wider planks. When they become damaged beyond restoration, you many have to replace the whole thing. This can be very expensive. Or when the planks expand due to moisture, you may have to do some major renovations. Despite all these consideration, wider planks evoke their own level of elegance and class.

Enter Sandman: Why Sanding Unfinished Hardwood Floors is Important

Let’s face it: sanding hardwood floors is not much fun for most people. It can demand a lot of effort, and result in a lot noise and mess. It often seems like a real trial to homeowners, building managers and office building tenants, knowing that the beauty and strength of custom hardwood floors is some distance away from being realized when still at the sanding stage. However, it is an extremely important stage in the process of installing a custom hardwood floors solution that is meant to last for as long as the property will. As such, it deserves attention, and a certain level of dedication on the part of the installer.

Why bother sanding?

One of the best means of getting down to any job and doing it well is to know the reasons why it is so important to the whole project. As far as sanding custom hardwood floors, there are a number of reasons why it is vital to the success of your overall project, some of which have to do with your specific situation. Overall, sanding is a way to make sure that the surface you will be transforming is free of any materials that will disallow proper absorption of stain or finish. This is true both of custom hardwood floors that are being re-finished, or custom hardwood floors that are to be finished for the first time.

Protection

Since stains and/or finishes serve as a protective barrier for custom hardwood floors and are an integral part of maintaining the lifelong health of the floor, making sure that it is absorbed correctly is imperative. Elements like dirt, old paint layers, or even the remnants of old stain or finish can hinder this goal. Therefore, sanding is absolutely necessary to a custom hardwood floor’s installation and its ultimate value to the property.

Exotic Hardwood Floors

Beautiful floors can often make the difference between a nice home and a breathtaking one. Nothing can add to the aesthetics of your home like the natural beauty of exotic hardwood floors. Installing exotic hardwood floors to your home is also an excellent way to increase the value of your home. Installing hardwood flooring in your home provides a solid return on investment (ROI) of about 70-80 percent on average.

Exotic hardwood floors are made from hardwood species that are not found in the United States. They most commonly come from Australia, Africa, Brazil and Asia. Types of exotic hardwood floors include bamboo, eucalyptus, cork, Bolivian mahogany, Bolivian teak, Bolivian rosewood, Brazilian cherry, Brazilian walnut, Brazilian maple, and Brazilian koa.

Installing exotic hardwood floors is a project of low to moderate difficulty that many homeowner will be able to do themselves.

Exotic Hardwood Floors

First, you’ll want to decide where you want to install the exotic hardwood floors. Do you want to install them in the entire home or just in select rooms? Then measure the square footage you will need.

Once you know the square footage you will need, do some research online and in local home improvement stores to find the type of exotic hardwood you want and the best prices. When you find the type you want and a good price, buy however much you need. You’ll want to find out from the merchant what methods of installation are feasible with the particular type you buy.

After obtaining the hardwood, you are ready to begin installing it. There are 5 main installation methods. They are nail down, staple down, glue down, glue less, and floating.

Depending on the subflooring you have, concrete slab, wood, etc., some options may not be feasible. The quickest, easiest, and cleanest method is floating, but not all types of exotic hardwood floors can be installed in this method.

Installing exotic hardwood floors is a great way to dramatically increase the aesthetics and value of your home. The project is relatively simple and can be accomplished by most homeowners. There are virtually limitless combinations of installation methods and exotic hardwood species. With so many combinations, you’ll be able to find the right one to match your style.

Hardwood Flooring Facts to Take Note

It is now voguish to use hardwood as flooring material for your home. Hardwood flooring has been known since long to withstand the ravages of time while making the floor look elegant. For these and other reasons, hardwood flooring is considered as a best flooring options.

Reasons for choosing hardwood flooring

The hardwood flooring is stylish and pleasing to the eye. This is easy to maintain and can last for even a lifetime. The hardwood floors are not only durable but also easy to keep clean. A simple dusting or sweeping done on a daily basis is sufficient. The hardwood floors look fabulous even after years of being set up and exude a warm and natural feel. The best part of the hardwoods used for flooring purpose is that they match well with homes of all styles and representative of all periods- old or modern. These also come in a great variety of woods, patterns, stains and finishes. The hardwood flooring materials being hypo-allergenic are health friendly. Besides these being natural are environment friendly too.

Hardwood flooring offering comfort and value

Usage of hardwood as flooring material increases the value of a home. Homes with hardwood flooring in living rooms, dens, hallways and stairs where hardwood suits best are deemed to be of great worth.

The hardwood floors offer comfort that perhaps no other flooring can give and they offer good value for money. Though the initial investment in case of hardwood flooring may be higher in comparison to carpeting or vinyl it requires no replacement and has resale value. Thus the hardwood floors retain their value for long.

Purchasing hardwood flooring gainfully

The hardwood flooring can be purchased directly from the major manufacturers. Though wholesale purchasing will usually fetch the lowest prices there are some manufacturers who may be offering the products at lower than retail prices even if there is no bulk buying being done. You may look out for such offers if any is being made available.

Another way of saving money while purchasing hardwood flooring is choosing from among the laminate hardwood flooring available. The recent advancements made in the manufacture of laminate floors has made it all the more difficult to differentiate between laminate and hardwood. The laminate hardwood flooring comes for a cheaper price. Hence, with the laminate hardwood flooring at hand you can get to secure flooring material that has the hardwood looks while coming at wholesale prices of hardwood.

Hardwood Flooring vs Laminate - The Choice Is Yours

When it comes to Hardwood flooring vs laminate there is no right and wrong answer but depends on your own personal taste and situation. This article will take a look at both types of flooring but the ultimate decision is a personal one.

For some consumers you cannot beat the look of real hardwood flooring with its unique rich look with no two boards that look exactly the same. To them laminate flooring looks fake as the pattern repeats over and over but for other people the appearance is realistic hardly noticing that it is not the real thing.

Durability is an important issue when it comes to hardwood flooring vs laminate. Laminate flooring is extremely durable, hard to damage or dent, and very fade, water and stain resistant. This makes laminate floors a popular choice as they are easy to maintain. For some ease of maintenance can override a less than realistic appearance. Hardwood flooring requires daily and preventative maintenance to prevent it from getting scratched, dented or from fading.

Costs is another important consideration to consumers when it comes to hardwood flooring vs laminate. Hardwood floors are more costly than laminate floors but are known to increase your homes value. So an important consideration would be how long you intend to be in your home and will you realize the increase in value.

Longevity is another important consideration as to whether you want hardwood flooring vs laminate.
Hardwood flooring can be refinished again many times over therefore lasting for a lifetime and more. Laminate floors cannot be sanded or refinished if the top layer is worn.

Installation is easier with the tongue and groove system of laminate flooring whereas hardwood flooring is more difficult. Laminate floors can also be installed in any room in the house whereas hardwood should not be installed in bathrooms or basements due to problems with moisture.

Your decision on hardwood flooring vs laminate will come down to what is the most important component in your situation. For some it will come down to looks and for them nothing beats the beauty of real wood. For others it may come down to cost and ease of maintenance are the most important components whatever you decide the choice is yours.

Hardwood Floor Refinishing San Francisco

Hardwood Floors

First and foremost, it's valuable to know that hardwood sorts of floors are extraordinary forms of floors that can be made use of for years in a residence and still look rich and also attractive; you will not need to keep changing your home floors frequently and spending excess money. Because of exposure to sunlight and also heavy traffic, your hardwood floor can't help but change color, however such challenges can be corrected if the maker's sustenance instructions are adhered.

Carpets have the complication of mold and dust mites. Certainly, this can be terrible for individuals suffering from allergies, nonetheless, if your home has hardwood floors, you don't need to go through this. Here in lies just one more benefit of utilizing hardwood floor.

Your hardwood floors can get spoiled by small dirt granules; so to prevent such ruin, you can obviously assign a particular part of your residence to be made use of for keeping shoes coming in the house. Engineered wood floors do not press or increase like usual hardwood does because of warmth or humidity; this just means that this floor can be made use of to cover lots of the forms of floors already in use these days.

Your very best bet regarding flooring product's warranty is one that covers a minimum of fifteen years; this way you'll be convinced that you have obviously spent money well.

Tough wood is an extremely remarkable type of hardwood flooring that is got from only one hard piece of wood but its downside is that it is more prone to moisture; more over it expands and also contracts lots more than engineered type of wood does. If hardwood flooring includes a wear layer of very good quality then the home owner can easily refinish the floors as commonly as he can but when flooring's wear layer is of exceptionally pitiful quality then it will not effectively withstand a refinishing.

To close, by installing a hardwood flooring that is of better quality, you can confidently create a beautiful setting for a fine residence that will surely be a comfort to you.

6 Quick Cleaning Tips For Hardwood Floors

Your home is one of your most precious belongings. You want to keep it as clean as possible but there are times when you find it hard to clean the floor, especially if it's hardwood. So how will you clean it? Consider these quick cleaning tips and you'll be done in no time.

1. Always sweep your hardwood floor using fine, soft bristle broom. Every time you see dust or dirt, sweep the floor; it would only take about a few seconds of your time.

2. Your floor has many enemies, and one deadly enemy is water. Once you see a water spill on your hardwood floor, remove it right away. Wet spills should be removed as soon as possible using a vacuum (wet/dry) or soft towels. Make sure that the floor is thoroughly dried otherwise this will be the start of your floor's deterioration.

3. You should vacuum your hardwood floor twice every week but others prefer to vacuum their floor only once every week to reduce scratching. To ensure that your floor is free from any scratch, use the soft brush vacuum attachment.

4. As much as possible, avoid wearing high heels and heavy shoes over your hardwood floors because they can cause unwanted dents.

5. When rearranging your furniture, don't drag them and other heavy objects across your hardwood floor. Clean your floor and remove dirt or dust thoroughly. Use gliding pads for your furniture and slide them across your floor.

6. Make sure that you put floor mats on every doorway so that the shoes can't carry dirt to your hardwood floor.

So there you have it, six quick cleaning tips. If you carefully observe these tips, you will find it easier to clean your floors.

Latest Trends in Hardwood Floors

Hardwood flooring has rocked the groundwork of interior designing, making homes look more elegant, rustic and pleasant to the eye, depending on the kind of wood used. The wood flooring industry has gained a good amount of the market share, making it possible to use almost any wood for flooring. Though, there are plenty of choices in hardwood flooring, the latest species that are used are becoming a trend, since they add the old world elegance. Manufacturers have moved on from the traditional use of oak floorings to exotic species that are imported from Africa, Brazil and elsewhere from the world.

Wood from species like Bamboo, Cork, Oak, Cumaru, Beech, Santos Mahogany, Teak, Walnut, and Brazilian Cherry are rapidly picking up as popular hardwood flooring choices. The hardwood floors might set the ambiance of the room, giving it a different look and feel. Besides, other factors like foot traffic, purpose of room, and location should be considered since each of the hardwood floors has different benchmarks for wear and tear, resistance, moisture etc. So the hardwood materials durability, toughness, darkness have to be considered. Keeping all of this in mind, besides the ever-durable, timeless oak hardwood, hardwood floors made of Australian Cypress and Brazilian Cherry are becoming a rage.

Those who have never seen it before cannot easily spot Australian Cypress flooring. It has an earthy tone and bears a resemblance to knotty pine. This gives it an added advantage, making it balance with the furniture around the house because of its subtle brown, shadowed amber and sporadic green. The Australian Cypress hardwood flooring is much more durable and is able to hide signs of wear because of its intricate knots and swirls. In the past five to seven years, another wood species has become very popular as hardwood flooring, known as Brazilian Cherry or Jatoba, Brazilian Cherry hardwood flooring has a different appeal from that of traditional hardwood floorings made of Oaks and Maple. It has darker shades of tan and reddish browns that will complement practically every piece of furniture in your home.

The use of Australian Cypress and Brazilian Cherry in hardwood flooring has become trendy because of their unique look. It might not agree with your tastes because of the swirls, knots and golden appearance or erratic spread of shades. This doesn't mean that these trends have to be forced in your home. There are other trends that are fast picking up like Bamboo hardwood flooring, Distressed hardwood flooring, Santos Mahogany hardwood flooring, Cumaru hardwood flooring etc. Each of these has their unique display of ambiance that can add to the finesse of home interiors.

Brazilian Cherry Hardwood Floor Rocks Interior Designing

Hardwood flooring has rocked the interior designers. New trends and designs have challenged the designers. Hardwood flooring makes the home look more classy, elegant and rustic and eye appealing. Hardwood flooring has gained popularity and gained good amount of market share. There are plenty of choices of hardwood floorings, but the one that appeals is the Brazilian Cherry Hardwood. Brazilian Cherry Hardwood is one of the exotic species that's imported from Brazil.

Brazilian Cherry Hardwood is nowadays very popular as it sets the ambiance of the room by giving it a romantic feel. Brazilian Cherry Hardwood is twice as hard as open grained Oak. Brazilian Cherry Hardwood comes in dark orange or reddish brown with features like dark brown or black streaks in the background. This wood tends to darken giving it a rustic look after several months of installation. Brazilian Solihull Cherry is hard and moisture resistant therefore it's good if used in kitchen, hallways, baths and entryways. You should always order ten percent extra during installation because it tends to split. This is absolutely essential and should always be carried out, or else you will be left short of materials.

Brazilian Cherry Hardwood comes from trees that grown 120 feet and it looks great even after wear and tear. Its strong therefore it's highly resistant to scratches, breaks and other blemishes that are usually associated with hardwood flooring.

Your Brazilian Cherry Hardwood looks great if used in making banisters, cabinets and furniture's. Hardwood flooring should be polished well and cleaned as per the manufacturer's instructions. Water can damage it like in any other hardwood. Therefore if you have used Brazilian Cherry Hardwood near the sink then you should place a rug or a dry cloth near the location, otherwise you could run into problems with your floor.

Brazilian Cherry Hardwood flooring should be used to create a rustic look as it's highly durable and strong and looks great. It's slightly expensive as compared to other hardwoods. High price cannot beat the look of your guests when they see Brazilian Cherry Hardwood Flooring in your sitting room.

Water based cleaners are safe and easy to clean on a well-finished floor. You always get the best results if you thoroughly clean the surface beforehand. Always select a PH neutral cleaner for a floor that's new or newly refurbished. There are many strategies that can help you clean your hardwood floor like never use damp rags especially the wet ones to clean the hardwood floor. If you have a wax-coated floor then the water might seep into the floor. So always try to use soft dry rags for a polished hardwood floor. Hardwood floors last for your entire lifetimes so be careful with it and take due care in cleaning and maintaining it to add more life. Brazilian Cherry Hardwood Flooring is available throughout North America including specialist dealers such as Mike Berry Flooring, Christopher Freville Flooring and Tampa Bay Floors To Go. Always ask for what's included before agreeing to a price.

Hardwood Flooring - A Primer

Of all flooring materials, hardwood flooring is perhaps the most practical one available for use in your home. Hardwood flooring is a classic and timeless floor solution that has proven itself over centuries as a durable and beautiful natural flooring option. Natural flooring is a highly popular choice for many homeowners and it never goes out of style.

Today's hardwood flooring is much easier to maintain, more durable and come in a wider selection of hardwood species than ever before. Although many homeowners have pets, hardwood flooring is not designed for the abuse a dog or cat can cause on a floor. Installing new flooring is a very popular home improvement project.

Your hardwood flooring should be taken into consideration as a prime investment in your home. Hardwood flooring is one of the most stunning additions you can integrate into your home, as it is a great addition to any home or apartment condo. It is a great investment that that will last for generations in your home without going out of style.

Keeping up with your hardwood flooring is pretty easy. But the real story of hardwood flooring is its natural beauty and longevity. Hardwood flooring is durable and timeless. The range of hardwood flooring is large and there is no right or wrong choice. The flooring is generally sanded and finished after all trim and cabinetry is installed and finished.

Although expensive, hardwood flooring is elegant and beautiful, yet durable enough to last for a lifetime of wear and tear in the average home. Whatever your choice of flooring in hardwood, you can't go wrong with the great addition of flooring any room of your home. Take a look at hardwood flooring, not only for its appeal, but also as a solid investment in the value of your home.

Prefinished Hardwood Vs. Hardwood Laminate

Hardwood is a better investment as far as longevity goes. It has a more natural and
polished look uch longer. Even after the hardwood has led a rough life there are
options. You can refinish, or just let the personality be apart of the decore.
Hardwood has a look and a feel that even the best laminate can not replicate. But, it
comes at a price. it is about twice the price of laminate.

Twice the price, you say. Good laminate does look great for a long time. It stands up
to "life" very well. There are many options and colors. Installation is a snap (literally)
to install. If you have kids or have dinner parties where women wear the sharp
heels. laminate may be a better choice.

I am always partial to prefinished hardwood. I have installed hardwood laminate
before. I was not impressed with the "feel" and the "clack" that I heard and felt
walking on it. It looked beautiful though.

The best way to choose between prefinished hardwood and hardwood laminate is
how you will use the room slated for installation. The other is price. It is difficult to
tell the best laminate from hardwood.

Sorry, but even given all the information, my choice is still the prefinished
hardwood.