Hardwood Installation

How to choose your Hardwood Flooring

Hardwood Flooring comes in two main Types: Solid hardwood Flooring and Engineered Hardwood Flooring. Solid Hardwood is essentially a "piece" of the tree itself, and as such is subject to the ever present problem of all live wood products: Expansion and Contraction".

Real solid hardwood expands and contracts with changes in both Moisture and ambient temperature, though moisture changes is the number#1 enemy we are all trying to avoid.

Engineered hardwood on the other hand is "man made" by layering various plywood substrates and a final "Hardwood Veneer" on the top for the final look. The wood constructed this way is impervious to moisture changes causing expansion and contraction, leaving us with an completely stable product.

From the department of Energy

I am often asked this question, what type of wood flooring is best for my house? Understanding where in the house, we are trying to install hardwood flooring and what is the house construction are main areas I am trying to address here on out.

Our illustration on the right (from the department of Energy) maps out different areas of the house. Solid hardwood will only be used above ground, while below ground, in the basement where moisture is our number one enemy we would only use an Engineereed type of wood.

Solid Hardwood

Solid hardwood is beautiful, and will give many many years of solid performance under foot. Solid Hardwood comes in maily two types, Prefinished Hardwood Flooring, and Unfinished Hardwood Flooring. Two complete different processes are used, as the material is very different in its stated application needs.

Unfinished Hardwood Installation.

Courtesy of Gilbert Lodge

Is installed normally with staples...or nails, though i prefer staples becasuse their "locking ability".
After that is sanded multiple times, scraped, and finished in place.

• The main advantage of unfinished hardwood flooring is the absence of micro bevels, thus the resulting floor is completely flat and smooth. (a contractor favorite)
• If you are in the midst of new construction, On site finish gives the contractor a lot more flexibility with schedules and such.
• Dirty - Smelly - Slow, some the drawbacks. a little more expensive
• Less choice available, most (not all) exotics only come in prefinished form (better profit margin for the producer)
• Medallions, Parquets, Herringbone, Borders and other specialty intricate design patterns are mostly available only in "unfinished forms"

Prefinished Solid Hardwoods

Are simply nailed or stapled, because the finish has been applied at the factory. The main advantage of this type of wood is

• The finish has been applied at the factory. Factory finishes are a lot harder than store bought by a contractor.
• The factory applies several coats, sometime up to twelve. 7 to10 coats is the norm, and in the last two coats Aluminum Oxide is mixed in the finish to create a super hard and resilient product.
• Yes, a micro bevel is part of the product. some people like them some hate them, necessary so there is no "catch" or micro height difference from board to board during installation.

Engineered Hardwoods

Engineered hardwood flooring are chosen when you have to install over concrete...say in a basement, or a Home with a first floor slab, also in situations where we may have a limited ceiling height.

• They come in various subtypes, Floating, Locking, Glue down.