• Solid Oak Flooring

    Solid oak flooring can add a beautiful touch to your home. Attractive and durable, this floor will bring personality along with it. Solid oak flooring is made from planks that are joined together at the edges. Traditionally, the edges are square, and that’s what you will see in most homes. Some people, however, prefer something a bit different than a straight line, and for those they tongue and groove edges. That’s right; even the edges of the planks of your solid oak flooring can have character.

    There are three different grades, or qualities of solid oak flooring; Select, Country, and Wormy.

    All solid oak flooring will have some imperfections in it; that’s the nature of wood flooring in general. Select solid oak flooring, however, will have the fewest by far. The planks for these wood floors are chosen from the best of the best of all the solid oak flooring planks available. They have the least worm holes and scars. They’re also generally more expensive, and not necessarily desirable to all customers. Be sure to consider the look of the rest of your home before assuming that select solid oak flooring is the best option for you.

    Wormy solid oak flooring is the exact opposite. Don’t worry, there’s not any actual worms in there, it’s just filled with worm holes, scars, and sometimes even nail holes. Wormy solid oak flooring has real personality. It would be impossible to find any two planks that looked remotely alike, and that is the main draw to the wormy quality of solid oak flooring. This style would probably be best in an older home with a rustic theme, or maybe something like a log cabin. Although select solid oak flooring would fit in just fine, wormy solid oak flooring would look really silly inside a multi-million dollar mansion. Unless that multi-million dollar mansion happened to have a very, very rustic theme, in which case the wormier the better!

    The other type of solid oak flooring is called country. Country solid oak flooring is basically a good, healthy compromise between select and wormy, having much the same character as the latter but without going overboard with it. Most people who choose solid oak flooring will likely go with the country quality of wooden flooring, as it very much maintains the rustic charm of the wormy wood floor, while at the same time being a bit less enthusiastic about its marks and holes.  Most wooden flooring sales will comprise of country quality product.

    If you’re looking for cheap wooden flooring, you’ll probably be limited to country or wormy, depending on current supply.  If that’s not cheap enough for you, though, you may have to look at engineered wooden flooring instead.

     August 17th, 2009  admin   No comments

  • Antique wooden flooring

    You’ll be making a wise investment to increase the beauty and value of your living space using wooden flooring, but you should first use every available resource – such as the lessons learned on this site – to empower you in choosing, purchasing, installing and the maintaining of your new wooden floors.

    Be it oak, pine, or heart pine flooring, the environmentally friendly wooden flooring product will become a true work of art; a physical expression of nature’s beauty beneath you and your family’s feet. With antique wooden floors, you can be sure that no tree was harmed in the making of your floor, and embrace the unique characteristics of the antique wood grains that simply are no longer created in trees harvested today.  There is no better way to ensure that your wooden floor will be truly different.

    Because wooden floors have such a long life cycle, one of the longest of any natural building material, wooden flooring has become a top floor choice for families everywhere. Not only do wooden floors bring a characteristic beauty and warmth to your home, but a wooden floor can last generations. Antique wooden floors add an additional depth of character. The rich color and tight grain pattern has already persisted for generations, possibly originating from the factories that built the Industrial Revolution, or possibly as a building or barn from all around the United States that have endured many a torturous season before being carefully harvested to be remade into a wooden floor.

    For many, the look of wooden flooring is desired over a concrete slab or radiant heat system, due either to a need for dimensional stability, or possibly repairability requirements. Engineered wood flooring of reclaimed, antique wood offers many advantages. Hours of attention and craftsmanship are poured into the treatment that goes into any and all antique wooden flooring. Each piece of wood is hand selected to be made into antique wooden floors that’s just right for any home, be it solid hardwood flooring or engineered wooden flooring.

    Many people look for natural products to place in their home and want to create earth-friendly homes where they can feel completely surrounded by nature. Nothing is more natural or environmentally friendly than antique wood flooring. Old wood floors can become a gorgeous spectacle in your house that provides reliable movement of warmth throughout all your living spaces, saving you energy costs while providing a beautiful landscape. With green flooring, what is abandoned by the elements or, in some cases, thrown away, will regain life as awesome hardwood flooring in someone’s home.  This wood floor will be cherished for many, many years.

     August 11th, 2009  admin   No comments

  • Preparing for wooden flooring

    Just got married, bought a new house that needs renovating, and dealing with papers for the new house? Sounds like you have got a lot on your plate. Here’s something that should take a little bit of a load off: wooden flooring. It’s natural, easy to clean, looks beautiful and, if you look hard enough, you can find some cheap wooden flooring. Installation is cheap and easy too if you want to do it yourself, and, with the right wooden flooring sales, you just might end up paying less than some traditionally cheaper options. Don’t go back to nasty carpet and rough tile, you need wooden flooring!

    But first, where does the wooden flooring come from? Of course, wood is a natural fiber and is manufactured from the stems of large trees. The cellulose in the stems of the trees transport nutrients and water from the roots underground to the leaves up above. This is the reason why you should only use treated wooden flooring. Untreated lumber can absorb water from the humidity and will then expand because of it. The swelling of the wood is ideal for the tree itself, but not for your wooden flooring.

    When you receive your lumber for your floor, it should be a few weeks before you plan to use it. They should be stored according to the local temperature and climate conditions. Ask your lumber provider about this when purchasing your wooden lumber. Be prepared for the daily fluctuations in temperature and humidity. There are meters and monitors used to read the changes that can also be purchased.

    Along with wooden flooring, you might also have used concrete or drywall. It is important that until proven to be completely dry, the lumber for the wooden flooring should not be installed or even placed near that area because of the humidity. There are techniques such as placing a clear plastic sheet on that area for a few days and seeing if the sheet is dry, and if not, it is advised not to install the wooden flooring.

    You should pay high attention to the area you place your lumber for the duration of the acclimating. Areas with high moisture levels under the flooring and the walls should be avoided. Be wary of cooling appliances as well as heating appliances during this time, due to the possibility of the effect on the readings of the meters and monitors.

    If you are careful and attentive, you can have beautiful hard wooden flooring in your home in as little as a few months! Wooden flooring is the natural choice and is also the better choice! You know the facts, so make the right choice, the best choice.

     August 11th, 2009  admin   No comments