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Hardwood Flooring
Home Improvement Crew strives to combine outstanding workmanship with an incredible array of wood flooring to choose from. Home Improvement Crew has the expertise to reflect your style. Wood floors are a lifetime investment and decisions concerning them should not be taken lightly, choosing a qualified professional can ensure that you get a beautiful lifetime floor. Our mission is to help you understand the sales and installation process of wood flooring products, such that you will be able to make educated choices and decisions about your investment. Looking for an installer? Home Improvement Crew is dedicated to providing the best flooring work in the Alpharetta, Roswell, Cumming, Forsite, Marietta area. We value our reputation, that is why our owner is on every job site. We keep all our installations in house with absolutely no out-sourcing. We are a fully insured installation company providing you with over 20 years of flooring expertise. We encourage you to give us a call after browsing our site, or stop by our showroom and we will be happy to talk to you about your flooring needs.
Types of Hardwood flooring
Understanding where certain types of hardwood flooring can be used should be foremost in any selectionRecommended safe areas to install hardwood making in order to have a successful installation for years to come. Our illustration on the right gives us an idea where some products can and cannot be used. The brown area represents the soil line and red common floor joist systems.
A vast majority of construction in the United States is plywood over floor joists with basements below. The preferred type of product would be the more traditional solid 3/4" material that will outlast our lifetimes, providing it's taken care of properly. These products can be completely refinished many times over. In most cases color changes can be made, but requires very knowledgeable professionals.
Other products gaining popularity in recent years would be prefinished engineered. These are constructed in ply fashion similar to that of common plywood with an actual hardwood veneer on the surface, commonly called the wear layer.
Wear layers can vary from one prefinished manufacturer to the next. One key to look for in choosing anEngineered wear layer engineered product would be the thickness of the veneer or wear layer. Nearly all manufacturers produce thin and thicker wear layers, the latter having the ability to be refinished. Often price can dictate the wear layer thickness. Some cannot be completely refinished.
How many times an engineered hardwood can be refinished should be a concern for those that plan on living with their new hardwood floor more than 10-20 years, but will depend on what you perceive as needing refinishing. Minor scratches, dings and dents add to the character of hardwood flooring. Some are fine by the added character that comes along with age and use, others may not be.
If you're seeking near perfection and desire a flawless appearance, your floors may need refinishing every five years. Choosing a product with the thickest wear layer should be considered. Most of the better engineered hardwoods have veneer thicknesses of 1/8" and more. With the right professionals and a flat subfloor these can be successfully refinished at least two or three times. Color changes may reduce this number. Finally, engineered products are more stable (minimal if any expansion and contraction)¹ than solid hardwood due to the way they are constructed. They are recommended for in floor radiant heating systems as well. Random Length² or One Size Lengths?
All manufacturers are different. Some may offer random length or one set length hardwood. Random length is defined as each piece being different in size between the shortest and longest. For example, one may say 12" - 60" random length. This means the shortest pieces will be 12" and the longest 60" with the others being different sized in between. Random lengths offer a more traditional look. Some products may be manufactured in one length only, but to an untrained eye will look similar to a random length hardwood floor if installed properly.
Some confuse one length hardwoods as being too uniform in appearance. One length products should be installed randomly. Creating the random look begins with using different sized boards at the starting area. They should be cut randomly with no particular measurement used. Once starter boards are cut and full length pieces are installed adjacent to them, a random look appears as shown in the first illustration above..
¹ Floating floors excluded.
² Some manufacturers may indicate random. In recent years many imported hardwood manufacturers have been known to produce other varieties. For instance; 12 - 48 inches in length with 75% measuring at 48. Others may have only three set lengths but specify as random
Solid Hardwood Floors
Why Choose Solid Hardwood Flooring?
Most people recognize quality with solid hardwood. They are more inclined to go with what they perceive asBruce Fulton plank solid hardwood a better quality building material. The products are more often used in construction with wood subfloors or those built with floor joist systems, more common in northern states with basements below. Installation calls for nailing and stapling with proper hardwood flooring tools.
What Thickness Is Solid Hardwood?
More traditional solid hardwoods are available in thickness of 3/4 of one inch. This has become more of a norm but thinner products are also chosen for a number of reasons; chiefly because of the cost. Thinner solids start at 5/16 of one inch with more selections at 3/8 to 1/2 inch. If you are seeking appearance and more of a traditional look, most 3/4" solids offer longer lengths with the exception being many imported Chinese hardwoods today. Some have specifications calling for 12 to 48 inch lengths only.
How Long?
More traditional or mass produced prefinished and unfinished hardwood flooring in the 3/4" format are generally described as random 12 - 84 inch lengths. The numbers may vary slightly. Random is defined as boards starting at 12 inches with maximum lengths of 84 inches, with those in between having no set measurement. This can be misleading because grade can also play a role. A lower grade will often bring in shorter overall lengths. On the other hand, some unfinished manufacturers have the capacity to custom mill if one desires longer set lengths, thus avoiding the smaller pieces.
Moving on to thinner solid hardwoods, specifically prefinished, overall lengths generally run shorter. Some may still say 12 - 84 but we've found a considerable amount of shorter pieces can be mixed in. Other manufacturers may call for 12 -60" or only 12 - 48; prevalent with BR111 and Scandian exotic hardwoods. Much like solid 3/4" thin domestic hardwoods can be specified with longer lengths if you can find the source. Imports are more unlikely unless you're seeking a large quantity.
How Wide?
The most common selected solid hardwood is still the traditional 2 1/4" width, also known as strip flooring. The more recognized prefinished manufacturers offer widths ranging from 2 1/4" up to five, and sometimes seven. On the other hand, mills that saw unfinished flooring can provide 1 1/2" up to twenty, but will depend on the species as some hardwood species do not perform well over a certain width.
What Grades?
When shopping for prefinished solid hardwoods grade is rarely specified. For instance looking in a flooring store and asking what grade a particular prefinished floor may be is likely to bring blank looks. The salesman often has to call the manufacturer because he doesn't have the information in his pricing and spec sheet. Most all prefinished manufacturers do sell solid hardwoods that will be more uniform in color and appearance (occasional ugly or dark/light boards not included) unless otherwise specified. Exceptions being cabin or tavern grades that carry no warranties.
Other Solid Hardwoods
For the discriminating buyer, high end solid parquet and herringbone floors can also be chosen but most will require sanding and finishing on the jobsite. Thicknesses vary from 5/16" up to 3/4 of one inch. Pattern styles are unlimited with custom orders.
Acrylic Impregnated Hardwood Floors
Acrylic impregnated hardwood floors are highly resistant to excessive foot traffic and used predominantly inGammapar. University Of Gerogia commercial settings. On another note, in the way these floors are constructed, they are also tolerant of moisture. Often found in shopping malls, restaurants, and bars these products do not require the meticulous care as other hardwood floors, but leaves no reason to skip regular maintenance intervals.
Tougher Wood Floors
The impregnation process, enabling the increased durability occurs when liquid acrylics are forced into the pores of the hardwood itself during manufacturing. Voids in the cells of the hardwood are filled and the hardwood cell structure becomes more protected from crushing and water intrusion. The procedure is not a fool proof method of protecting the hardwood completely. Excessive water for a prolonged period of time will affect the characteristics as will damage from falling objects, high heels, stones, and the like.
Colors & More Colors
Acrylic impregnated flooring also offers numerous color possibilities and is not affected by exposure to light as other hardwood products; exceptions being imported exotics. Coloring is forced into the veneer of the product itself, meaning no re-staining is necessary should the floor need to be refinished at a later date. The color is permanent.
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