Last Months Craigslist special Andiroba installed 7 sq ft

Here is a job we just did in Hermitage TN, We did the living room dinning room foyer hall and steps. A refferal from a contractor we do a lot of work for, enjoying some Brazilian Hardwood Floors and Wholesale rates and shop at home services. The steps we did this time were made out of a stair nose and the flooring. We also have solid stair treads that we can sand and finish but this way was a lot easier for the customer. We hope you enjoy the pictures.

Bathroom Tile Job 6/4/09

We started this job at 730 am on 6/3/09 and finished 11 am on 6/4/09. The floor was rotted so we removed a section of the plywood subfloor and replaced it and performed a minor plumbing repair to insure the leak was fixed. You may notice the carpet meets the tile flush with a nice finished edge and we always use the manufactures reccomended subfloor in this case 1/4" Durock mudded to the plywood floor. This project was completed in less than 2 days and for under $600. If you need similar work done please call 615 799 9979 enjoy the pictures Mario is in one.

Why is one hardwood floor one price and another twice that?

We at Country Flooring Direct buy hardwood floors in container quantities, and therefor have a lower price on average. However not everybody does this and some companies that have similar buying behaviors are targeting a different market segment. So how can you tell if what you are getting is of good quality?

Grading of Hardwood Floors

Hardwood floors much like Diamonds have a grading scale that is not easy to understand because different species are graded differently and some looks fall outside the grading system. Normally the best grade of hardwood you can purchase is either Clear grade or Select and Better. Please look at http://www.nofma.org/PhotoGallery/NOFMAGradePhotosExamples/tabid/120/Default.aspx to get a full description of the grading of hardwood floors.

In the past years the market has demanded more natural looking distressed hardwood floors such as hand scraped hickory or wirebrushed oak and Character grade or mill run hardwood floors. These hardwood floors cost more money than traditional hardwood on average due to the manufacturing that goes into producing the product and what the market will pay for the product. So what are you the consumer to look for when picking out a hardwood floor?

Ignore marketing schemes such as finish warranties, Most finish warranties are void after installation if you wear shoes in the home, have a pet in the home, do not cover the recommended area with the recommended amount of area rugs, or you did not sand and finish the floor within the first 7-10 years the industry average is 10-15 years before sanding and finishing your hardwood floor. Instead ask how many layers of finish the floor has 9 or 10 is commonly the best you will find 12 layers can sometimes be to many, 5-8 is common for value oriented products. Most products have aluminum oxide in the finish this makes the finish harder to scratch.

Ask about the lengths? are the boards all one length? Longer is better, shorter is cheaper. Are the lengths varied? 1-7 is common random lengths. What is the average length? Different species have different averages. Select and better normally falls between 36-42" average length.

The best thing I like to do for my customers when I can is show them a box of the product on the floor. This shows everything from color variation in the wood to the length of the boards to the milling (how well the wood goes together) Or I have larger samples such as 2*4 that show this as well.

Another question to ask is where was the wood milled? Different countries have different standards. I prefer to sell wood that is made in the original country for instance Brazilian walnut I like to have from Brazil! The Chinese have different expectations when milling their wood and unless your contractor knows the wood manufacturer they are buying from it is risky business. My partner has been buying from the same mills for as long as 9 years now so we know where the wood comes from and what to expect.

The higher end prefinished wood floors will have a longer average length and a flatter smoother overall appearance in milling and finish. I start asking customers simple questions when they come in, Would you like a dark floor or a light floor? If dark, Dark brown or dark red? If light we look at natural floors. Do you want character in your floor or a uniform look? Do you have kids, dogs, etc? These answers can easily help you pick out your floor. If you dont know what you want I suggest Brazilian Teak because everybody likes Brazilian Teak.

Kevin Why does my hardwood floor have gaps?

Some floors have gaps in them when first installed due to minor milling imperfections. Although these boards are normally thrown out during the installation process on occasion small gaps are unnoticed and have to be filled with wood filler after install. Most gaps happen due to Seasonal Change and that is the issue I would like to address today.

Solid hardwood flooring is a natural product, that naturally moves just as a sponge will get larger when soaked in water wood swells under moist conditions. If you have an air conditioner or a dehumidifier in your home, you can monitor the levels of moisture in your air. If the humidifier dehumidifier is hooked up to your heat and air unit you may still notice small gaps running above the air trunks. If this is the case, contact your heating and air contractor and ask what added insulation they recommend. What is occurring is the blowing air under the floor is drying out the floor causing gaps. To eliminate gaps try and keep your home at a constant temperature and humidity level, most manufacturers recommend somewhere between 60 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit and 40-55% relative humidity and have the wood depending on specie and construction acclimated for 48-72 hours inside the home.

Some of the hardwood floors we sell at Country Flooring Direct react better to moist climates such as the IPE and Cumaru (Brazilian Walnut and Brazilian Teak) however tend to gap more in dry climates. Another hardwood we offer is Rift and Quartered hardwood that is cut from the tree in a way that almost eliminates gaping.

Information gathered for this blog post comes from experience and NOFMA's website. Please note that there are other factors to consider when addressing the movement of hardwood floor other than seasonal change such as proper installation methods, so consulting with a professional contractor before starting your project is always recommended.

Thank you for viewing my post.

http://www.nofma.org/Portals/0/PDF/NOFMA_care_special.pdf

Cumberland Furnace

This is a solid Brazilian Walnut install we did in Cumberland Furnace about 1200 sq ft of solid hardwood floor. The customer found us on Craigslist and took advantage of an install special I had on Brazilian Walnut. Mario pictured laying the floor also did some crown molding work on the side for the customer. You can see the floor racked out properly then installed.

Why does Hardwood Dent? an informal chat with the floor man

Hardwood Flooring is a Natural product and Naturally dents when heavy object are dropped or if a large amount of pressure is put on it at once.  Stones, High heels, and heavy objects can cause large dents or gouges in hardwood floors, so what can we do about that?

You can hide dents or cover them up, Or ask some questions before purchasing the floor

WHAT TO LOOK FOR TO HIDE DENTS

1 Buy a natural hardwood floor, Unstained

2 3/4 Solid hardwood floors dont dent as easily

3 Hardness matters greatly but grain and charactre can hide what hardness lacks.

4 Distressed wood If you drop a hammer on a handscraped hardwood you wont be sorry

5 Brazilian Hardwoods are on average a lot harder and normally oiler so they dont loose their color and water doesnt ruin the wood as quick.

6 get something you like.  You wont be as upset if you love your floor as you will be if you already hate the floor.

How to cover a dent up

1 Filler sometimes works if you have a grainy floor or a small dent

2 stain rags can hide scratches and stain putty pens can cover up scrapes

3 Clean your floor, you can not lose your floor will be clean and there wont be a build up attracting attention towards your dent.

4 Rugs, these work great if you can put one there, if no rugs availabe try furniture.

What I did when I bought my hardwood floor?  The first floor I picked out the second one my wife did.  The first one was Macaranduba a very hard floor,  It would dent with my dogs would chew their butcher bones on the couch and drop them from a couple feet up but the dents were very minor.  The second floor was a #1 common Red oak Natural my wife picked out.  This floor dents easily however its natual the same color all the way through and the grain in the wood really hides the wear.   Remember darker floors show dings and dents easily when the light comes in lighter ones dont.  So thats my advice,  Comment please on your experience I love to hear your side of the story.

What is DustLess and is it actually Dust Less

When you sand and finish a hardwood floor you create dust.  This is a major head ache for the consumer who may be dusting thier home endlessly as a result of re doing their hardwood floors.  The floor covering industry has address this in a number of ways trying to "contain the dust"  There is no such thing as DUST LESS sand and finishing.  The most common way is with vacuum bags on the sanders that suck most of the dust out of the air and put them in the bag just like a vacuum cleaner would.  However this doesnt get ALL of the dust just MOST of the dust.  The other way is to put a trailer outside the home the runs a pretty cool reverse air suction system that attaches to the sanders and sucks the saw dust out of the home.  There are grades of suction systems and some are better than others, its all about how many particles you can move and the more you can move the more expensive and noisy the system.  I am posting this in as always a response that I have gotten from consumers asking what is the difference in "Dustless" vs non Dustless.  I have a joke that if it was really Dustless my guys would run their equipment gurgling thier lips like motormouth in "Police Academy" and the process would take all but a couple moments and be almost free.  Please do post let me know what you think about Dustless sanders because we always love to hear from the consumers how products and systems perform.

Ways to avoid the dust are; Buy prefinished hardwood floors, Pay a little extra for a trailer dust containment system, or put up a lot of visquene to try and trap the dust in the area then wipe down the ways for dust.  There is always going to be dust involved but you are still way better off with hardwood than carpet if you have allergies if you ask me.