Hardwood Flooring Archives - Page 23 of 24

Flooring, Hardwood Flooring
July 16, 2015

How Much Wood Does It Take For Wood Flooring?

Are you one of the many homeowners who is trying to create a sustainable environment with the products you bring into your home? If wood is high on your list as a flooring choice, you’re on the right track. As long as you purchase wood floors through a manufacturer that uses sustainable practices, you’ll be doing your part for the environment.

Add in the fact that quality wood flooring can last years longer than other types of flooring, and you’ll quickly find hardwood floors leading the way as your top choice.

Have you ever thought about how much wood goes into creating hardwood floors throughout your home?

Let’s start with how much wood it takes to build your home from the ground up.

The typical home is around 2,400 square feet. To build a home of this size, it requires around 16,000 board feet of framing lumber, and around 14,000 square feet of other wood products, which would include plywood, particleboard, wood joists, hardboard, and so on.

A board foot is a standard measure of usable wood in a tree. A board foot would result in a piece of lumber one inch thick, one foot wide and one foot long.

That’s a lot of wood in the structure of your house! And while much of this wood is hidden behind the drywall and underneath your flooring, it takes a special kind of wood to wind up on your floors and become a part of your room’s décor for years on end.

The typical home will have around 1,200 square feet on the main level, with an additional 1,200 square feet on the upper level. How many trees would be needed? The answer may surprise you. To gain enough wood for one level of a home, you would need 12 trees, each one around 18 inches in diameter and at least 10 feet long to make enough boards to cover your area in hardwood flooring. For the entire house, double the amount of wood.

Of course if a tree is wider in diameter, the number would go down.

There is quite a process from forest to laying the wood in your home. From felled tree to floorboard, the process takes around four to five months for processing. Yet it’s definitely worth the wait!

Once you have them installed and see the beauty shine through, you’ll be more than happy you chose hardwoods as your flooring of choice.

Flooring, Hardwood Flooring
July 11, 2015

Here’s What You Didn’t Know About Cork Flooring

If you’ve been doing any research on flooring choices, chances are you’ve come across an article or two on the benefits of cork flooring. Cork flooring is a good choice for every room in your home because of its soft features, its sustainability factor … and it looks great.

But as much as you may already know about cork flooring, there are probably a few things you didn’t know that can help you make choosing cork flooring a little easier.

Cork flooring is made from the bark of a Cork Oak Tree. Taking the bark doesn’t kill the tree, the tree simply regrows the bark again and again. Because a Cork Oak Tree can live as long as 500 years, this makes cork flooring a renewable and sustainable flooring choice that’s good for a variety of reasons.

The Cork Oak Tree can be found throughout the Mediterranean region of Europe and in Northern Africa. As cork is harvested from the tree, it is ground, processed into sheets, and baked in a kiln to create the final product.

The final cork sheets are created from the cork itself, and from air. The air pockets within the flooring make it impact resistant, soft to walk and stand on, and help insulate against both heat and cold. Because it’s warm to the touch, you never have to worry about hopping out of bed and landing on cold tiles again.

Cork flooring has a longevity factor that can match other popular flooring choices such as woods and tiles. Cork can easily last 25 years and more with the proper care. It’s a durable choice that requires little maintenance and clean up.

Because each cork flooring sheet is made from a natural product, no two sheets will ever be the same. This provides you with a unique, one of a kind choice that will add to the overall beauty of your home.

Cork flooring is a great choice to keep your home healthy and clean. Cork is hypoallergenic, resists mold, mildew and bacteria.

Think cork flooring may be the right choice for your home? Start by seeing your options. We can show you the many styles and colors available, and answer all of your questions before you make your final decision.

Flooring, Hardwood Flooring
June 24, 2015

How To Choose Hardwood Floor Width

For many homeowners across Colorado, deciding on installing hardwood flooring into your home is the easy part. The difficult decisions come in when you realize there are many more decisions from that point forward, such as color, type of hardwood, and width.

Classic hardwood adds an upscale look to any home. And because hardwood is durable, it can be a welcome addition for many years to come. Yet when you’re deciding on what hardwood flooring choice to install, choosing a suitable board width can be one of your major hurdles.

Plank width will convey a different message in different rooms. It will change the look and feel of your room, depending on the room size, and will set different moods depending on the color. A dark, wide wood plank, for instance, will create a very country, natural feel, while parquet flooring can add a touch of elegance to any home.

Strip

For most homeowners, when they think of wood flooring, they think of long natural strips of wood to cover their rooms from end to end. A typical board width used in strip flooring is less than 3 inches in width. You’ll often find strip wood floors in older homes because they used the wood that was readily available to them. Narrow floor boards create a contemporary, linear effect that can open up any room. The elongated appearance can also make a smaller room appear larger. By keeping the boards uniform, all in a lighter color, you can accentuate a modern feel throughout your home.

Plank

Plank wood flooring is a popular choice because of the variety and styles available to compliment your tastes and décor. Plank wood flooring typically is 3 to 8 inches in width. The broader the width, the more rustic in appearance. When dealing with plank wood, originality is only limited by the imagination. You can find wooden planks that keep their original look and feel with knot holes and original grain characteristics, all interwoven into the planks through hand scraping. The weathered appearance can bring out rustic, country, or even a modern look, depending on how you combine it with décor inside your home. Wide planks will make large, open rooms feel more cozy and warm; avoid large planks in small, dark rooms as it will make the look even smaller.

Parquet

Parquet wood floors will add a touch of elegance throughout. Flooring blocks are often created in one to two foot blocks using assorted strips of wood in various lengths and widths. Parquet flooring creates a variety of geometric design options, such as standard, herringbone, block or baroque styles. Parquet comes in solid wood construction, as well as partial wood, depending on your budget choices.

As you narrow down your choices, be sure to see your final selections in your room. Bring home samples to see how the coloring meshes with your décor, how the size looks against your walls. And if you need advice, just ask. We’ve been helping families like yours make flooring choices for years, and are happy to guide you to make the right choice for your home.

Flooring, Hardwood Flooring
May 23, 2015

Understanding Warranties With Hardwood Flooring

In today’s world, we are trained as consumers to never buy large home improvement items without ensuring a warranty is in place. But what does a warranty really mean? And what does it do for you as a consumer? Warranties with lifetime guarantees sound great and can boost the sellability of a product; but does it truly have value to you as a homeowner?

Before you purchase hardwood flooring, it’s important to understand exactly what product warranties cover, and more importantly, what they do not.

Manufacturer Warranty

Manufacturer warranties were designed to protect the consumer if they purchase a product that is found to be damaged or defective in some way. The manufacturer guarantees that its product is usable for its intended application.

Since hardwood planks are made from natural materials, certain imperfections are naturally assumed to be a part of the final product. The industry realizes this, and thus allows the manufacturer leeway of approximately 5 percent of the total purchased planks. This includes things like finish imperfections, grading discrepancies, milling defects, color differences, and so on. If the defects are beyond this variance, the manufacturer typically agrees that it will repair or replace the defective price or offer a refund.

Sounds straightforward. Yet its not quite that simple. Hardwood flooring can be impacted by a variety of factors. Improper installation, improper maintenance, negligence, fire, water, excessive moisture, heat, pets, insects – the list goes on and on of the things that can bring extenuating circumstances to the table, and cause a manufacturer’s warranty to be deemed null and void. Look for:

Structural Warranties

These warranties will guarantee the milling, grade and moisture content of the wood manufacturer, and guaranteed the planks are stable, won’t split crack or warp if properly installed. Many top name manufacturers will offer lifetime structural warranties, and detail out specific prep and installation guidelines that must be followed to keep the warranty valid. If you as a consumer know these upfront, you can be more aware of the flooring contractor you select for help with installation, and verify criteria is met to keep your warranty active.

Finish Warranties

As the name implies, a finish warrant covers that the finish on the hardwood will not wear off under normal use. Make sure you choose residential or commercial finishes, depending on your use. Almost all finish warranties will come with a limited time factor; industry standards for residential finish warranties tend to hover around 25 years, with commercial being somewhat lower because of the heavier usage. Finish warranties often have a lot of caveats, and will not protect against scratches, dents, gouges or damage caused to foot traffic or dragging things across the floor.

The best advice to consumers is to read the fine print, and be sure to ask your flooring contractor for all the details before making your final decision.

Flooring, Hardwood Flooring
April 29, 2015

How To Choose Flooring From A Small Sample

When you’re ready to install a new floor in your home, it can be exciting thinking about the potential. Maybe you’re replacing old carpeting with a new color. Maybe you’re installing natural stone tile throughout. Maybe you’re finally installing the hardwoods you’ve dreamed about for years. In any case, the change will be warm and welcome.

Yet one trip to the flooring center can leave you overwhelmed. With thousands of choices, where do you start? Even if you have a pretty good idea of what you want – hardwoods for instance – the selection process can still be a daunting task as you scan the aisles of different manufacturers, different types of woods, different color choices, even different styles and sizes.

How do you take all of those concepts and visualize them in your home, on your floors?

The best place to start is by taking flooring samples home to see how they look in your home. Yet that can still be a difficult task. If you will be adding 1,000 square feet of hardwood to your main floor living area, how do you tell if you have made the right choice from a two foot sample?

Know Your Tastes
There are many ways to get a feel for styles and color choice before you start the floor buying process. Visit model homes, look through remodeling and décor magazines, even consider the homes of friends and family as you are narrowing your choices. If you consistently lean towards one color or style, use that as a guide as you finalize your choices. Yet leave wiggle room for options. Maybe you’ve had your mind set on a light colored hardwood, only to find the bamboo suits your needs and your tastes better.

Don’t Overwhelm With Possibilities
We’ve run across the homeowner who takes a half dozen samples home, only to return them and choose a half dozen more. With hundreds of possibilities, they can quickly begin running together. Trust your instincts in the store, and choose three or four top favorites. Once you’ve narrowed it down to these select few, focus in on finding the best from these possibilities.

Live With Your Choices
Once you have your samples at home, live with them for a few days. Place them side by side; put them in different spots in the room. View them in the day. View them at night. As you eliminate one possibility, remove it and focus in on the remaining.

Select With Confidence
Trust your instincts. When you eliminate a choice, you do so for a reason. Don’t go back and second guess. Once you make your final selection, select with confidence. If you’ve spent the time evaluating your needs and how the sample fits within those guidelines, you’ve made the right choice. As you are waiting for installation, focus in on décor and other remodeling tasks that will help you complete your project, and allow you to begin enjoying your new environment right away.

Flooring, Hardwood Flooring
April 22, 2015

Choosing A Sustainable Wood Floor For Earth Day

Across the world, people are celebrating Earth Day in big ways. But you don’t have to go out into your neighborhood or community to take action. Instead, you can take action close to home, right in your favorite rooms.

Wood flooring is one of the greenest choices you can make for your home’s décor. And when done right, adding a wood floor to your home can actually be good for the environment. Hardwood floors are:

Sustainable. The average net growth for hardwoods are greater than average removal loads.

Healthy. Indoor air quality can improve quickly when installing hardwood flooring, and overall will help you make the air quality the best it can be.

Natural resources. They use less water and energy for production than any other flooring choice.

Renewable. While it takes most hardwood trees anywhere from 40 to 60 years to mature, the inventory being planted today won’t be needed for 100 years or more.

Long-lasting. When cared for properly, hardwood floors can last a hundred years or more. Which means they won’t need replacing as often as other flooring choices.

Less wasteful. Hardwood floors in general aren’t replaced as often as other flooring types. And when they are replaced, they can be burned as fuel or recycled into other products, meaning they won’t end up in the landfill.

Carbon neutral resource. Hardwoods help reduce global warming by being carbon neutral, which means they produce oxygen during its growth phase, and stores carbon during its service life.

LEED products. Wood is recognized by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program for improved indoor air quality and its sustainably sourced materials.

Is hardwood flooring the right choice for you? Stop by today and see all of your options.

Happy Earth Day!

Hardwood Flooring
March 28, 2015

How To Clean Dark Wood Floors

Have you had your heart set on installing dark wood floors in your home?

Dark wood brings out a richness you simple can’t get with any other color. And if you mix up the darkness of the floor with a lighter, airiness to the walls and décor used to finish off the design, the look can be simply amazing.

Yet one thing dark wood floors will guarantee you from the moment you lay them down is more time spent cleaning and maintaining them.

Why?

They’re beautiful. But their dark color will show everything that hits the floor that isn’t supposed to be on the floor. Lint, dust, crumbs … it will all be far more apparent on a dark floor then it would be on a lighter color choice.

The key to maintaining their beauty is to to keep them clean. What have others found successful?

Keep sweeping/dusting tools handy
Because so much shows up on a dark floor, you will have to do more to keep the dust off the floors. Use a dust mop to pick up dust first. If you have a vacuum with a floor brush attachment, that can help pick crumbs up quickly. You can also invest in one of the newer dust products like Swiffer to help you quickly eliminate dust and dirt any time you choose.

Deeper cleaning
In most cases, your dark wood floors will be treated and sealed with a polyurethane finish or polyacrylic. Don’t use oils, sprays, waxes, furniture polish or any other chemical cleaner you’ll find in the cleaning aisle of your local big box store. Talk with your flooring contractor first about the perfect cleaning solution to help keep your floors looking their best for years to come.

Use cleaning products and water sparingly. The key to water and wood is to not allow excessive contact for any length of time. If you use water on the floor, make sure you wipe it up almost immediately. Also, allow it to dry as quickly as possible to avoid potential warping.

Prevention
Because dark wood shows more of what’s on the floor, its important to keep things away that can do damage. All wood floors are easy to scuff and scratch; yet a dark floor will show the results easier. Be sure to take off shoes whenever possible, and always take off heels before walking across the floor. Attach felt protectors to the bottom of all furniture. You can also use rugs under areas where you’re most likely to have a lot of movement, such as under a kitchen table or in the dining room.

You can also use mats at each entrance to your home. This encourages a place to take off shoes and leave them while moving around your home, and gives extra protection when entering from outside, where bringing in more dirt and weather elements is always possible.

Hardwood Flooring
March 25, 2015

How To Remove Footprints From Wood Floors

How to remove footprints from wood floors

“I have beautiful dark wood floors throughout my home. I take extra care of them, and require people to take their shoes off at the front door. But now I’m noticing footprints across my floor and I can’t seem to get them off. What do I do?”

If you are finding footprints on your sealed hardwood floors, the culprit is probably an oily film on the surface. If you’ve tried to remove footprints in the past by using traditional hardwood floor cleaners and waxes, you are possibly making the situation worse by adding a dulling layer to your floors, making footprints and other marks more noticeable. The good news is it’s easy to remove with common household products you have in your home right now.

What you’ll need:

Vinegar
Water
Bucket
Mop
Soft cloths

Because the build up on your floors is causing the problem, you’ll need to get through that build up and back down to your floors. A mild acid – vinegar – does the job well.

Directions:

Start by mixing about 1 cup of vinegar per gallon of warm water in a bucket. Wet your mop or soft cloth into the solution, then wring out to remove all excess water. Wipe the surface with the vinegar solution, rinsing the mop/cloth frequently. Allow the wood surface to air dry. If there are any standing pools of water that won’t air dry quickly, use a soft cloth to remove the water.

Test out your floor. If you still see footprints when you walk across the floor, you still have a build up on your floor, meaning waxes or other polishers have been used for some time. Repeat the process until all build up is removed, and your floors retain their natural beauty when you walk across them.

RELATED: How To Remove Scratches From Your Hardwood Floors

Additional Tips on removing footprints:

Even floors that are treated with a polyurethane coating should not be exposed to standing water. Always use a damp mop, never wet, and wipe away any areas with pooling water immediately.
If you have a lot of footprints, it can signal you have a higher concentration of build up. Use a stronger vinegar solution, and apply as many times as necessary to remove the build up. Be sure to allow drying time in between .
Keep a small solution in a spray bottle for quick pick ups.
Always avoid oil based cleaners on a sealed floor. Sealed floors do not need to be oiled or waxed. Simply cleaning them with a damp mop is the best way to keep them looking their best.

About Pro Flooring Brokers

We are a one stop shop for all of your flooring and installation needs. Located in Denver, CO, we have been family owned and operated for over 30 years! Our passion is your project.

Have a Flooring Project in the Denver Area?

Commercial and residential customers love our huge selection of carpet, hardwood, porcelain tile, natural stone, luxury vinyl tile/planks, laminate flooring, and sheet vinyl flooring. Check out our products to learn more. Visit our showroom, meet our team, and let’s start your flooring project together. We offer:

Complimentary on-site measuring
Flooring estimates based on floor plans or blueprints
Installations performed by trained and qualified installers
Full one-year guarantee on all workmanship (in addition to manufacturer’s warranty)

Flooring and installation are made easy with the PRO! Flooring Brokers. Contact us, visit our showroom, or call today at 303.788.0113. We look forward to helping you.

Flooring, Hardwood Flooring
March 7, 2015

What You Should Know About Wide Plank Flooring

Looking for a unique look all your own? If so, it may be time to consider wide plank wood flooring. Wide plank wood is becoming a popular choice for homeowners looking to add a special touch to their homes. It comes in a variety of colors, styles and finishes. And like traditional wood, it can be a durable addition that will give you warmth and style for years to come.

Like traditional woods, wide plank flooring comes in many colors. The wide planks can be finished to produce a light, dark, or somewhere in between.

You can also choose to have the planks pre-finished off site, making the installation process as easy as laying the wood into place. Or choose site-finished wood, which gives you a high level of control over the finished look. This is a great choice if you are looking to preserve rustic textures or add qualities to the wood that are uniquely your own.

Wide plank wood can also be purchased as solid wood or engineered wood. Engineered wood uses a thinner, wear layer of wood attached to a hardwood plywood base that adds lateral stability. Why engineered wood over solid? If you have exreme climate conditions – high moisture, humidity, or temperature variations – engineered flooring can provide you with more long term durability. Engineered wood is also a great choice if you prefer to lay the wood over radiant heating.

What makes wide plank flooring different from traditional wood floors is both the size of the planks and the texture.

Traditional wood flooring typically utilizes boards 2 to 3 inches in width. Wide planks start at 5 inches in width and go up from there.

Textures can vary greatly. If you want something unique, just ask. With the options available today, its easy to find the look you are trying to create. Some of the options we’ve installed include:

Wire brushing – the floor is brushed with a hard wire brush to scrape the wood surface, giving it an uneven grainy appearance

Beveled edge – the edges are tapered to give a dimensional effect between each board

Character marks – the same wood that may be discarded for traditional flooring can be used to provide unique patterns. Knotholes, character marks, even blemishes can all add uniqueness and beauty in a non-traditional way.

With so many options available to you, the best way to start the process of choosing the right look is to stop by and discover your options. The perfect flooring is waiting for you; we’re happy to show you your options.

Carpet, Flooring, Hardwood Flooring
January 3, 2015

How To Select The Right Transition For Your Flooring

If you are like many homeowners, your home doesn’t have the same flooring type in every room. You may transition from hardwoods in the living room to tile in the kitchen. Or carpeting in the bedroom to vinyl in the bathroom.

Having a home with multiple types of flooring is the norm; which means that having the right transition from room to room will either make or break the ambiance of your final décor. Without a little planning, and doing it just to get done will only create a floor that is destined for failure. Transitions will make your final look more appealing, and give you the longevity of each flooring option to its fullest value.

There are several issues when determining the best transition:

Elevation – the final elevation of each type of flooring needs to be taken into consideration to determine the best transition
Location of transition – will the transition take place in a door opening or in an open entryway?
Special transitions – stairways pose their own unique set of issues

Elevation

Elevation changes are fairly common in remodeling projects. Because a home is originally designed with one specific flooring in mind, and that flooring may have changed numerous times over the years, you may have flooring of different thickness. Some flooring requires different types of subflooring – large tile, for instance, takes a special underlayment to handle the weight and stability of larger tile. Therefore one flooring may wind up being higher than its counterpart, making a smooth transition necessary for movement between rooms. In this case, a transition molding may be the way to go to connect the two flooring choices together.

Location of transition

Transitions between flooring often depends on where the transition is occurring. If it occurs at a door opening, make sure you know the position of your door so you can install the transition of make sure only one flooring is visible when the door is closed between the two rooms.

Special transitions

Stairways need their own special moldings in order to create a finished look. Stairways often incorporate several looks into one: a hardwood main level, may transition into hardwood stairs with a painted siding, and transition into a carpeted upper level. The key is attention to detail. Lay everything out before final installation to make sure they transition from one position to another. A reputable flooring contractor can help you make the best decision not only for the type of flooring you are laying, but also keeping your taste and budget in mind.