Luxurious, rich hardwood flooring to add elegance in any room
|
|
Hardwood floors add a beautiful, natural touch. The value to your home are highly praised in the resale home market. Today's hardwood floors have made advances in style, durability, maintenance and care, making them more widely usable throughout the home. With simple sweeping or vacuuming and occasional spot cleaning, hardwood flooring will last a lifetime. There are hundreds of choices in style and color with today's options even spanning into exotic hardwoods. Most hardwood floors are available in several grades in a wide range of prices. A & A Flooring Specialist has more at prices that will please even the most frugal of shoppers. We offer the best known brands and deliver the service and prices that guarantee your satisfaction. Browse our selections on our hardwood tab above to find the perfect hardwood floor to match your lifestyle and décor.
|
Most popular brands at prices you can afford call 760-261-4061
|
|
|
|
|
|
Solid Hardwood:
Solid wood planks are milled from a single piece of hardwood and covered with a thin, clear protective layer which often consists of aluminum oxide, ceramic or an acrylic monomer. Typically ¾-inch thick, the thickness of solid wood planking enables it to be sanded and refinished many times throughout the life of the floor.
Because the plank is a solid piece of wood, it will expand and contract in accordance with the home’s relative humidity, so to prevent warping or other types of damage, the home’s interior relative humidity needs to remain between 45% and 65% all year round.
Solid wood flooring is available in a wide array of wood species, from oak and maple to black walnut and regional-specific choices like pecan, mesquite and others. The market also sometimes offers rare, exotic species of hardwood from places like Brazil, Africa and elsewhere.
Solid wood flooring is permanently nailed to the subfloor and because of the expansion/contraction issues; installers will normally leave a gap between the wall and the floor to accommodate swelling. This type of flooring should only installed in parts of the home that are above grade and only over plywood, wood or OSB subfloors.
Engineered Hardwood:
Hardwood planks classified as “engineered” feature multiple layers (typically between three and five) that are bonded together under extreme heat and pressure. The layers typically include a top veneer of hardwood backed by less expensive layers of plywood, although some manufacturers use substrates made from recycled wood fibers mixed with stone dust for improved durability and stability.
Because engineered hardwood is processed under heat and pressure, it is not as affected by humidity levels as solid wood planks are. Therefore, the product is often the preferred choice for kitchen and bathrooms or in areas where the humidity level can vary, like in a basement or a part of the house that’s below grade as long as a moisture barrier is placed between the subfloor and the hardwood planks. They are also better suited for installing over in-floor heating systems than solid wood for this very same reason.
Engineered wood planks are now being created with a tongue and groove installation method, much like laminate flooring. This enables engineered wood to be installed in a floating floor format without nails or glue.
Engineered hardwood floors are suitable for installation on all levels of the home and over plywood, wood, OSB and concrete subfloors.
Which Hardwood Floor Should I Choose?
Ultimately, your hardwood choice is going to be determined by where you are planning on installing the product and what you’re looking for in terms of design aesthetic. If you’re installing hardwood flooring in a lower level of your home or in an area where moisture or high (or low) humidity might be an issue, then you’re going to want to stick with engineered hardwood. On the other hand, if you are installing the new floor on an above-grade level and you want a traditional hardwood floor, then you can go ahead with solid hardwood. Both types offer a beautiful finish and will increase the value of your home – as long as they are installed correctly and maintained properly over the duration of your ownership.
Solid wood planks are milled from a single piece of hardwood and covered with a thin, clear protective layer which often consists of aluminum oxide, ceramic or an acrylic monomer. Typically ¾-inch thick, the thickness of solid wood planking enables it to be sanded and refinished many times throughout the life of the floor.
Because the plank is a solid piece of wood, it will expand and contract in accordance with the home’s relative humidity, so to prevent warping or other types of damage, the home’s interior relative humidity needs to remain between 45% and 65% all year round.
Solid wood flooring is available in a wide array of wood species, from oak and maple to black walnut and regional-specific choices like pecan, mesquite and others. The market also sometimes offers rare, exotic species of hardwood from places like Brazil, Africa and elsewhere.
Solid wood flooring is permanently nailed to the subfloor and because of the expansion/contraction issues; installers will normally leave a gap between the wall and the floor to accommodate swelling. This type of flooring should only installed in parts of the home that are above grade and only over plywood, wood or OSB subfloors.
Engineered Hardwood:
Hardwood planks classified as “engineered” feature multiple layers (typically between three and five) that are bonded together under extreme heat and pressure. The layers typically include a top veneer of hardwood backed by less expensive layers of plywood, although some manufacturers use substrates made from recycled wood fibers mixed with stone dust for improved durability and stability.
Because engineered hardwood is processed under heat and pressure, it is not as affected by humidity levels as solid wood planks are. Therefore, the product is often the preferred choice for kitchen and bathrooms or in areas where the humidity level can vary, like in a basement or a part of the house that’s below grade as long as a moisture barrier is placed between the subfloor and the hardwood planks. They are also better suited for installing over in-floor heating systems than solid wood for this very same reason.
Engineered wood planks are now being created with a tongue and groove installation method, much like laminate flooring. This enables engineered wood to be installed in a floating floor format without nails or glue.
Engineered hardwood floors are suitable for installation on all levels of the home and over plywood, wood, OSB and concrete subfloors.
Which Hardwood Floor Should I Choose?
Ultimately, your hardwood choice is going to be determined by where you are planning on installing the product and what you’re looking for in terms of design aesthetic. If you’re installing hardwood flooring in a lower level of your home or in an area where moisture or high (or low) humidity might be an issue, then you’re going to want to stick with engineered hardwood. On the other hand, if you are installing the new floor on an above-grade level and you want a traditional hardwood floor, then you can go ahead with solid hardwood. Both types offer a beautiful finish and will increase the value of your home – as long as they are installed correctly and maintained properly over the duration of your ownership.
|
|
