Wood FlooringThe hardwood flooring process is long but well worth it. First, you’ll need to decide which type of wood floor you desire. The most common kinds of wood are oak, walnut, maple, and cherry. The most common out of these is Red Oak because of its general affordability and durability. When choosing a wood, it’s important to consider how durable it needs to be. For example, if you are flooring a kitchen in a house with kids and toddlers, it might be a good idea to spend a little more for a more durable, denser wood. The harder and heavier the wood, the more scratch and wear-resistant it will be. Because harder wood requires more work to grow, cut, install, and stain, flooring installations with heavy wood will be more expensive. If the higher cost deters you, remember that better wood will last much longer and need to be refinished less often, saving you lots of money in the end. It’s worth mentioning that you can buy all hardwood flooring pre-finished, and if you don’t like it, you can sand it down and stain it a different color!
There are a couple different methods of hardwood floor installation. Either way, the key is preparation. This first entails ripping up the old floor, if there is one. You have to keep safety in mind for this part because the staples that are used the underlayment to the subfloors are extremely sharp, and it will pierce skin. (And to clarify, the subfloor is the bare wood attached to the foundation of the house – often plywood. The underlayment is another, smoother layer of plywood used to smooth out the subfloor. Underlayments are only sometimes used.) Once the old flooring is ripped up, the next important part is to clean the subfloor. You can sweep it and vacuum it – we like to do both. This step is key because it will ensure that your new floor will stick properly to the subfloor. Following along with the preparation is key theme, it’s a good idea next to lay out the floorboards without fastening them down. This will give you a good idea of how the new finish will look as well as preview any problems that you may run in to. Most hardwood flooring comes with interlocking ridges that allow the floorboards to connect perfectly with each other. Now, it’s time to finally start laying your floor. Here’s where the two different methods come in to play. With hardwood flooring you can either use the nail-down method or the glue method. Some people also like to use the floating method, but we tend to only use that with laminate and vinyl flooring. The nail-down method requires a special air tool called a hardwood nailer. It drives nails through the boards into the subfloor at an angle, firmly fastening the floorboards to the subfloor while still keeping the nails invisible once the floor is complete. This is the best method for traditional hardwood flooring because of its permanence and resilience. The other method typically used to install wood floors is the glue-down method, involving a powerful, specialized adhesive that fastens down the boards. |
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This is a hardwood nailer used for the nail-down method
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There’s also engineered hardwood flooring, which people have been turning to lately for its ability to withstand changes in temperature and moisture. This prevents it from expanding and contracting, which can happen to normal hardwood under come conditions. It’s for this reason that engineered hardwood flooring is chosen for areas such as bathrooms, laundry rooms, and basements. Engineered hardwood is made by combining a layer of solid hardwood with a layer of adhesive and wood fiber. Engineered hardwood costs less than normal hardwood, but it cannot be refinished as many times.
It's also worth looking into hardwood floor refinishing, which Hempstead Flooring has plenty of experience with. Eventually, the finish on your hardwood floors will wear down with use. Whether your floors are in a store, kitchen, or bedroom, you'll eventually have to refinish them. If the floor is in a low-traffic area, the time between installation and refinishing could be much longer than in a high-traffic area. What happens during refinishing is this: we'll sand down the floors using special industrial grinders that are meant for hardwood floors. After the dust is collected, a new finish is put on your floor. The great thing about refinishing your floors is they'll look brand new, and you can even change their color if you want! And it's cheaper than installing a new floor as well.
It's also worth looking into hardwood floor refinishing, which Hempstead Flooring has plenty of experience with. Eventually, the finish on your hardwood floors will wear down with use. Whether your floors are in a store, kitchen, or bedroom, you'll eventually have to refinish them. If the floor is in a low-traffic area, the time between installation and refinishing could be much longer than in a high-traffic area. What happens during refinishing is this: we'll sand down the floors using special industrial grinders that are meant for hardwood floors. After the dust is collected, a new finish is put on your floor. The great thing about refinishing your floors is they'll look brand new, and you can even change their color if you want! And it's cheaper than installing a new floor as well.