To make selecting and installing new hardwood flooring as easy as possible, follow these Efloors.com Qwik Facts below to aid you in making your hardwood purchase.

Hardwood floors add a beautiful and natural touch to your home.    Whether it be solid, engineered or longstrip, hardwood floors bring out exceptional warmth along with the wood’s soothing tones and textures. They can add up to $10,000 to the resale value your home, and are highly praised in the real estate market.  In fact, many new home buyers will replace the builder grade carpet in their homes with new hardwood floors.

Hardwood flooring is available in many different widths, styles and finishes, including cherry, hickory, maple and oak.  Each species is unique in color, grain and personality. If it is installed in a high traffic area it might need extra protection. Solid hardwood is best for above-ground installations. Engineered hardwood floors can be installed almost anywhere in your home. Also, check to see if your sub-floor is concrete or a type of wood substrate before shopping.  You will also want to have samples in your home so you can see how it looks with your décor and in your home’s lighting.

Hardwood Flooring Characteristics

The most appealing characteristic of hardwood flooring is its natural warmth and its additive value to a home's appearance.  Most hardwood floors complement any kind of furniture, room and architectural styles, and design schemes.  A wood floor covering does more than just cover, it adds strength and durability to the home's floor system, as well as insulates the home.  It is durable and long-lasting, yet easy to clean, as they do not absorb dust or mildew.  Hardwood floors have their own personality, like all organic matter, and change over time, so a great deal of understanding and care need to be invested throughout their life in your home.

Popular Hardwood Species

• Oak - most popular – 70% of homeowners prefer Oak
• Pine - knots give it a unique look
• Maple - uniform grain structure and visual texture gives maple a unique look
• Pecan - stains and finished easy and gives a furniture grade appearance
• Hickory - much harder than oak and very resilient
• Walnut - smooth, satiny surface and flowing grain patterns
• Brazilian Cherry - very hard species of wood, and reddish brown texture

Oak is by far the most popular species of wood floors, as more is sold than any other species.  Red Oak and White Oak are the most popular and its unique graining gives is Oak a warm and rich appearance. 

Maple has less texture than Oak, and very fine grain patterns.  These characteristics give Maple a cleaner,  more contemporary look. 

Pine gives a rustic, "log cabin" look.  However, it is much softer than other types of woods, and should be used with caution in high traffic areas of the home.

Hardwood Flooring Styles

Strip Flooring  - Usually 2 1/4" - 3 1/4" wide, it creates a linear effect in a room, making it seem larger than it actually is.

Plank Flooring - Also linear, however widths are usually 3" - 6".

Parquet Flooring - Series of pieces that create a geometric design.

Solid Hardwood vs. Engineered Wood vs. Longstrip Wood

The main difference in your choice between solid, engineered and longstrip hardwood comes down to where the floor will be installed, and what kind or look is desired.

Solid wood floors are offered for those who want the look and construction of 3/4" solid hardwood, it is solid hardwood from top to bottom.  Many solid hardwood floors come already pre-finished a look that typically cannot be duplicated with an on-site finish.  Solid hardwood expands and contracts with moisture and needs to be nailed down to a sub-floor like plywood.  Solid hardwood cannot be glued to concrete because as the wood expands and contracts due to moisture, the glue would be pulled up.

Engineered wood floors are offered for those who want the look of a real hardwood floor, without the constraints of solid hardwood.  Engineered hardwood floors are made of cross-laminated layers of wood with a hardwood veneer surface.  This type of floor has an advantage in that it can be glued to concrete or stapled or nailed to a wood sub-floor.  An engineered wood floor is ideal for those who prefer a wood floor in the basement, or any below grade room.

This type of installation requires a moisture barrier to be laid down first.  Engineered floors can also be installed like laminate floors and “floated” through gluing the tongue and groove joints together.  This type of floor also requires an underlayment, like laminate floors, to cushion and deaden the sound when walking.

Engineered floors offer more options in the way of color and design options.  Exotic species are more readily available in engineered because the manufacturer can extend the coverage over a greater surface area.  Normally you can buy engineered hardwood flooring for less than solid hardwood flooring on comparable species/width/quality.

Longstrip Engineered flooring is manufactured approx 9/16” thick x 7-1/2” wide x 8’ long panels. The surface hardwood wear layer usually consists of a 3-strip design, which is made up using smaller individual hardwood pieces that are laid alongside each other in three rows.

Longstrip Engineered wood floors are slightly more resistant to higher moisture levels than solid wood flooring.  This adds to their appeal for applications in damp basements or in tropical regions of the country. Most longstrip flooring can also be installed on any grade level - glued-down over a concrete slab above or below grade, or stapled down over a wood sub-floor. 

Like engineered floors, longstrip floors come in a wider variety of colors than solid hardwood, and are available in domestic and exotic hardwood species. Depending on the manufacturer, you can also sand and refinish, or recoat most longstrip wood floors up to 3 times if properly done. They will last for the life of your home, depending on the amount of wear and tear the floor will take on. 

Once installed, however, it is very difficult to tell the difference between the different types of floors mentioned above.

Summary:

Solid wood floors

• Can be purchased pre-finished or unfinished
• Can be installed over wood sub-flooring only
• Can be installed on or above grade
• Can be nailed down or stapled to sub-floor

Engineered wood floors

• Can be purchased pre-finished or unfinished
• Can be installed over wood sub-flooring or on concrete slab
• Can be installed on, above, or below grade
• Can be glued, stapled, or floated over sub-floor

Longstrip engineered wood floors

• Can be purchased pre-finished or unfinished
• Can be installed over wood sub-flooring or on concrete slab
• Can be installed on, above, or below grade
• Can be glued, stapled, or floated over sub-floor

Hardness Ratings

The Janka, or hardness, rating of wood floors is a measurement of resistance to impact and wear, and gives a good indication of its durability.  Higher levels of foot traffic require more durability and thus a higher Janka rating.  Softer woods will dent easier and possibly scratch easier, depending on its finish.  A pebble stuck in a shoe or a high heel may damage a soft wood floor.

See the Efloors.com Janka Scale for more information

Hardwood Edges and Ends

Square edge - Tongue and grooved, strip or plank flooring edges that are not eased or beveled. The surface appears level and smooth, if the subfloor is properly leveled.

Eased edge - Tongue and grooved, strip or plank flooring with surface edges cut at an angle, a very slight bevel. Some consumers prefer this look because each plank is defined. Also helps reduce the high-low boarding effect on an uneven subfloor.

Kissed edge - The kissed edge was designed to give the same benefit of an eased edge floor, but with the look of a square edge. A kissed edge is approximately 1/2 of what the eased edge will measure.

Hand Scraped Hardwood

Hand scraped floors with a darker finish tend to show the uniqueness of scraping more than those with a natural finish. Mostly, this is due to the pooling of the darker finish and the how the eye is drawn to its shadowing effect.  

 

Hand scraped floors may cost a little more due to the labor intensive process of producing them.  However, they are intended for those looking for a truly unique  and custom look.  If a unique, warm, and rich look is what you are after, a hand scraped floor will offer this, as well as a lifelong conversation piece with your friends and neighbors.

Pre-finished vs. Unfinished

Unfinished floors require an installer to lay the floor down.  This process often takes several days to install, stain and finish the flooring, and can get quite messy. You get more custom color and gloss options with finish on site hardwood, as well as a more even appearance after installed. Also, if you have a unique shape to the room, custom installation and finish can be done to enhance the look of the room.

Pre-finished floors are a popular choice in hardwood floors today.  They are less messy and can be installed in one day, so you do not need to make alternative living arrangements. A factory-applied finish with aluminum oxide is extremely durable and cannot be duplicated with an on-site finish.  Pre-finished floors are easier to repair than unfinished floors, and with improved durability of finishes, you may never need to refinish a pre-finished hardwood floor.  You get many more color and species options with a pre-finished floor.  Also, with pre-finished floors, you get an extended factory finish warranty, usually 25 years for most brands.

Advantages of Floating Hardwood Floors:

1. 40 - 80 years lifespan
2. Can have wood floor on any grade level
3. Better suited for humid areas of the country
4. Can install over wood sub-floors, concrete slabs and other types of floor coverings.
5. Easy and fast to install for the Do-It-Yourselfer.
6. Longstrip floating wood floors come in longer lengths than standard engineered flooring, allowing for a quicker installation for a large room.
7. Engineered Floating are generally in the same price range as laminate flooring
8. Most longstrip floating floors can be sanded and refinished, if desired

Radiant Heat Subfloors and Underlayment

 The addition of in floor radiant heating systems has increased dramatically in recent years.   As you may know, not all types of hardwood floors can be used over a subloor with a radiant heat or hydronic heat systems installed.  It is also difficult to find information on which flooring underlayment to use over a radiant heat.  

 Efloors.com has done its research on this, and has determined that the Quiet Walk underlayment and the Mohawk Silent Gard underlayment, has little effect on the heat transference from the radiant heat subfloor to the top of the flooring surface.   Because of it’s open cell technology, they allow moisture and heat to transfer to the upper flooring layer.  As long as the surface temperature of the concrete does not exceed 85 degrees F, you will not compromise the underlayment’s effectiveness.    

 The moisture barrier component of the Quiet Walk is about 1.5 mm thick, not enough to prevent heat transfer through the vapor barrier.  Also, for an underlayment to be effective for this application, it must not have an R value greater than 2.5.  Quiet Walk has an R-value of less than .5.  

 However, Visqueen is normally about 6mm thick and may prevent a portion of the heat from these systems from transferring to the upper flooring layer.  Also, any closed cell underlayment may block some heat transfer from radiant heat subfloors.

 Also, there is no off-gassing by-product from the use of Quiet Walk or Mohawk Silent Guard over radiant heat subfloors.  In a documented formaldehyde test, there was actually 0 gas emission.

Hardwood vs. Laminate

• If you are going to be in your home for an extended period of years, hardwood is a better investment, as it will increase the value of your home over time more so than a laminate floor..
• Laminate typically has grain patterns that repeat every five boards, where hardwood grain patterns are endlessly unique. 
• When a laminate floor chips, for example from a sharp object falling off of countertop, the fibercore board is revealed, thereby having to be replaced.  Hardwood can be simply re-screened, or if need be, completely refinished, to hide chips or replace gloss that is lost over time. 
• With hardwood, installation is much more difficult, and a  professional installer is usually required.  Proper installing conditions such as temperature, humidity, and grade levels are critical for the finished hardwood floor to have a smooth and even appearance.  Laminate floors typically "click" together with no glue or nails, and can be installed on any grade surface.

Hardwood vs. Carpet

• Carpet tends to last about 7-10 years before needing replacement, under normal conditions.
• In a 30 year time frame, carpeting may need to be replaced 4-5 times, costing the homeowner time, money and inconvenience.
• Since hardwood floors last for as long as you own your home, they cost less over time. 

Hardwood Floor Care

Efloors.com offers one of the internet's widest selections of hardwood floor care products.  See our Hardwood Floor Care and Maintenance page

STEP ONE:

Vacuum or sweep your floor using a dry mop cloth like Mohawk FloorCare Essentials Hard Surface Cleaning Kit, Mirage Hardwood Floor Maintenance Kit, or Bona Hardwood Cleaning Kit to remove any particles that could scratch your floor.

Warning: Vacuums with a beater bar or power rotary brush head can damage a wood floor and should never be used.

STEP TWO:

Apply the Hard Surface Cleaner directly to the wet mop cloth until wet.

STEP THREE:

Use a back and forth motion with the mop. When the Microfiber mop cloth becomes soiled simply replace it with a clean one. Cleaning the floor with a soiled cover mop cloth could cause streaking. Mohawk Microfiber mop cloths are completely reusable and can withstand over 1000 wash cycles. Do not use bleach or fabric softener when washing Microfiber cloths.

Additional tips for protecting your flooring investment:

• Countersink and fill all nail holes.
• Vacuum or sweep regularly.
• Remove spills promptly using a clean, dry Microfiber Terry Cloth, or use the Mirage Hardwood Maintenance Kit, and clean residual from spill with Mirage Hardwood Cleaner and a clean white Microfiber cloth.
• Use felt protectors under heavy pieces of furniture and chairs.
• Use protective mats at all exterior entrances
• Spiked heels or shoes in need of repair can severely damage your floor.
• Never wet or damp mop your wood floors. Water can cause damage to wood flooring
• Maintain 40%-60% relative humidity to reduce the natural expansion and contraction of wood.
• For engineered and longstrip hardwood floors properly installed over sub-floor radiant heating systems, surface temperature should not exceed 85° F.
• Never use oil soaps, wax, liquid or other household products to clean your floor.
• The sun's UV rays can change the color of your floor.
• Keep animal nails trimmed.
• Protect your floor when using a dolly for moving furniture or appliances. Never slide or roll heavy furniture or appliances across the floor.
• If your floor becomes scratched or dull, repairs can often be made using repair accessories.

If you have any additional questions, contact us at:

phone:	1-888-775-7595
fax:	1-815-436-4951
info@efloors.com