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HARDWOOD… MADE SIMPLEHardwood Styles | Hardwood Construction | Hardwood Installation
Less than a generation ago, hardwood floors had to be installed when a home was constructed or during a major renovation. And choices were limited to local species and standard installations. Today, a beautiful hardwood floor is within everyone’s reach. There are many benefits to installing a hardwood floor:
The price per sq. ft. is higher compared to other flooring surfaces. But over the long term, when considering replacement costs, as well as the appreciation in value of homes with hardwood floors, hardwood represents a very good value. The appearance of a hardwood floor depends on the species of tree from which it is made. Each species has its own identifying grain pattern, like a fingerprint. Oak’s pronounced grain, for example, is distinctly different from the subtler grain of Maple. Determining the right species of hardwood floor depends on what you are looking for in terms of color, style, grain and overall fashion. Traditional Hardwoods Traditional hardwoods include oak, maple and hickory. Each has a unique grain and coloring, creating a different look and feel.
Exotic Hardwoods Exotic refers to hardwoods that come from countries other than the US, such as Brazilian Cherry and South America Mahogany. The name “Exotic” comes from the fact that the wood has a “foreign” look, with unusual eye-catching colors and grains. Rustic Hardwoods This refers to hardwoods that are “distressed” during the manufacturing process to give them an aged, antiqued or hand-milled look. Hardwoods can be distressed with metal chains or a wire brush to give it the look of old, reclaimed wood that has been walked on for centuries. Or it can be hand scraped to create the look of old fashioned, hand milled wood. These woods have the same performance characteristics as traditional hardwood: but they are put through a time consuming, labor intensive process to give them the distinctive look of aged, reclaimed wood. Not surprisingly, they are relatively expensive.
Solid Hardwood Solid hardwood floors have been around for a long time. They are generally ¾” thick and can be purchased raw or pre-finished. Because each plank is made from a single piece of wood, it tends to be very expensive. In addition, solid wood floors expand and contract with changes in temperature. In summer, humidity causes hardwood to expand, causing the planks to buckle. In winter, as the moisture decreases, the floor planks contract, leaving gaps. The high levels of moisture are the primary reason that solid wood floors are not recommended in basements or over concrete.
Buyer’s Tip: Watch out for inexpensive hardwood that is less than ¾” thick. These “thin” solid hardwoods are very susceptible to bowing and buckling from exposure to sun and/or moisture.
Multi-layer Cross Grain Hardwood Multi-layer, cross grain constructed hardwood, sometimes referred to as “engineered” hardwood, is becoming more and more popular. Engineered Hardwood is constructed by taking multiple layers of hardwood (4 or more layers on better quality laminate) and fusing them together at 900 angles to create a stronger, more stable hardwood.
Some lesser quality engineered hardwood is made with three layers of hardwood, versus the five layers found in better quality flooring. Each layer substantially increases the product’s stability. The term “engineered” is misleading, because it implies that the wood is not real. In fact, many people mistakenly think that engineered hardwood is laminate. Engineered hardwood is 100% real wood. Multi-layer, cross grain constructed hardwood is gaining popularity because it is more stable than solid hardwood, which means the floor is much less likely to warp or buckle. That’s because, with each layer fused at 900 angles, the wood is less likely to expand and contract with changes in temperature. This is particularly attractive with exotic hardwoods which, by nature, are softer and more likely to bend, bow and twist with changes in temperature. The increased stability also means that engineered hardwood can be installed on floors that are below grade or on concrete, something you wouldn’t do with solid hardwood. Engineered hardwood is also less expensive than solid hardwood. Solid hardwood is made from a single piece of wood. With engineered wood, the core and back layers can be constructed from less expensive but still very strong hardwood, while the more expensive hardwood species is used only for the face or wear layer. Better quality engineered hardwood uses only North American hardwood for the interior layers. North American hardwood is superior because the growing season is slower, causing the grains to be much tighter. Lesser quality engineered hardwood is made with cheaper hardwoods from Central and South America, where the wood grows faster in the warmer climates, resulting in grains that are loose and more likely to warp.
Buyer’s Tip: Exotics hardwoods are typically expensive. Multi-layer cross grain constructed hardwood allows for exotic species that are price competitive with oak. Only the top layer is made from exotic wood; the remaining layers are made from traditional hardwoods which, though less expensive, are actually harder. In addition, exotic hardwoods typically expand and contract with temperature changes more than domestic hardwoods. The multi-layer cross grain construction of engineered hardwood adds dimensional stability, producing an exotic hardwood that is less likely to warp or buckle with changes in temperature.
Advantages of Multi-layer, Cross Grain Hardwood:
Buyer’s Tip: Lesser quality hardwoods are not milled to the same tolerance as better quality hardwoods. The result is planks that are not square or that have different heights, resulting in unsightly gaps between the planks when installed.
Hardwood Widths and Edges Board width significantly impacts how a hardwood floor will look in the home. Hardwood floors were traditionally milled in narrow strips 2 ¼” wide. Today, most hardwood floors are milled into wider “planks” of 3” or 5” in width.
Hardwood edges impact both the look of the floor and how easy it is to clean:
Micro Bevel Edge - Features a slight angle at the top edge, giving some definition to each plank. You can feel the edge when you walk over the floor. It also helps mask slight imperfections in the floor.
Full Bevel Edge - Features a more significant bevel along the edge, resulting in pronounced joints between the planks, adding more depth and dimension, creating a hand-crafted look. A disadvantage is that the edge captures dirt.
Hardwood Finishes Hardwood finishes serve three primary functions:
Solid wood is typically sold unfinished: once the floor is installed, it must be sanded, stained and then finished with polyurethane. Sanding can be a challenging process, creates a significant mess and requires a great deal of preparation and clean up. More significantly, it is difficult to apply the finish uniformly. Most importantly, superior finishes, such as urethanes infused with aluminum oxide and Teflon for superior durability and scratch resistance, can NOT be applied to unfinished hardwood in the home. Pre-finished floors are a more practical option. The wood is sanded, stained and finished at the factory, providing significant benefits:
Buyer’s Tip: A recent trend is to sell hardwood flooring with gel stains, which contains no wear layers. While such finishes may look “charming” at first, they offer no protection against stains or scratches.
The three standard finishes for hardwood are:
Historically, hardwood floors had a high gloss. The trend today is toward more satin finishes. Installation Methods In general, hardwood floors are installed using one of three methods: Nail-down: The traditional method for installing hardwood. The installer nails (or staples) each board to the sub-floor, and then nails (or staples) that board into the next board in the line. This process is continued across the entire floor. Glue-down: Floor boards are glued to the sub-floor using a strong adhesive. This approach is effective as long as the boards are not too thick (generally no more than ¾ inches thick). Floating: Strips of flooring are glued or snapped together and then laid on top of underlayment. The underlayment serves as a moisture barrier, preventing moisture from seeping back up from the sub-floor into the hardwood, substantially extending the life of the floor. The hardwood floor is held in place by the weight of the floor as well as the base molding around the edge of the room. Because the floor is “floated” over a moisture barrier, it can be installed over many different types of sub floors (unlike solid wood, which requires a very level sub-floor and typically can not be installed over concrete). Hardwood installed using the floating floor method is the only hardwood floor where the planks are actually “adhered to each other”. Hardwood installed in the traditional nail down or glue down method is actually adhered to the sub-floor. Because the planks are adhered to the sub-floor (rather than to each other), the planks move and separate with changes in temperature, leaving gaps in the floor. Floating floors offer the best resistance against plank separation. Only dimensionally stable hardwood can be “floated”, which is why solid hardwood and lesser quality engineered hardwoods are nailed down or glued to the sub-floor. The advantages of the “floating floor” installation method can be summarized as:
Buyer’s Tip: Make sure the installers are familiar with the hardwood being installed. If they do not use manufacturer specified underlayment and/or adhesives, the warranty is voided.
Finishing Touch: Quarter Round Molding Hardwood floors are installed with a ½” expansion gap between the flooring and the wall, which allows the floor boards to expand and contract with changes in temperature and humidity without causing buckling or cupping. To cover this gap, quarter round molding is installed around the room’s perimeter to create a subtle and polished detail between the floor and the wall.
Transitions for Hardwood When installing a new hardwood floor, transitions are required when:
For example, hardwood is being installed in a kitchen that opens up to a family room with carpet, or in a living room that opens up to a tiled foyer. In some cases, there are two different surfaces in the same room, such as when you install hardwood in a library that has tiles around the fireplace. In each case, a transition from one surface to the other is required. The transitions used with new hardwood flooring, which are made to coordinate with the color of the hardwood, are described as follows:
Reducer Strip – sits atop the adjoining floor surface
• Transition from hardwood to a floor of lesser height,
Baby Threshold – Abuts adjoining floor surface
Step Nosing – Used as a protective strip along the edge of a hardwood floor in a room that “steps down” into another room.
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It is constructed of a face or wear layer (made from the species that defines the look of the hardwood), a core layer and a back, each made from solid hardwood, fused together at 900 angles to create a stronger, more stable hardwood.
Square Edge - The boards fit flush against each other for a smooth, traditional look. The smooth surface also makes cleaning easier.
T-Molding – Sits atop the new and adjoining floor surface
