HardWood Floor

By Susan Atkins

Hardwood flooring comes in both unfinished and pre-finished materials. These products are made from solid wood, which gives you three-quarters of an inch of wood that can be sanded and refinished if necessary in the future. Pre-finished flooring has an extremely durable finish already applied at the factory, which not only saves time and labor, but can also provide a better finish than you could apply yourself. Other wood flooring products include those made from press board laminated to a thin layer of wood, but although this product is inexpensive, it just will not wear as well as solid wood flooring.

Wood flooring comes in standard grades, which vary according to visual appearance and price. Clear grade is of the highest quality, with the wood containing very few knots and very little variation in overall coloring. Select grade flooring varies a bit more in color and has a few more knots, but is still considered a fine flooring product. Common grade flooring contains more of the natural variations and imperfections of the wood, but can still be used in less formal rooms to create a beautiful hardwood floor.

Floor boards should be laid perpendicular instead of parallel in relationship to the floor joists. It is also important to measure carefully so that an accurate base line can be determined, in order to keep the first rows of wood flooring straight. Standard tongue and groove wood flooring is installed by nailing the flooring board directly through the tongue, and then sliding the next piece over the nailed tongue. Although the process can be completed by hand, there are pneumatic tools that can be rented that can make this job much easier. These tools can quickly and easily drive the staples or nails at the perfect angle, making it easier to do a good installation without missing the tongue or damaging the floor boards. However, it is generally necessary to hand-nail the first row or two of because you will not be able to get close enough using the pneumatic tool. The boards will be installed in a staggered fashion, with the end joints being offset by at least sixteen inches as the rows of flooring boards are installed. Spacers are used between the wall and the flooring planks to allow room for expansion, and the last row of flooring will need to be cut to size and face nailed into place.

Since hardwood floors are becoming an increasingly popular, it may be a good DIY project to attempt. Although some people think that a hardwood floor installation might be difficult, in actuality it can be a relatively easy project, as long as you have some experience with basic carpentry work. You'll not only end up with a beautiful floor, but save yourself a lot of money too.

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By Pieter West

If you have a natural wood floor that has become damaged over the years, you do not have to keep it covered up with rugs or carpets, all you have to do is engage in some simple hardwood floor repair. It really only takes a few moments to replace the damaged planks and have your floor looking brand new again. In order to undergo this project you will need the following tools: a circular saw, hammer, chisel, construction adhesive, mallet, flooring nails, scrap wood, and wood filler.

Remove Damaged Planks

The first thing you need to do when repairing hardwood floors is to remove the planks in your floor that have been damaged. In order to remove a plank you must first carve a hole in the middle with your circular saw. Next, simply hammer out this center part with a chisel. Now it should be easy for you to pry out the remainder of the plank. Repeat this process for each of the remaining damaged planks. Also make sure that you remove any nails that remain in the floor. If they are too difficult to remove, you can always just drive them completely into the subfloor.

Replace

The next step of hardwood floor repair is to cut a new plank to replace the one you have removed. Your new plank should be slightly smaller than the one you removed, roughly 1/16 of an inch. This is important to do because the wood will naturally expand a little as time goes by. Next, you will want to place some adhesive on the backside of your new plank. This will help to keep it stationary after it has been installed. Next, you will place the plank into the floor, starting with the tongue side. You may find that you will have to tap it into place with a mallet. If so, make sure you place some old wood over top of your new plank in order to keep it protected.

Secure and Hide

The next thing you need to do when repairing hardwood floors is to use your flooring nails to secure the new plank to floor. You may also want to use your nail set to keep the nails hidden; it also won't hurt to use wood filler to keep the screws out of sight. Now, the final step is to apply finish to the new plank, trying to match the tone of the other original planks as best as possible. It is often difficult to do this, so you may have to decide whether you should simply refinish the rest of the floor or have a plank or two of a slightly different shade.

As you can see, hardwood floor repair is not as difficult as you may have once thought. All it takes is a little effort and you can have your old floor looking as good as new.

Pieter West travels the world on a regular basis and have written about numerous subjects. He has an extensive knowledge about, finances, DIY, parenting advice and many more subjects.

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By Vic Nagy

If all your floors have previously been carpeted like a lot of places did in the 70s and 80s and you want to get back to wood flooring look you have to remove the carpets obviously. This is an easy job. You go to one corner of the room with a pair of pliers grab some of the carpet and pull up. Usually the way I do it pull enough of it up and you can start cutting a 2 foot strip from the edge the length of the carpet you can roll this into a bale if the bale is too big, shorten the bale length causing it to lose its overall diameter. Then tie up the bales and take them out of the room.

There will be strips of wood with little nail sticking out of it all the way around the edge of the floor. You might need to invest in a molding remover pry bar which will get underneath the tack strips and pry away from the floor once you have it lifted away from your hardwood floor take a pair of pliers to completely remove it from the floor, being careful not to prick yourself in the fingers with the sharp little tact barbs.

Your hardwood floor should now be ready for sanding.

Quick note: you're spending a lot of time and effort into making a new hardwood floor so don't waste your time with unprofessional sanding equipment. Unless the floor space is really small like 3 or 4 feet square. On smaller space like this you can get away with probably an orbital square pad sander and a 30 or 40 grit sandpaper, you most probably won't go too far with a piece of sandpaper. You might end up using two pieces of paper per square foot of area so this could be expenses if you try to do a larger floor. And this is why it's better to go with professional equipment. I also use a very sharp wood paint scraper to go around the edges and hard spots where the sanding machine won't work. The trick with the wood paint scraper it has to be very very sharp and I tell you to keep it sharp by having a file on hand. When you're using the wood paint scraper try scraping in the direction of the grain. You can be very accurate with the paint scraper getting into the smallest little crevices and edges.

Caution! Be careful about leaving your.collection bag on the sander I never leave the bag full of sanding dust, since you've been working the machine hard it got hot and you have a bag of dust which is flammable you could end up with spontaneous combustion.

After working on hundreds of homes a lot of experience has been acquired. If you're interested in tapping into my knowledge come see me at Diy Restorations. Here you can learn more about home improvements and renovations.

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By Albert Martin

Sanding a wood floor has various advantages besides the fact that it not only gives your house a great look, it is also warm and very comforting. However in order to keep a wooded floor looking great it needs to be maintained periodically. Wood sanding is the only way that this can be done.

Reason for sanding no 1

The first reason that you should consider wood floor sanding is to repair your floor. Wooden floors do get worn out over a period of time. Planks can break or become loose, nails could come out etc. All of these need to be reinforced or changed from time to time. Sanding of the floor takes care of all of this.

Reason for sanding no 2

Staining is another reason that you should consider wood floor sanding. Wooden floors tend to lose their original stain with wear and tear of furniture movement and floor cleaning. When you sand your wooden floor you can also re-stain it. This means that you can give your flooring a whole new look.

Reason for sanding no 3

The most important reason that you should consider wood floor sanding is to preserve your flooring. The final step of the sanding process involves a lacquer or an oil coating on the wood. This seals the wood preventing water, dust etc from entering it and therefore prolonging its life. Even if you choose not to stain your flooring, varnishing it must be done.This is the only way that your flooring will look good and more importantly last a life time.As important as the sanding process itself is the need to make sure that you get it done by professionals who know their job.A bad floor sanding job could ruin your wooden flooring.

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By Talia A.

Flooring is the most important aspect that people consider before constructing a house. Several homeowners opt for marble floors or tiles, but this trend keeps up for few years. Some people follow the latest trend and opt for hardwood floors and laminate floors. This is the latest ongoing trend and many people are going for it. The fashion of marble and tile floors will keep for a short period, as the wear and tear power of these floors is very less. This is the reason why numerous people are opting for hardwood floors, these days. Hardwood floors are the best options to retain quality of floors for years.

Hardwood Flooring

Hardwood floors are a quite expensive deal, but there is a guarantee of longevity. Another advantage of using hardwood floors is that it increases the value of property. One should take care of these floors in order to retain the quality and life of the floor. Hardwood flooring is the best option for any room in the house but it is not recommended for bathroom as it can not hold water. It can be installed depending upon the choice and type of hardwood floors. There are several types and styles available in the market that people can choose.

Wood Species

Maple and oak are mainly used in the manufacturing of hardwood floors. Other options include fir, beach, walnut, cinnamon, cherry, pine and birch. Each and every floor has its own benefits and disadvantages, so it is recommended that customers should consult any flooring professional prior to making investment.

Treatment

Hardwood floors can be of two types which include finished and unfinished. Unfinished type involves the finishing and sanding of the floor after the installation, while in case of finished floors there is no need for any type of treatment.

Adds up the Value of Property

Hardwood flooring not just beautify the interior of the home, but it is completely environment friendly as well. These floors are recyclable which is an added advantage for the home owners. Hardwood flooring is widely used from centuries and is now becoming a part of the latest fashion. After its installation, the owner does not need to worry for the refinishing of floors. These also add value to the property and facilitates if the owner wishes to sell the home. The greatest thing about the floor is that it suits the taste of all the people having different life styles.

Online Alternatives

There are numerous websites that are offering hardwood floors at very reasonable prices. Several websites are providing great discounts to the people who purchase the hardwood floors online. One can choose the designs and styles online as there is a huge list of designs and styles are mentioned there. So, hardwood flooring is the best option in order to enjoy longevity of the floors. One just needs to select any of the floor type and design, and add them into the wish list.

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By Nazimabee Woozeer

Flooring of a building is an important factor to design a building. Wood flooring, laminate flooring etc are the two kinds of flooring system. We can classify wood flooring into two types. One is solid wood and the other is engineered. The choice of flooring depends upon the personal interest, climates, durability, stability etc.

Engineered wood is a widely used product. It is used due to its incredible versatility. When two or more wood plies are made connected each other then the flooring is called engineered. The term engineered here is due to use of plies, glues for bonding etc. two or more plies are connected with glues. Adhesive force acts here for proper bonding.Upper layer is known as lamella and is visible after completing flooring. Inner layer is known as cores are responsible for stability and strength. It is made up of hard wood.

Wood plies are first heated up to a certain temperature that is recommended depending upon the quality. After drying the different layers of wood plies they are mixed with glues for bonding. Wood layers used here may be of slice cut or rounded cut. Sometimes confusions may create with laminate flooring and vinyl flooring because they are look like engineered wood flooring. Laminate flooring uses a thin layer of wood and vinyl flooring uses plastic that looks like wood.

There are different grades of engineered flooring. Quality differs from man to man, brand to brand. This flooring is available in different colors different width length. It depends upon the location and size of house. If the house is located in the darker area then dark color is not supposed to be used. Bright colors are recommended in this case. Thickness, width, length depends on the size and shape of house. Narrow flooring is formal and wide flooring is country look standard.

Engineered wood flooring is generally used in tropical countries. Now-a-days it becomes the main flooring element. People chose it because of its high strength and high durability. It will survive 40 to 100 years. Where there is slightly high relative humidity wood flooring can be used there. 4% relative humidity at winter and 10% relative humidity in summer are known as slightly high relative humidity. It is used in kitchen, basements, toilets, and bathrooms etc where humidity is relatively more. Some basements may be flooded. Engineered wood flooring is not recommended there.

It can be used over concrete floor, tiles as sub floor but can not be used over carpets. In Europe, America, incredible use of engineered wood flooring is observed. There are some methods of increasing its durability. Proper sweeping, cleaning should be ensured. Normally every brand recommends some techniques to clean their floor. Users should follow their instructions. Oil soap is strictly forbidden in cleaning purpose. One can easily install an engineered wood floor according to recommended procedures. But it is better to be installed by the manufacturer. The more it can be finished the more appearance will observe.

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By Jenna Laine

At a time when homeowners are pinching pennies, hardwood floor installation continues to be one of the top trends in home improvement. Why? Because it's guaranteed to bring value to a home, it's seen as classic and transcends through decades, and it's relatively inexpensive.

When it comes to Hardwood Floors, Bruce Hardwoods is considered a leading manufacturer because of quality, aesthetics, and selection. Bruce Hardwoods come in several varieties, with hundreds of styles and color combinations. The most popular woods used include oak, ash, birch, beech, maple, and hickory. With so many different options to choose from, how do you know which is right for your home?

For an elegant, formal setting in your home, darker woods and finishes add a sense of warmth, such as the stunning Dundee Plank by Bruce Hardwood in a cherry or mocha. For everyday use, opt for contemporary maple, or even a combination of maple with oak, such as Bruce Hardwood's Liberty Plank flooring.

If your style is a bit on the retro side, or you want to add some Americana flare to your home, go with American Vintage Walnut from Bruce Hardwoods. If you have kids or pets, the highly durable Bruce Park Avenue Premium Laminate Wood is eight times more resistant to scratches and surface stains than any other wood on the market, and it's backed by a 30-year warranty.

In addition to type of wood used, you will need to select a pattern. The most common patterns are strip and plank, although a popular trend among homeowners is to integrate their own custom designs in the wood.

Talk to a Bruce Hardwoods floor installation specialist to discuss your options. When choosing a color and cut, be sure to request samples, and don't forget to ask about cleaning. Different woods require different cleaning methods, and some floors can only be cleaned professionally. When making a home investment such as this, you don't want any surprises!

Hardwood Floor Experts
Bruce Liberty Plank

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