Hardwood Flooring

Absolutely, hardwood flooring is extremely durable and coated with a protective seal that prevents scratches and dents. If there are spills just make sure to pick them up in a timely fashion.

For a full Bath, NO. For a ½ Bath or powder room, YES. Any areas where you can expect a lot of moisture and steam you do NOT want hardwood flooring. Water can cause serious damage to your flooring that includes staining, cupping, and buckling, all are terrible for the life of your flooring.

Solid hardwood flooring can NOT be installed in a basement for the simple fact that it can NOT be floated over concrete. Another huge reason is the moisture and temperature difference that occurs from the concrete to the house. This can cause cupping and buckling and the boards would be effected immensely damaging your flooring.

There is one big question you should ask yourself - is my dog trained? If your dog is constantly having accidents inside your home on your floors then you should NOT have hardwood flooring. Now if the dog is trained then there is no issue at all. 

Anyway you would like… the ONLY thing I wouldn’t do is pre-soak mop, where you lay down pools of water to soak your floors. Everything else is perfectly fine. If you are going to mop just have it damp and go over your floors. I personally use water and white vinegar as my cleaning solution and use a damp mop after I sweep and my floors look like new, which can be expected with hardwood floors.  They last so long and with a little TLC will last a lifetime.

Simple, sweep on occasion and use a damp mop to pick up loose dirt and hair. Keep doormats at all entrances to keep dirt and rocks at a minimum. Always pick up spills quickly, and keep a mat in front of the sink (anywhere where water could possibly pool up). NEVER use harsh chemicals on your hardwood flooring. Avoid walking on high heels if possible; avoid direct or prolonged exposure to sunlight. Follow these simple rules and your floors will last a long time.

One distinct advantage of engineered compared to solid hardwood floors is that you can install engineered directly to slab; both floating and glue-down. The way it is constructed it is less likely to expand and contract, higher stability than solid hardwood flooring. With the core being either HDF or plywood, engineered is more scratch-resistant as well because it’s harder than solid hardwood. 

No. The unfinished hardwood though beautiful, has to be done on site and as a result, takes much longer to finish. Also, you can NOT access your home while this is going on, so it is inconvenient for the homeowner as well. Unfinished hardwood floors do have a look that the manufacturers can NOT duplicate, but by the same token, the high-quality, durable finishes that the manufacturers produce with UV treatment can NOT be duplicated by on-site installation. Overall, prefinished has more advantages.

Quarter Round

When installing Hardwood flooring you must leave a gap for expanding and contracting of wood during the different seasons. This molding is used to conceal this gap and strictly is used for aesthetic reasons only.

T-Molding

T-Molding is used for transition purposes only, going from one surface to another, i.e.; tile to hardwood. When the two different types of flooring are even a T-Molding is used on the threshold.

Stairnose

This molding is used to protect the edge of the stairstep.

Stairtread

This molding comes in one piece to cover the tread of the horizontal part of the stair.

Baby Threshold

This molding is used to transition from hardwood to carpet.

Reducer

This molding is used to transition from hardwood flooring to vinyl or sub-floor. 

Simply put, the higher the grade the less flaws you will find in the boards and usually a greater warranty covering the wood. The lower grade will show flaws in the wood like knots, streaks, rough spots and usually a limited warranty, meaning only certain things will be covered. You get what you pay for usually and for your home you never want to go lower than a 2. Now for a hunting cabin out in the woods absolutely go with a 3 and save a lot of money.

Each species has a Janka rating; this simply tells you how hard the wood is. Why does this matter? Well the harder the wood the more scratch-resistant / dent-resistant it is. This directly affects the durability of the wood. There are other factors such as the finish used but the species is the biggest factor when determining durability.

The Janka Hardness Rating is a scale that identifies the hardness of a specific species of wood.  A higher number indicates a higher stability, and the higher stability the more scratch-resistant the wood is and less likely to have indentations.