Flooring Facts

What You Should Know about Hardwood Flooring Installation,
Floor Repairs, and Floor Refinishing

1) New Hardwood Flooring Installation

If you are having a new hardwood floor installed, you can choose between the look of Unstained or Stained Wood Flooring, and between Unfinished or Finished Wood Flooring. Any of these appearance choices can be achieved with either Solid Hardwood Flooring or Engineered Hardwood Flooring. In turn, you can request any of the following flooring styles: Strip Flooring, Plank Flooring, or Parquet Flooring.

Browse additional information items below, for more details on hardwood flooring types, styles, and finishing options.

2) Floor Restoration and Refinishing

Hardwood Floor Restoration can convert any tired-looking room into a showcase room for your home or office. Many times, existing hardwood floors can be restored, either by reinstalling the loosest boards, by replacing selected boards, or by pulling up and reinstalling the entire floor to achieve the newest look.

While you are having your floor restored, you can ask for a fresh refinishing and the incorporation of interesting inlays, borders, or medallions. There are two main Hardwood Floor Finishing options. Water-Based Finishes dry quicker but give a slightly rough surface to the wood, while Polyurethane Finishes take longer to dry but give a thicker and smoother finish. Both water-based and polyurethane finishes come in Satin, Semi-Gloss, or High-Gloss.

3) More About Unfinished Hardwood Flooring

Unfinished Hardwood Flooring consists of rough strips of wood that are nailed to a wooden subfloor during the installation process. Installation is completed by sanding the floor to a smooth texture. In the case of Engineered Hardwood Flooring, the flooring comes presanded but without a finish. At Premier Hardwood Floors, we recommend installing floor with Select Grades of flooring boards, which have fewer knots and lesser color variations, for that more consistent, eye-appealing look.

Finished Hardwood Flooring is more common, due to the benefits of applying a protective coating to the flooring boards (See More About Hardwood Floor Finishing below.)

Some Photos from Premier Hardwood Floors projects:
Hardwood Floors Flooring Installation Repairs Refinishing

Hardwood Floors Flooring Installation Repairs Refinishing

4) More About Hardwood Floor Finishing

Hardwood Flooring Finishing is achieved by applying several coats of finish to the entire floor, and allowing each coat to dry inbetween. Finishing provides a protective layer over your entire floor, to help it withstand wear and maintain its new look longer. Types of finish include Water-Based Finishes or Polyurethane Finishes, both of which come in the following different forms: Satin, Semi-Gloss, or High-Gloss.

Water-Based Finishes are relatively quick drying (2 to 3 hours ), are completely clear finishes, and usually do not change in appearance over time.

Polyurethane Finishes take longer to dry (8 to 12 hours ) than Water-Based Finishes, and may darken somewhat with time.

5) What Types of Flooring May I Choose From ?

Hardwood Floors can be installed from either Solid Wood Flooring or Engineered Hardwood Flooring constructions. In either case, a number of different species of wood are used.

The best choice between these flooring types depends on a number of factors, including where in your home or office you wish the flooring to be installed, the type of subflooring in the room, and .

Solid Hardwood Flooring:

Solid Hardwood Flooring contains planks or strips of wood, each of which are solid pieces of wood, approximately 3/4-inch thick. With Solid Hardwood Flooring, there will be a wider range of wood species and wood stains from which you can choose, as compared to Engineered Hardwood Floors. Premier Hardwood Floors can offer you a variety of high-quality woods, including white oak, red oak, American cherry, hickory, maple, and ash.

Solid Hardwood Flooring requires installation over a wood subfloor. Also solid flooring is less suitable for basement or below-grade spaces, since they are susceptible to moisture damage.

Engineered Hardwood Flooring:

Engineered Hardwood Flooring consists of engineered planks or strips, which actually retain their dimension and stability better than solid wood. The engineered planks or strips are constructed of 3 to 5 layers of wood pressed together, adjacent layers having the wood grain running in different directions for greater stability.

Some homes and offices have areas (such as basements, storage areas, or equipment rooms) where solid hardwood flooring is often not a good choice, and Engineered Hardwood Flooring is more suitable and satisfactory. Engineered Hardwood Floors actually can be used on any level of your home or office, and in rooms used for any purpose.

More Photos from Premier Hardwood Floors projects:
Hardwood Floors Flooring Installation Repairs Refinishing

6) What Different Styles of Flooring Can Premier Install ?

Strip Flooring:

Strip flooring is linear flooring that is usually 2 1/4", 1 1/2", or 3 1/4" wide. It creates a linear effect in a room often promoting the illusion of a larger space.

Plank Flooring:

Plank flooring is also linear, however, it is wider in width. Common widths of plank flooring are 3", 4", 5", and 6".

Parquet Flooring:

Parquet flooring is a series of wood flooring pieces that create a geometric design.

7) Subflooring - What is Important to Know ?

Under new Solid Hardwood Flooring we would install for you, we will first install subflooring constructed of layers of hardwood specially selected for the purpose. In some cases, Engineered Hardwood Floors can be installed directly on top of your older, existing flooring, thus saving both costs and installation time. If we are repairing or refinishing flooring for you, the subfloor under your existing flooring may be made either of concrete, layers of wood, or other wood design.

More Photos from Premier Hardwood Floors projects:
Hardwood Floors Flooring Installation Repairs Refinishing

Flooring Facts

What You Should Know about Hardwood Flooring Installation, Floor Repairs, and Floor Refinishing

Solid Hardwood Flooring:

Engineered Hardwood Flooring:

What You Should Know about Hardwood Flooring Installation,
Floor Repairs, and Floor Refinishing