Hardwood flooring, cleaning, and suppliers

Hello and welcome to Hardwood Markets.com. We are a site designed and dedicated to bringing you the latest news and information on the world of Hardwood Flooring. At Hardwood Markets.com we cover many topics including Hardwood Flooring, Hardwood Floor Cleaner, Hardwood Floor Refinishing, Laminate Hardwood, Oak Hardwood Flooring, Hardwood Kitchens and much more.

Hardwood Markets.com is a purely informational website and we do not promote or endorse any one particular product or method. Please make sure to refer back to this site often as we are continually updating it to bring you the most relevant news you can use for Hardwood Floorings and its offshoots.

Having Hardwood floors in a residence is a dream that many people have. Here at Hardwood Markets.com we are here to help people achieve that dream. We have the news and information that can help you decide what the best floor for you is.

We can help you decide between Maple Hardwood flooring, Cherry Hardwood Flooring, and Unfinished Hardwood Flooring.  We will also discuss what kind of Hardwood Floor cleaners you will need for your floors.

There are two basic manufactured types of hardwood. Wood flooring comes unfinished, and once installed is sanded, and then finished on site. More modernly, the product is pre-finished in a factory.

The products that are pre-finished are often a polyurethane finish that has added aluminum oxide; however some companies use titanium dioxide or other oxides instead. These metal oxide finishes are used in various types of floor coverings and increase the wear a hardwood floor can handle.

Why do people want hardwood floors over carpet, tile and laminate? Mainly because they bring a touch of style, sophistication and elegance to any place of residence.

There are two different styles of hardwood flooring: Solid and Engineered. Each has their own uniqueness and are both great options.

Solid hardwoods are typically 3/4" or 19mm thick, although some do come in 3/8" or 10mm or 5/16" 8mm thicknesses. Typically the wearing thickness, i.e., the thickness that can be sanded over the lifetime of the floor, above the tongue-and-groove portion, is approximately 7/32" approaching 1/4".

This type of hardwood flooring can be installed with a nail-down installation method over wood subfloors. This type of hardwood is also very susceptible to the effects of moisture and temperature, because hardwoods expand and contract with moisture and temperature changes in the atmosphere.

 Since hardwoods expand and contract in the width of the grain, this type of hardwood flooring is not recommended to be installed over a concrete slab, unless otherwise stated by the manufacturer. There are some instances where 3/8"-thick solid hardwood can be installed on a concrete slab.

Rather than having one solid piece of hardwood, the engineered hardwood method uses layers of hardwood veneer to create a product that can range in thickness from 3/8" or 8mm up to 9/16" or 14mm thick. The wood veneer can range in thickness depending on the manufacturer, as will the top wearing thickness.

In order to create an engineered hardwood, these veneer layers are stacked one on top of the other with the grain of adjacent layers oriented perpendicular to one other. Once the desired thickness is achieved, the boards are then cut into the correct board width.

From there, the boards are then manufactured to have a tongue or groove on the edges. The final step is to add stain if necessary, and add a finish. By doing this, the engineered hardwood becomes less susceptible to the effects of moisture and temperature change, because wood expands and contracts in the width of the grain direction.

 

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