Hardwood Floor Strips
Hardwood strips in the trade name for full thickness (usually although
there are various thicknesses) real wood floor. The biggest advantage
is that it's the real thing. It is thicker than other floors so
it is better for insulation, sound proofing and will last many
years because it can be refinished several times. In the last five
years there has been a great development of pre-finished flooring.
This is an excellent system to use, because it eliminates the sanding
and on site finishing process, therefore saving time and making
the job cleaner. Wood floor is available also unfinished. The pre-finished
strips are available with different stains. In order to make the
best selection you must decide on the following:
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Species
You need to determine what your favorite wood species is according
to your taste and budget. A popular trend in recent years
is the pre-finished bamboo flooring. The most popular species
are oak, maple, and cherry, but there are hundreds of possibilities
available. The most beautiful are the exotic species from
Africa and South America such as Zebra wood or Purple-heart.
These are usually much more expensive.
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Grade
There are different grades. The better the grades, the less
knots, holes and color variation. Some prefer a lower grade
in order to show “character”, but most people
like the higher select or clear grades. Grades may be determined
according to your budget, since the better grades are most
expensive.
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Width
The standard width is 2“. The wider the plank, the bigger
the room would look. The wider planks are considered nicer
looking, but are more expensive, because it is harder to find
large pieces of wood.
Engineered Flooring
This product has become very popular within the last decade. Only
the top part (between 1/8” to _”) is the real wood,
and all the rest is made of different woods or manmade products.
The biggest advantage is that it is more resistant to changes in
humidity or water damage. It looks perfect because, and the strips
join perfectly together. Being manmade there are no imperfections,
which is why the strips connect perfectly. It is thinner than hardwood
and usually can be glued down. In many cases the reason for using
it is to avoid installing a plywood sub floor. Eliminating the
_” sub floor in addition to the thinner strips is a great
advantage in cases that require cutting down the bottom of doors,
because the new installation will raise the height of the floor.
A big disadvantage is that because the top layer is thin, it can
not be refinished as many times as a thick hardwood floor.
Laminated Flooring
The new brand of laminated flooring is PERGO, but there are many
other brands available. It is fastest to install and does not require
a plywood sub floor although it is recommended. It may be installed
using a floating floor technique. This technique allows each strip
to connect to one another, but not to be attached to the sub floor.
The whole floor is one piece, which is floating above the sub floor.
The advantages of this system is that it saves time and money on
installation and plywood. The biggest problem is that if the floor
is not perfectly level, you will feel it when you are walking on
the floor. There will be pockets of air underneath you, and when
you step the floor may sink. The biggest disadvantage is that it
is not the real thing. The top layer is a high pressure laminate
(like FORMICA), which is made to imitate the wood look, but is
definitely far from the real thing.
