Wood Flooring - What does that mean?
Aluminum Oxide: Refers to one of the most durable finishes for wood flooring; can only be factory-applied.
Bow: The distortion of lumber in which there is a deviation — in a direction perpendicular to the flat face — from a straight line from end to end of the piece.
Burl: A swirl or twist of the grain of the wood that usually occurs near a knot, but does not contain a knot.
Crowning: A convex or crowned condition or appearance of individual boards with the center of the board higher than the edges.
Cupping: A concave or dished appearance of individual boards with the edges raised above the center.
Delamination: The separation of layers in an engineered board through failure within the adhesive or at the bond between adhesive and wood.
Dimensional Stability: The ability to maintain the original intended dimensions (little or no expansion and contractions) when influenced by humidity swings. Some species are more dimensionally stable than others. In addition, engineered flooring products are substantially more stable than their solid counterparts.
Distressed: A heavy artificial texture in which the floor has been scraped, scratched or gouged to give it a time-worn, antique look.
Edge Treatments: These are techniques manufacturers use to add character to the individual boards. There are three primary edge treatments — beveled (square edges are cut at 45-degree angles), eased (similar to beveled, but less of an indentation) and micro-bevel (a small, less than 1mm 45-degree bevel cut).
Grading: The allowance of natural character marks, such as knots and mineral streaks, in a wood product. There are generally four types of grading — clear (no occurrence of knots and streaks), select (minimal occurrence of knots and streaks), common (full range of natural character) and rustic (full range of natural character and/or voids and holes).
Janka Rating: A unit of measurement used to describe the surface hardness of wood flooring, determined by the amount of force required to drive a .444-inch steel ball half its diameter into the wood product.
Knot: A roughly circular and usually darker imperfection found in wood. Knots naturally form in trees where side branches sprout from the trunk.
Plank: Boards that are about 3-8 inches wide.
Square Edge: A sharp, 90-degree edge cut, most commonly used on unfinished flooring products that will be sanded after installation for uniformity.
Strip: Boards that are narrower than plank flooring.
Urethane (polyurethane): A clear, elastic, petroleum-based varnish commonly used in conjunction with aluminum oxide in wood finishes.
Wood floors come in 3 basic types of construction:
- 3/4" solid wood floors
- unfinished, or pre-finished
- installed over wood subfloors
- use on, or above ground level
- nail, or staple down
- engineered wood floors
- unfinished, or pre-finished
- installed over dry concrete slabs, or wood subfloors
- use above, on or below ground level
- glue-down, staple, or float
- longstrip, engineered wood floors
- unfinished, or pre-finished
- installed over dry concrete slabs, or wood subfloors
- use above, on or below ground level
- glue-down, staple,or float
The engineered and longstrip hardwood floors can be installed on any level of the home, including in the basement if moisture isn't present. They can also glued down, floated over, or nailed down to most the subfloors. While the 3/4" solid hardwood floors are generally recommended for above grade installation only, and have to be nailed to the subfloor. Any of these floors can be refinished if they become severely scratched, or dull from normal wear and tear.
Choosing a hardwood floor can be confusing, so let our expert staff help you decide which wood floor is right for your home:
