Bruce Prefinished Oak Flooring – Our Review

Bruce produces high quality pre-finished oak flooring, but when it comes to oak hardwood flooring, there are a lot of options out there. We actually have a traditional site finished oak floor on the main level of our home. But, when it came time extend our wood flooring into the rest of our home, a site finished product just wasn’t practical for our lifestyle. With two small kids and a home office, we just couldn’t stay off our floors for long enough to have them sanded and finished in place. With that in mind, we selected Bruce hardwood flooring by Armstrong to complete the floors in our home.  We wet with a Bruce pre-finished solid oak product like the Bruce Bristol Low Gloss Butter Rum White Oak Hardwood Flooring because we were confident that a floor from Bruce would give us the level of quality and finish durability we wanted, while still being beautiful and coordinating nicely with our existing floors

Oak Flooring Facts

• Varieties: Red Oak (Quercus rubra), White Oak (Quercus alba)
• Native Habitat: North America, Central America
• Janka Hardness Rating: Red Oak – 1290, White Oak – 1360
• Grades: No. 1 Common, No. 2 Common, Clear, Select

Finish Quality of Bruce Hardwood Floors

The finish on our Bruce floors has proven to be more durable than the oil based finish on our site-finished floors.  It has a beautiful gloss that has held up very well against our three kids, a dog, and ongoing home improvements.  While any hardwood floor can scratch or dent, we’ve been impressed with how resilient the Bruce finish has been.  After almost three years, we haven’t had any problems with the finish like peeling, flaking or discoloration.  For the most part, it looks just as good as the day we installed it.

Installation of Bruce Pre-Finished Floors

The quality and consistent milling on the individual boards of our Bruce solid oak flooring made installation simple.  Boards fit together quickly and easily, and didn’t need to be forced into place, which can sometimes be a problem with poorly milled products whose tongues and grooves don’t match up well.

Overall Appearance of Bruce Hardwood Floors

Our Bruce pre-finished floors have a warm look that blends nicely with our oak site-finished floors.  While we can definitely tell a difference between the two, most visitors to our home who aren’t in the flooring industry don’t even notice that we have two different types of wood flooring.  While we specifically chose a floor that would look as close as possible to our existing floors, Bruce also carries a variety of different styles, colors and species to accent or coordinate with your current interior design style.  In addition to solid wood products, they also carry engineered flooring like Bruce Balance Red Oak Plank Flooring. Overall, we’ve been extremely pleased with the Bruce floors we installed in our own home, and we also have many satisfied flooring customers that also love their Bruce pre-finished floors. Get free shipping on qualifying Bruce pre-finished flooring purchases.

Choosing Bamboo Flooring

Dear Rob:

I’ve been shopping for floors lately, and I’m very intrigued by the bamboo flooring products I’ve seen.  Can you tell me a little bit about bamboo flooring and the differences between different bamboo flooring products?

-Jeff in Wisconsin

Dear Jeff:

Bamboo flooring’s popularity has not decreased since it was introduced into the flooring market. Its versatile style and consistent look have made it a very popular flooring choice.

Bamboo is technically a grass and not a hardwood. However, it is made from processed strips of cane and compressed to be as hard and durable as a regular hardwood floor.  It’s gaining popularity daily because of its “green” qualities. Bamboo is a rapidly renewing resource that matures in three years. Other green qualities include the fact that it regenerates without replanting and does not need pesticides or fertilization to grow.

There are three main styles of bamboo planks: horizontal, vertical or strand woven. With vertical bamboo flooring, the grain looks more linear and narrow where as with horizontal bamboo flooring the grain is wider and the knots of the bamboo are seen more prevalently. Strand woven bamboo, which consists of compressed strands of bamboo fiber, is the hardest and most durable bamboo flooring choice.  Within the different bamboo styles there are two main colors: carbonized and non-carbonized. Non-carbonized bamboo has a yellowish natural coloring where carbonized has a warmer, rich and brownish tint to it. Because of the growing demand of bamboo, other stain colors are available such as reds, blacks, browns, turquoise and even orange, but carbonized and non-carbonized are the two main colors you will see. One thing to keep in mind is that the carbonized product is softer than the non-carbonized.

Once seen as a contemporary and modern product, bamboo is now being seen in more and more residential homes as well as commercial applications. New products include laminate with bamboo patterns for busier lifestyles and handscraped floors for more rustic and traditional looks. Mosaic tiles and parquet patterns have even been created from bamboo as an alternative to the plank style. Bamboo is not just for floors anymore! Bamboo is also being used to make cabinets and counter tops.

When shopping for a bamboo floor or bamboo laminate floor, you want a floor that has a finish with a high UV protection content. You also want to support a company that lets the product reach full maturity before being harvested. If possible, try to select a FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified bamboo floor. This ensures that your floor was harvested properly.

Like hardwood, bamboo requires minimal maintenance. Door mats should be placed at every entrance to keep dirt from scratching the finish of the floors. Regular sweeping or vacuuming should be performed as well. Spills should be cleaned up immediately and not allowed to sit and penetrate the floor. If pre-finished, the manufacturers recommended cleaner should be used. If not, a hardwood specific cleaning solution should be used rather than a generic household cleaner. Using the wrong type of cleaner can permanently damage the finish on the floor.

To protect the floors, chair protectors should be placed on the bottoms of all chairs to prevent gouging. Rubber backed mats should be avoided because the backing can cause discoloration in the floor. Furniture and other heavy objects should not be dragged across the floor. These simple steps will keep your floor beautiful and long lasting.

-Rob

Environmentally Friendly Low VOC Floor Finishes

Dear Rob:

I am refinishing the hardwood floors in an older home. I’m looking for a natural/eco friendly stain and gloss that is non-toxic. Do you have any suggestions?

-Bridgette

Dear Bridgette:

It’s great to know that you are looking to use an eco-friendly and non-toxic floor finish. Choosing a finish is important, because the right finish will protect your floor for years to come.  When considering environmentally friendly finish choices, you want to choose a water based or water borne finish. These finishes have a low VOC (Volatile Organic Components or Compounds) because they use water instead of solvents to carry the urethane molecules.

Off the bat, my first recommendation would be to go with a water based finish made by BonaKemi.  Their floor finishing systems are GREENGUARD-certified for indoor air quality.  They offer a variety of finish choices, ranging from the very low VOC Eon 70 to the more durable Bona Traffic.   BonaKemi finishes are high quality, and I have had excellent results with their products.

Other environmentally friendly finishes and stains include products produced by Bioshield, Safecoat and Ecoprocote.  I don’t have any personal experience working with these products, so I can’t vouch for the results or durability you’ll get with them.

Because the experiences and preferences of flooring companies vary, it’s important to keep in mind that when you choose a professional to refinish the floors, they may recommend a different brand that is of equal quality that they are more comfortable working with. Be sure to discuss this with your flooring professional so they know what your needs and concerns are.

-Rob