What is hardwood flooring acclimation?

Acclimation is the process by which the moisture content (MC) of the hardwood flooring is brought to an equilibrium with moisture content of the space it will be installed in.  This process requires that the wood flooring materials sit in the space where they will be installed, while the building or home is kept at it’s normal temperature and humidity level.  For example, if the location will normally be kept at 70 degrees with a whole house humidifier running, then the house should be heated (or cooled) to about 70 degrees and the humidifier should be running while the wood is acclimating.

Why is hardwood flooring acclimation important?

Hardwood flooring shrinks and contracts based on humidity levels.  When temperature and humidity changes, wood moves. In general, wood is most dimensionally stable at around 30% MC.  When it’s below or above that, it can fail, causing gaps between boards, or buckling and cracking of the boards.  Movement of the boards during expansion and contraction can also cause fasteners to loosen, resulting in squeaks

Essential tools for hardwood flooring acclimation.

The only real way to tell if a wood is properly acclimated is to use a moisture meter. Delmhorst makes a nice digital wood moisture meter, and you can find many other digital and analog moisure meter options on Amazon.

Overall, the main things that affect the cost of solid hardwood floors are species, grade, width and finish.

How does the species of a hardwood floor affect the price?

Species of hardwood is the largest factor in determining the cost of a hardwood floor.  All things being equal, oak flooring is about the cheapest hardwood you can get.  As you go to less common species such as maple, hickory or cherry, the price will go up.  Moving into exotic flooring like wenge, zebrawood or ipe will drive up the cost of flooring materials even more.

How is does the grade of flooring affect the price?

Wood flooring comes in a variety of grades, which determine the overall character and variation between the planks.  For example, oak hardwood flooring is graded accordingly:

• Clear – wood is free of defects, with a uniform appearance and few character marks
• Select – wood has a relatively uniform appearance, but has more natural character marks like knots and color variation than clear wood
• Common No. 1 – wood has more natural variation including color, mineral streaking and knots
• Common No. 2 – wood has a rustic appearance with larger knots and natural markings, or marks from machining.

In any particular tree, there is less wood that meets the criteria for a grade of “clear” than “common”.  As a result, higher grades of wood within a species are more expensive than lower grades.

How does the width of hardwood flooring affect the price?

The wider the width of hardwood flooring, the more expensive it is going to be. The width may not seem like an obvious cost factor, but it is important.  When you cut trees into wider  boards, you will get less yield from a given tree.  Wider boards are also more likely to have defects that will throw the entire piece out of grade, so a high grade, wide plank floor can be particularly costly.

How does the hardwood floor finish affect price?

When you are choosing the finish for your hardwood floor, your basic options are oil based polyurethane, water based polyurethane, or a more durable commercial grade finish.  Prices vary due to the time involved in applying different types of finish, different drying times and the cost of the finish materials themselves.

In general, oil based finishes are the least expensive, followed by water based.  Two part commercial finishes like Bona Traffic are most expensive because of the cost of the products themselves, and the fact that left over materials harden and cannot be saved and used for later coats or other projects.

We recently replaced our old dance floor.  And I’m wondering how to maintain it on a daily, weekly and monthly basis.  Since it is a dance floor there is a certain amount of wear and tear.  I would like to know what you would recommend to use for cleaning and polishing.  I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you.

-Nikole

Dear Nikole:

It’s great to know that you are looking to maintain your new dance floor.  A hardwood floor, especially a commercial hardwood floor, is a great investment.  Being a commercial dance floor, there are a lot of hazards and abuse that your floor will be subjected to.  There are several ways that you can keep that floor looking and performing great for years to come.

Here are some tips for protecting your commercial dance floor:

1. Clean up liquid spills immediately.  Moisture and can damage a hardwood floors by seeping into cracks and gaps and swell the hardwood floor.
2. Dust, dirt, and debris can grind into the hardwood floor when walked on, thus wearing and dulling the finish, so sweep the floor nightly, using a microfiber dust mop, such as the
   Bona Kemi Commercial Cleaning Pad.
3. Damp mop the floor with a spray on hardwood floor cleaner such as Bona Hardwood Spray Mop and cleaner at least weekly, or when needed.
4. Screen and coat your floor every 6 months with a commercial grade hardwood floor finish, such as Bona Traffic.  This requires a professional hardwood floor refinishing company to come in and lightly buff the floor with a screen, and then apply a maintenance coat.

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

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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.

I’ve been searching for the perfect eco-friendly flooring for my new condo. I’ve seen some cork flooring products on the market, but I’m not sure if it’s for me.  Can you tell me more?

-Joe in Atlanta

Dear Joe:

Cork is a flooring product that is as unique as it is beautiful.  Cork is available in a wide variety or styles and patterns that can suit a variety of interior design styles. The beauty of cork is “more than skin deep.”  Cork, which comes from the cork oak tree, is an environmentally friendly and sustainable flooring product.  This is because cork is harvested approximately every ten years without actually chopping down the tree that produces it.  Cork is the bark of the cork oak, and it is made up of air filled dead cells, cellulose and waxy substance called suberin.  When the cork is removed, the tree naturally produces more bark which can be harvested again and again.

If you think of a cork board when someone says cork flooring, the picture in your head couldn’t be further from the truth.  Cork varies from light colored and simple, like the creamy white APC Cork Cremes Apollo White Cork Flooring to multi-colored and playful like APC Cork Kids Collection Building Blocks Cork Flooring.  Cork flooring can be purchased in both glue down and click together tile styles.

Cork has some unique benefits as a flooring material.  Cork absorbs sound, which makes it the perfect choice for your condo installation.  It also provides some thermal insulation, and is impact absorbing while still being tough and durable.  This makes cork floors like the one shown to the left a unique choice playrooms.  In addition, cork is hypoallergenic, making it an excellent flooring choice for allergy sufferers.

Overall, cork is a flooring choice that is both unique, beautiful and environmentally friendly. Click here to buy cork flooring and save up to $100 using coupon code ZLS564201. -Rob