The NWFA Expo Is Right Around the Corner...

The annual National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA) Wood Flooring Expo is getting close, and we couldn't be more excited! This year's expo is taking place at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, from April 10 - 13. The sun will be shining, the birds will be singing, and the biggest names in hardwood flooring will be showing off their goods. How exciting!

(Photo courtesy of Visit Orlando)

The NWFA Wood Flooring Expo is the only trade who in the world that is dedicated solely to wood flooring. It is a place where established industry names come to show off their latest products alongside up-and-coming industry newbies. The theme of this year's expo is "renewal". Here's what the NWFA had to say:

"This year's show center's around renewal: Renew your business. Renew your energy. Renew your prospects. Come see how the NWFA has renewed its commitment to grow the industry and help grow your business."

The expo is a great opportunity for businesses of all sizes to catch up with old friends and colleagues and make useful new connections in the hardwood flooring industry. There are educational seminars, guest speakers, and, of course, the trade show. Here are NWFA's top 5 reasons why you shouldn't miss this year's show:

1. Completely Revamped Trade Show
The new show floor is apparently huge, packed full of vendors, and will be host to the final closing party. Oh, and a full wood floor will be assembled, too.

2. Can't-Miss Discounts
There are going to be many expo-specific specials available for attendees courtesy of the NWFA Expo Coupon book (but only if you're staying at the Gaylord property).

3. New Educational Tracks
This year's educational sessions are focused on three different but equally important parts of your business: technical, marketing, and management. (Our suggestion: check out all three.)

4. Exciting Keynote and Harley Giveway
This year's keynote speaker is Ken Schmidt, former director of communications at Harley-Davidson. Did we mention he's also giving away one of the company's motorcycles?

5. Wood Floor of the Year Awards and HGTV Celebrity Designer
The Wood Floor of the Year awards are a highlight of the NWFA Wood Flooring Expo, giving companies the chance to show off their best work and gain recognition in the industry. This year's host will be HGTV celebrity carpenter/designer Carter Oosterhouse. Exciting!

Visit the NWFA Expo website to learn more about the event and register.

2012 Flooring Trends

We often get questions from contractors and homeowners about the hottest flooring trends, and we couldn't be more happy to help! We keep our ear to the ground and our finger on the pulse of the interior design and home building industry. The following are the six top flooring trends, compiled by our knowledgeable sales staff from national search and sales data, and media mentions. Enjoy!

Wide Plank Floors

Wide plank hardwood floors come in many styles, colors, and species, and are a unique take on traditional hardwood flooring. This trend has seen a surge in popularity in the past few months, mainly with designers that have clients looking for a one-of-a-kind flooring material. Many hardwood species are available as wide plank, meaning you can match your new wide plank floor with you current home design scheme.

Distressed

The homey, lived-in look of distressed hardwood flooring is full of depth and character. It is popular with large families and business owners that are going for that down-home aesthetic.

Exotics

Still the most popular of hardwood flooring, exotics feature colors, textures, and striping patterns you can't find in domestic species. There are many different styles to choose from, such as bright and vibrant acacia to eye-catching tigerwood.

Hand-Rubbed Oil Finish

When you install hardwood flooring with a hand-rubbed oil finish, your whole house looks as if it was crafted by an artisan woodworker. This style of hardwood is becoming more and more popular with designers that deal in classic and turn-of-the-century style homes.

Vintage & Weathered

Perfect for homeowners looking for a rustic, antique-looking decor, weathered flooring has character and personality that is unsurpassed by other styles of hardwood flooring. This popular flooring trend is most often used for cabins, cottages, and other woodsy types of homes.

Eco-Friendly

Eco-friendly material like bamboo flooring is the best way to get the look and feel of hardwood flooring while still being good to the environment. This flooring trend is popular with modern and urban designers.

Have questions about our 2012 flooring trend predictions? Give us a call at 1-888.448.9663. We'd love to hear from you!

New Featured Product: Engineered Tigerwood!

We love tigerwood hardwood flooring. It is a vibrant, colorful, and durable exotic hardwood that looks great in any room of the house. So imagine our excitement when we received a beautiful new variety of engineered tigerwood flooring! Take a look for yourself:

Gorgeous, right?

Tigerwood flooring features highly distinctive reddish-brown tones and prominent black striping with varying thickness. It has an irregular interlocked grain pattern that nicely complements the striping and colors. It is also one of toughest hardwoods you can find. It has a Janka hardness rating of 1850 and a density of 660 KG/m3, so you can trust it to take a lot of foot traffic and still look good. Its density and hardness also make it naturally resistant to wood rot, boring insects, other common types of hardwood problems.

Visit the Fantastic Floor website to learn more about engineered Tigerwood hardwood flooring, or call us today at 1-888-448-9663.

Frequently Asked Questions: What Wood Can Be Installed Over Concrete?

Q: What kind of hardwood flooring can I install over a concrete slab?

A: In the old days of hardwood flooring, concrete slabs did not make a suitable sub-floor. Even today most manufacturers do not recommend using solid hardwood floors over a concrete slab. However, most engineered and longstrip engineered plank floors can be used over concrete. Hooray!

Engineered planks and strip wood floors can be glued directly to a clean, dry, well-cured concrete floor. Certain types of engineered hardwood flooring can be glued at the tongue/groove intersection and floated over concrete, provided there is a special padding in place. There are even new varieties of hybrid engineered flooring that can be floated over a concrete floor without glue - the tongue-and-groove locking system holds the planks in place.

Of course, it's important to talk with the manufacturer of the specific engineered hardwood flooring you're using. It's also important to note that concrete slabs need to be fully cured for at least 60 days before installing hardwood flooring over them. Additionally, your flooring should be properly acclimated before you begin the installation process.

To learn more about installing engineered hardwood flooring over concrete slabs visit our Frequently Asked Questions page, or call one of our flooring professionals at 1-888-448-9663.

Engineered flooring such as this engineered Amendoim hardwood flooring. can be easily installed over an existing concrete slab.

Fantastic Floor Presents: Brazilian Cherry

This week's installment of Fantastic Floor Presents features a very popular species we have on sale right now: Brazilian Cherry!

Also known as Jatoba, Brazilian Cherry is the most popular exotic hardwood species in America, and for good reason. It is beautiful, tough, and if acclimated and installed properly, can last a lifetime.

The first thing that attracts people to Brazilian Cherry hardwood flooring is its appearance. Brazilian Cherry features gorgeous reddish-brown heartwood that is streaked with dark black striking, giving the wood amazing contrast and depth without sacrificing versatility. The wood's color and striping complement many interior design schemes, from a more classic, lighter decor to a darker, more sophisticated style.

Brazilian Cherry hardwood flooring is also very durable. It has a Janka hardness rating of 2,350 pounds, almost twice that of Red Oak, and it has a density of 800 KG/m3. It is also one of the most dimensionally stable exotic hardwoods you can find, meaning there is less chance of the floor boards bending or warping if properly acclimated and installed.

Yes, we love Brazilian Cherry, and we want you to love it too! That's why we've lowered prices on some of our most popular varieties of Brazilian Cherry hardwood flooring, with certain styles as low as $2.99/SF! Visit our website to view all of our outstanding Brazilian Cherry lines, or give us a call at 888-448-9663 today!

Fantastic Floor Presents: Galaxy Mars Fumed White Oak

'Tis the season for holiday cheer, and our new white oak flooring product is as cheery as they come!

The Galaxy Mars Fumed White Oak Flooring from Allwood is one of the most unique, attention-grabbing flooring products available at Fantastic Floor. Drenched in rich browns and burgundies and flecked with light red glitter, this product is perfect for rec rooms, dining rooms, and swanky commercial purposes.

The look of this white oak flooring variety is just one of its great qualities - it is also one of the most durable domestic woods we carry. It has a Janka hardness of 1,360 pounds and comes with a 25 year finish warranty. And because it is an engineered product it has enhanced dimensional stability over traditional solid oak flooring.

Learn more about Galaxy Mars Fumed White Oak Flooring at www.Fantastic-Floor.com or by giving us a call at 1-888-448-9663.

Frequently Asked Questions: Unfinished, or Prefinished?

Q: I am remodeling my house and am considering refinishing parts of my hardwood floor. Should I use prefinished or unfinished hardwood flooring?

A: Both prefinished and unfinished hardwood flooring have their advantages and disadvantages. The answer to this question really depends on what kind of flooring you currently have in your home and how much access you want in the room(s) being remodeled.

If you are trying to match an existing hardwood floor, your best bet is unfinished. This allows you to stain the new boards to match the current floor exactly. However, onsite finishing results in a lot of dust, dirt, and noise, and you may not have access to that area of your home during the finishing process.

Choosing prefinished flooring means you get to avoid the hassles that come from onsite finishing. However, it also means your new boards are less likely to match your current floor. This isn't a big deal if you are only replacing a few boards, but if you need to replace half a room the mismatch could be distracting.

Unfinished Amendoim hardwood flooring available at www.Fantastic-Floor.com.

Learn more about prefinished and unfinished hardwood flooring by calling 1-888-448-9663.