Frequently Asked Questions: Can Engineered Wood Floor Be Refinished?

A. Some of the better quality engineered wood floors have a 3mm or thicker real wood top layer and can be sanded and refinished one or more times. The sanding and refinishing of an engineered wood floor is best done by an experienced hardwood flooring refinisher. If you have heat vents in your floor you can remove a heat cover to get a side view of your wood floor. This will help you check to see how thick you finish layer is.
Always consult with the manufacturer to see if they recommend sanding and refinishing of your engineered wood floor.

Not all engineered flooring varieties can be refinished. Check with the flooring manufacturer to find out if your flooring can be refinished.

It's Almost Here...

In case you haven't heard, our Ipe hardwood flooring is going to be on TV! That's right - the good folks over at DIY Network asked for some of our Ipe to use in their hit new show, Bath Crashers, and we were more than happy to oblige. The episode airs on Saturday, July 2nd, and we couldn't be happier.

To celebrate our Ipe's rise to stardom we're throwing a Bath Crashers Blowout Sale on Ipe throughout the entire month of July! We have Ipe flooring starting at $3.99/SF and a friendly, knowledgeable sales staff ready to answer all your flooring questions.

Visit our website to learn more about Ipe hardwood flooring, and don't forget to tune in to Bath Crashers next Saturday!

Frequently Asked Questions: Prefinished VS Unfinished

Q: What's the difference between prefinished hardwood flooring and unfinished hardwood flooring?

A. Prefinished hardwood flooring is end- and edge-matched with a small micro-beveled edge and has up to 8 coats of finish, including several coats which contain aluminum oxide. The aluminum oxide in the finish is what gives the factory finish its hardness. Prefinished flooring typically has a 25 year finish warranty.
Unfinished flooring is also end- and edge-matched with a tongue and groove pattern but features a square upper edge rather than a microbevel. Unfinished flooring must be sanded and finished on site, after installation. After sanding and finishing, a site-finished floor will be completely flat. One can use either an oil-based or water-based finish when installing unfinished flooring. Oil-based products typically have a darker initial appearance and show more depth of grain;. Water-based finishes are safer for the environment and have been improved recently to offer similar durability as oil-based finishes.

White Line Syndrome - Hardwood Conspiracy or Common Finish Problem?

HardwoodFloorsMag.com, the official magazine of the National Wood Flooring Association, put up a really interesting article recently titled "What is Really Causing White Line Syndrome?"

Now, unless you're a hardwood flooring contractor, you probably aren't familiar with the term. White line syndrome, or WLS, is the term used to describe white lines that show up between boards in a wood floor. As the article explains, many contractors are seeing more instances of WLS and are placing the blame on finish manufacturers:

"[White line syndrome] seems to be so much more prevalent in recent years, particularly about the last five years. Some contractors who have never had issues with white lines before report suddenly having to redo floors, even though they’re doing everything the exact same way—with the same products they always have used.
This has all led to suspicions directed at the finish manufacturers: They’re changing product, using cheaper ingredients, messing up the finishes to comply with VOC laws, etc., etc. Contractors feel they are being thrown under the proverbial bus."

White line syndrome can occur when finish starts to peel away from the board edge.

As the article points out, however, the answer may not be as easy as blaming the finish manufacturers. Trends in consumer preferences and installation techniques also play a role:

"Trends in recent years toward exotic floors, dark floors and plank floors all make WLS more visible. A white line between boards may not even be noticeable on a maple floor, but it will be front and center on a walnut, padauk or dark-stained floor. Plank flooring expands and contracts more than strip, stretching the finish more, and many exotic species are also known for their volatile expansion and contraction on the job site.
Today’s more urgent job sites also may play into WLS. In the olden days, wood floors were installed and sat on a job site for a while before they were sanded and finished. Today, jobs tend to be more rushed than ever, and the wood may still be settling in—in particular, shrinking—while the finish is still flexible and drying.
Finally, customers’ expectations are ever-increasing. As they become more demanding, fewer imperfections are seen as normal, making life more difficult for everyone."

Like most hardwood flooring problems, the chances of experiencing white line syndrome drop dramatically when the floors are properly installed and maintained. Visit the Maintenance Links and Resources page on the Fantastic Floor site for more information.

Ipe Flooring: Your Best Bet for Bathrooms

As we mentioned last week, Fantastic Floor donated some of our beautiful and durable Ipe hardwood flooring to the DIY Network’s latest hit show, Bath Crashers. For those of you not familiar with the show, here is a brief synopsis taken from DIYNetwork.com:

Produced similarly to the popular House Crashers and Yard Crashers series, crasher Matt Muenster ambushes homeowners while they're home improvement shopping. When he identifies the ultimate bathroom challenge, he follows the lucky homeowner home and totally overhauls a bathroom in need of repair.

We know what you’re thinking: Hardwood flooring in the bathroom? That’s right. Certain species of wood, like Ipe, make great flooring choices for the bathroom. What makes Ipe so great? Glad you asked. Here are just a few of the reasons Ipe hardwood flooring is the perfect choice for any bathroom remodeling project.

Ipe hardwood flooring isn't just for the dining room anymore. More and more homeowners are enjoying exotic Ipe in their bathrooms as well!

Water-resistance
Ipe is one of the most durable hardwoods available. Its dense cell structure acts as a natural deterrent against water damage and mold. Combine that with a high-quality sealant and you’ve got a bathroom floor that’s ready for the day-to-day wear of an active family.

Fire-resistance
The same dense cell structure that makes Ipe water-resistant also makes it fire-resistant. In fact, Ipe flooring has a Class A fire rating – the same class of fire-retardant material as steel. Is it unlikely that your bathroom is going to catch fire? Perhaps. But if you use a curling iron or hair dryer often, a Class A fire rating isn’t the worst feature to have in a bathroom floor.

Longevity
Because of its natural resilience to insects, decay and mold, Ipe flooring has a very long lifespan. This can even be extended with proper care and a high-quality sealant. If you’re looking for a bathroom floor that will last for generations, Ipe is a good choice for you.

Easy to clean
Much like a tile or linoleum floor, Ipe hardwood is very easy to clean. Simply use a high-quality wood cleaner and mop as you would any other type of floor. Remember to mop up any standing water, though – leaving puddles on your floor can cause stains and discoloration.

Appearance
Probably the biggest reason people choose Ipe flooring for their bathrooms is the appearance. Ipe hardwood flooring is one of the most eye-catching wood varieties available today. It features dark shades of black and brown, dark striping, and white or yellow sapwood. The grain pattern runs from straight to very irregular, and the texture is usually fine to medium.

Learn more about Ipe hardwood flooring on our website, and don’t forget to tune in to Bath Crashers on Saturday, July 2, on the DIY Network.

NWFA Announces 2012 Convention Details

2012 may seem like a ways off yet, but it's never too early to start planning for the National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA) Convention.

Yesterday, the NWFA announced the dates and location for the 2012 Convention. Here are the details:

When: April 10 - 13, 2012
Where: Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center, Orlando, FL

The annual NWFA convention is a chance for industry professionals and hardwood flooring enthusiasts to network with other professionals, learn about new products, and promote their own businesses.

"We are committed to hosting a show that offers real and tangible value to our members and industry,” NWFA CEO Michael Martin said in a press release. “Our board of directors surveyed our exhibitors and past attendees after this year’s event, and we learned that late Spring is the perfect time to hold this meeting. Our exhibitors tend to roll out new products in the first quarter of the year and want to showcase them at this event."

This year's convention will feature a rockin' party on Tuesday night, trade show hours Wednesday and Thursday, and many educational and networking opportunities throughout the week.

"It’s a huge plus to have everyone under one roof for all events at the Gaylord facility, which increases our networking opportunities," Martin said.

For more information about the convention, contact the NWFA at 800-422-4556 (USA & Canada), 636-519-9663 (local and international), or visit them online at www.nwfa.org.

Solid Flooring Installation – Part 3: Moisture Testing

Welcome back to the Fantastic Floor exclusive blog series, Solid Flooring Installation. Last week we made sure your new hardwood flooring was properly acclimated to the environment in which it will be installed. This week we’re digging deeper – literally – and discussing moisture testing.

We discussed moisture testing briefly earlier in the series as part of the acclimation process, but it is important enough to touch on again. Installers must know the moisture content of not only the flooring, but also the subfloor and the concrete slab below it, if there is one. Installation cannot occur if the moisture content isn’t just right. The following are basic tips for checking the moisture content of the sub-floor.

Remember: Hardwood flooring installation should be left to professionals or very experienced DIY-ers. If you have little to no experience with the process, call a professional.

1. Have the Right Equipment
Having the right moisture meter is a very important part of moisture testing. Working with an improperly-calibrated meter, or not using one at all, is a very irresponsible flooring installation practice. The two main types of moisture meters are probe and pinless.
Probe meters are an older style of moisture testing, but they are still a fast and effective testing technique. These meters measure the electrical resistance across opposed sets of pins that have been pushed into the wood. The lower the resistance, the higher the moisture content.
Pinless meters, also called “non-destructive” meters, use electro-magnetic waves to measure the density of the area below the instrument. While many professionals prefer pinless meters because they don’t leave any pin holes, the machines do require a smooth surface and a flat measuring area.

2. Test the Right Area
Getting an accurate reading for the sub-floor moisture level means testing the right area and testing in the right intervals. As a general rule of thumb, test approximately 2 locations for every hundred feet and then take the mean average of all the readings. The acceptable moisture level for most areas of the country is 12% or less. Make note of any areas with unusually high moisture content – this could be a sign of some sort of leak or water damage.

3. Check the Concrete, Too
Testing moisture levels in wood sub-floors is relatively easy, but that is not the only part of the room that needs testing. Concrete slabs below the sub-floor can also cause problems if they don’t have the correct moisture content. Acceptable moisture content for concrete slabs during solid hardwood flooring installation is 60% or less, or, less than 5.0 on a concrete moisture counter.

That’s it for this week’s installment of Solid Flooring Installation. Tune in next week when we dive into the exciting world of vapor barriers. See you then!