You walk into your home and feel like you need a change, so you stand back and look at your great room and put your imagination to work. You imagine what it will look like with a new coat of paint and or an accent wall. That wasn’t enough to ease your mind, so you decide to look at a new flooring option. Most people don’t know what to look for when choosing a good hardwood flooring option, one might wonder what to consider?
Maintaining Hardwood Flooring in Commercial Spaces
If you have wood flooring in a commercial space, you may have noticed that it takes a lot of abuse. Maintaining hardwood flooring is not just about keeping them looking good, it is also about keeping them safe. Keeping your wood flooring clean and functional is important for keeping your business looking good and keeping your customers and employees from getting injured. This guide will help you prolong the life of your wood flooring, take preventative steps and minimize damage of your flooring. Proper wood flooring maintenance is not just a yearly maintenance coat, it requires daily and weekly cleaning to ensure the floor stays clean and beautiful.
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Does Engineered Hardwood Insulate Better Than Solid Plank?
When you are looking around for ways to reduce your heating and cooling costs, you should think about the insulating properties of different materials around your home. If you live in a cold environment, your walls are likely already insulated. Your floor might be insulated as well. Insulating in the attic is pretty common in most environments. However, the materials of the floors and walls can insulate as well. Every piece of building material has an R-value. That value is the resistance of each item to thermal transfer. For example, air has a very low R-value. Heat easily moves through the air. Fiberglass insulation has a very high R-value; heat does not easily move. That’s what makes it good insulation. If one room is hot and an adjoining room is cold, insulation with a high R-value keeps the hot room hot and the cold room cold. Your hardwood flooring has an R-value as well.
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The Rise of Alternative Hardwood Floor Finishes
In the world of hardwood flooring finishes, polyurethane has long been the champion. It’s durable, easy to apply, and lasts a long time. Many homeowners are turning to alternative finishes for several reasons. Some of them might not like the look of the hard polyurethane coating. Others might worry about volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that polyurethane releases while it’s curing. Whatever the case may be, there is a large market for alternative finishes.
Textured Hardwoods Are All The Rage
For most hardwood floors, the surface texture is a distinct lack of texture. They’re sanded with a fine grit sandpaper until they’re completely smooth. Then, they’re finished with oil or polyurethane so that the entire floor is flawless. Textured hardwoods, however, have begun to grow in popularity. There are several different kinds of textured hardwoods that you might encounter.
What’s the Difference Between 3-Ply and Multi-Ply Engineered Hardwood?
There are several good reasons to choose engineered hardwood planks for your wood flooring. For many installations, it’s the best choice. Many people are focused on what type of wood they’d like for their veneer. They’re also thinking about what color of stain and what type of finish they’d like. These are all very important. However, you shouldn’t neglect the number of plies for your flooring as well. Engineered flooring is typically available as 3-ply and multi-ply. Multi-ply floors are usually nine or 11 plies. What does that mean and why does it matter?
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What is Water Popping and Why Is it Trending?
There are dozens of different ways that hardwood can be stained and finished after it has been installed. The many different methods affect the look and feel of the wood in subtle or overt ways. In a general sense, wood is stained with a chemical stain that penetrates into the pores of the wood. The stain changes the color or the depth of the wood. Then, the wood is sealed with a polyurethane or oil. Water popping is a technique of staining wood that has been growing in popularity with many homeowners.
What Are Smoked Hardwood Floors?
Smoked, or fumed, hardwood floors have been experiencing something of a moment lately. The process has been around for a while but it has just recently grown in popularity. Many customers are turning to hardwood that has been smoked or fumed when they see the unique beauty of the product. The name might evoke images of smoking brisket in a barbecue smoker or something that actually burns the wood, but that’s not really the case.
True Black Is the Hottest Hardwood Flooring Trend
Interior design in general and hardwood flooring in specific are susceptible to going through different trends. Typically, what happens is some designer and/or company begins doing something new. Then, customers see it and start asking for it. Other companies begin imitating the style to please their customers. Soon, you have a full-blown trend. That’s what has happened with true black. For a long time, muted colors were very popular. Grays, tans, and browns grew in popularity for a long time. Greige became the most popular color for a while, as well. Greige is a blend of gray and beige. Finally, the trend has come to its fruition. True black is surging in popularity.
What is Whitewashing and Why is it Popular for Hardwood Floors in Detroit?
For a very long time, whitewashing was the most popular and most affordable treatment for woods. Whitewashing forms a significant plot element in the adventures of the fictional character Tom Sawyer. It was how homeowners protected their wood from mold, mildew, and moisture. So, what is whitewashing? Why did it go out of favor, and why is it popular again?
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