In general, it will almost ALWAYS be less expensive to refinish your hardwood floors. If you replace them, you need to pay for additional wood as well as ripping up and hauling away existing hardwood. If portions of your hardwood are damaged (e.g. pet stains or minor water stains), you can replace these sections and when you refinish them and it will all look new. Even if you have this, it will still be less expensive then replacing the whole floor.
"Click" or Woodloc systems: there are a number of patented "click" systems that now exist. These click systems are either "unilin" or "fiboloc" A "click" floor is similar to tongue-and-groove, but instead of fitting directly into the groove, the board must be angled or "tapped" in to make the curved or barbed tongue fit into the modified groove. No adhesive is used when installing a "click" floor, making board replacement easier. This system not only exists for engineered wood floors but also engineered bamboo and a small number of solid floors (such as "parador solido click") and is designed to be used for floating installations. It is beneficial for the Do-It-Yourself market.
If you’re thinking about redoing your hardwood floor, you might envision a refreshed look to your kitchen or hallway. You can picture your friends coming to your home for your next party and admiring your new floor, but you may find something standing in the way — you have no idea which type of hardwood flooring to get. With some research on your end, you can save yourself time and money. Let’s explore the features of some popular hardwood flooring types. Denver Hardwood Floor
Although hardwood floors are amazingly beautiful and durable, they are not indestructible. The best floor maintenance plan for hardwood floors include regular vacuuming or sweeping with a soft bristle broom, especially in high traffic areas. Removing dirt or grit from your floors will reduce scratches. Vacuums with rotary brush heads can also scratch your floors. Denver Hardwood Flooring
Bamboo Flooring (22) BELLAWOOD (49) BELLAWOOD Artisan Distressed (13) BELLAWOOD Artisan Distressed Engineered (4) BELLAWOOD Engineered (16) Builders Pride (26) Builder's Pride (10) Builder's Pride Engineered (1) Clover Lea (9) Major Brand (5) Mayflower (12) Mayflower Engineered (19) R.L. Colston (40) Virginia Mill Works (8) Virginia Mill Works Engineered (21) Denver Hardwood Flooring
Solid wood flooring is milled from a single piece of timber that is kiln or air dried before sawing. Depending on the desired look of the floor, the timber can be cut in three ways: flat-sawn, quarter-sawn, and rift-sawn. The timber is cut to the desired dimensions and either packed unfinished for a site-finished installation or finished at the factory. The moisture content at time of manufacturing is carefully controlled to ensure the product does not warp during transport and storage. Denver Hardwood Floor
First, most people are unable to successfully refinish the floors themselves. It takes a lot of experience to refinish properly. Most people can’t get it smooth/even and also don’t realize that you need to sand them 3 times before putting the stain on. It’s even harder to do it right if they are pine or maple floors (and if they are, they require conditioner before stain is applied). Also, once the floors have been sanded unevenly by a non-professonal, it’s even harder to correct due to the waves usually created by the non-professional. Denver Hardwood Flooring
Engineered wood flooring was created to lower the cost of wood flooring and attempt to fix some of solid wood’s shortcomings. It’s constructed from inexpensive plywood or particle board and topped with a thin veneer of hardwood. This construction helps with installation flexibility and slightly improves indent performance, but it adds a new set of problems as well. Because the “real” wood part of the floor is just a thin veneer, damage from scratches can be irreparable. Engineered wood floors are still made from porous wood, meaning they can’t be subjected to water. Denver Hardwood Floor
Laminate is a cost effective option that will withstand a certain amount of wear. For an easy installation, opt for click-lock. The planks will snap together and can be laid over other flooring. It is ideal for living areas, and some brands may even construct it with a waterproof core, allowing it to be used in areas where water may be an issue. We suggest taking a close look at the guarantee before installing it in a bathroom. Denver Hardwood Floor Install
If your only goal is to brighten your floors and restore their original shine, consider refinishing them. But if you want to change some aspect of the floor itself, like the style of the wood, the direction of the planks or the consistency of the material, you will need to invest in a full replacement. Refinishing is ideal to restore existing wood, while replacement is ideal for establishing a completely new look or feel.
Width & Length – Plank flooring comes in a variety of widths and lengths. The most common widths are currently in the 5” – 6” range, but wider widths are rapidly becoming more popular. The length of your floor is also important to consider depending on the size of your space. Hardwood flooring comes in mixed lengths because imperfections are cut out of longer planks during production. Rigid Core flooring is built to size and comes in lengths ranging from 36” up to 80+”. Denver Hardwood Floor
Like anything, whether you refinish your hardwood floors or replace them depends on your personal circumstances. If you are about to move into a new home, refinishing your hardwood floors is much easier vs. if you already live there. Clearly the cost to refinish the floors Is much less expensive than replacing them (For perspective, to replace them may cost 3-5 times as much).
The amount you pay for installation depends on a variety of factors, including where you live and the intricacy of your project. For example, furniture removal and replacement, repairing the subfloor and removing and disposing of the old floor all bump up the overall cost of the project more than simply having an installer come in and lay the flooring does. To illustrate, some installers charge 20 cents per square foot for ripping up and removing carpeting or moving furniture. Others may charge a per-appliance fee for moving appliances. Denver Hardwood Flooring
Although hardwood floors are amazingly beautiful and durable, they are not indestructible. The best floor maintenance plan for hardwood floors include regular vacuuming or sweeping with a soft bristle broom, especially in high traffic areas. Removing dirt or grit from your floors will reduce scratches. Vacuums with rotary brush heads can also scratch your floors. Denver Hardwood Floor Install
A buckled floor happens when the boards warp and lift up from the subfloor that they are attached to. You’ll most likely need to call in a hardwood floor installer to identify the root of the problem if buckling is an issue. Once the cause of your buckling has been identified, you’ll need to take the necessary measures to ensure that your hardwood planks are firmly attached to the subfloor so that the problem no longer persists.
If your floors are in need of a deeper cleaning, use a wood floor cleaner. Follow the instructions for diluting the cleaner in water. Clean the floors with a damp mop, going with the grain. Then, go back over the floor with a clean, damp mop to remove any excess cleaner. Finish by drying the floor completely with a dry towel. Remember, leftover standing water could damage your wood floors. Hardwood Floor
– If your floors are REALLY OLD and have been refinished many times, it may be time for a new floor. I’m not talking about oak floors that have been dinged and scratched up…I mean if your floors have been down for over 100 yrs and refinished at least 5 times. If you can see the “tongue” where the boards fit together, it’s probably time for a new floor. Or, if your floors are rather bouncy and/or don’t seem very sturdy, it’s time for a new floor. This happens more often with pine floors as pine floors are softer and used a long time ago.
Make cuts perpendicular to the direction the wood is laying. Using a circular saw, make single cuts straight across the flooring that are about 1 foot (30 cm) to 2 feet (61 cm) apart. Be sure your cuts are perpendicular to the direction of the wood. Start on 1 side of the room and work your way systematically to the other side, spacing each cut about 1 foot (30 cm) to 2 feet (61 cm) apart.[3]
No matter what type of hardwood flooring you choose, proper care and maintenance will help them look beautiful even longer. First off, don’t let the dirt and dust collect. At least once a week, you’ll want to go over your hardwood floors with a broom or dust mop to pick up any dirt, dust, hair or pet dander. If you’re using a vacuum, make sure it’s set to ‘wood floors’ so that you’re not beating up your floors and damaging them in the process.
This process begins with the same treatment process that the rotary peel method uses. However, instead of being sliced in a rotary fashion, with this technique the wood is sliced from the log in much the same manner that lumber is sawn from a log – straight through. The veneers do not go through the same manufacturing process as rotary peeled veneers. Engineered hardwood produced this way tends to have fewer problems with "face checking", and also does not have the same plywood appearance in the grain.[3] However, the planks can tend to have edge splintering and cracking because the veneers have been submerged in water and then pressed flat. Denver Hardwood Floor Install
If you’re thinking about redoing your hardwood floor, you might envision a refreshed look to your kitchen or hallway. You can picture your friends coming to your home for your next party and admiring your new floor, but you may find something standing in the way — you have no idea which type of hardwood flooring to get. With some research on your end, you can save yourself time and money. Let’s explore the features of some popular hardwood flooring types. Denver Hardwood Floor
Sanding provides a method for smoothing an installed floor, compensating for unevenness of the subfloor. Additionally, sanding is used to renew the appearance of older floors. Sanding using successively finer grades of sandpaper is required to ensure even stain penetration when stains are used, as well as to eliminate visible scratches from coarser sandpaper grades used initially. Prior to modern polyurethanes, oils and waxes were used in addition to stains to provide finishes.[7] Beeswax and linseed oil, for example, are both natural crosslinking polymers and harden over time.[8] Denver Hardwood Flooring
This process involves treating the wood by boiling the log in water. After preparation, the wood is peeled by a blade starting from the outside of the log and working toward the center, thus creating a wood veneer. The veneer is then pressed flat with high pressure. This style of manufacturing tends to have problems with the wood cupping or curling back to its original shape. Rotary-peeled engineered hardwoods tend to have a plywood appearance in the grain.[3] Hardwood Floor
