Hardwood flooring has changed. Today you can get the look of
wood from around the world. At NCK Carpet Plus, we have a large
selection of fine hardwoods from the richly-grained exotic woods
to the distinctive North American hardwoods. Our hardwood floors
come from the finest manufacturers and have the finest finishes
that will add beauty and charm to any room for many years.
Quality hardwood floors deserve a quality installation and NCK
Carpet Plus trained installation crews will make sure your floors
are installed correctly - we guarantee it!
Reliable service and expert installation are trademarks of
NCK Carpet Plus
About Hardwood Floors
The rich look of hardwood floors adds warmth and charm to any
room in the home. For centuries people have used wood floors in
homes, churches and even stores.
Through advancements in finish technologies and superior
construction techniques manufacturers of hardwood floors
are able to produce tougher finishes and more stable
products. This means quality engineered hardwood floors can go in
any almost room in the home and over a wide variety of subfloors,
including dry, fully-cured concrete slabs.
Today's
hardwood flooring comes in a wide variety of wood species.
Besides the popular and well known North American hardwoods (like
oak, maple and ash) many companies now offer a variety of
exotic hardwood species from all over the World. Exotic hardwoods offer
unique and unusual visual character and give homeowners
the chance to better express their personal decorating tastes with
a more unique wood appearance.
Another popular trend are the handscraped hardwood
floors offered by hardwood manufacturers, such
as Mohawk. If you want the rich look and charm of hand-made flooring
than you won't want to miss previewing the hand-scraped hardwoods.
Homeowners looking to use hardwood floors in their homes have
the option of purchasing three different types of wood flooring.
Although the end results may look the same there are distinct advantages
for using each type under different applications.
-
Solid Hardwood Floors - are a solid piece of hardwood
cut into wood planks that are generally 3/4" thick. (Above
ground level areas only, not recommended for concrete slabs.)
-
Engineered Hardwood Floors - are several plies of
wood that a glued and laminated together to form a wood plank.
Range in thickness from 1/4" to just over a half inch.
(Can be installed almost anywhere in the home, including over
dry concrete slabs.)
-
Longstrip Hardwood Floors - are really an
engineered construction but with a long and wider plank. This
allows the top layer to splice 2-3 rows of thin hardwood
strips into one plank. Longstrip planks can be glued-down,
stapled or floated over a wide variety of sub-floors and used
almost anywhere in the home, including dry basements.
-
Exotic Hardwood Floors - are used to described hardwood
species from around the World. these hardwoods are not found
in North America and come from Australia, Africa, Brasil and
the Far East. Exotic hardwoods offer unique wood graining and
colorations. Most exotic floors are available in engineered wood
construction but some are available in solid hardwood planks
as well.
Once installed it is extremely difficult to tell these three
different wood flooring construction types apart. Both the engineered
and the longstrip have several thin layers (plies) of wood that
are glued together. By gluing the plies together you get better
dimensional stability within the plank itself, which allows these
floors to be used on job sites that have a higher percentage of
moisture content than normal. This includes basements and over
concrete slabs where solid strip wood floors are considered off
limits.
Another choice you have to make is whether to want a
pre-finished or an unfinished hardwood floor that has to be finished
in your home. The pre-finished floors offer a wider variety of
wood species and saves hours of labor and cleanup. While the unfinished
wood floors allow you to have a really custom, job-site finish
and a completely smooth, uniform surface. You also get an extended
factory finish warranty with pre-finished floors, but not with
most job-site finished flooring. |