FloorTalk – for all the latest flooring fashions

By Steve Cooper

Exotic hardwood is a hot choice in flooring. With the amazing colors and rich natural character seen in so many species, it’s easy to see why. Choose carefully and you can have a floor that doesn’t look just like your neighbors’. In fact, it will wow them.

Names of the species are as exotic as the look. Jatoba, merbau, zebrawood, and ipe are a few. But these are sometimes sold under more American-friendly names. These coined names include Brazilian Cherry, Brazilian Maple, African Walnut, and Patagonian Pecan.

But a word of caution: How you approach shopping may impact your long-term satisfaction with the performance of the wood you choose. The look that you are so excited about at purchase time may not be as stable as you think.

A lot of cutting, shaping and finishing is done to transform wood into flooring, but the foundational material remains a product of nature. That’s why we love it! As a forest product, wood is subject to natural processes, including its response to humidity and sunlight.

When shopping, make certain that you see enough of a species to understand the variations in its look. Ask the seller if they guarantee that the samples you see are what your new flooring will look like as it matures. Will colors and textures remain as they are or will they change? The look of some exotics may change substantially as they darken over time. Better, name-brand manufacturers adjust for these variations. However, websites selling imported flooring on price alone may not. They may be purchasing products that go quickly from harvest to milling to finishing without letting the wood settle into what it will become. Even shipment via freight ships can have an impact on the quality of the product.

Beware the dot-coms that seem to offer too-good-to-be-true prices. There’s a reason they can do it. Their exotic flooring may change from the light and bright you thought you were getting—taking on a shadowy cast that later obscures original grain patterns and appealing colors.

For more information on flooring visit the World Floor Covering Association’s Consumer Carpet & Flooring Guide.

By Steve Cooper

In today’s market, there is no shortage of sellers trying to put new wood flooring into your home. There are flooring retailers, online outlets and big-box stores, each promising the best material. If finding products is easy, how will you know what to buy? Consider these three characteristics of wood floors as you shop:

How is it made?

Real-wood flooring materials are either solid or engineered wood products. Solid flooring is simply that—each piece is solid lumber all the way through. Engineered wood is more like plywood, with a top beauty layer sitting on a foundation of several plys. Generally, two pieces of oak flooring—one solid, one engineered—will perform about the same until it is time for a refinishing. Then, the solid wood can be sanded as needed, but the top layer of an engineered wood is so thin, it may only allow one or two sandings.

If you are thinking about engineered wood flooring, be forewarned about one thing. Purchase only name brands that you trust. This is not a product to buy on price alone because some low-cost import products are poorly assembled, which means you could be facing costly repairs or replacement when the material can’t stand up to household traffic.

Is there a cost difference?

There won’t be much difference in purchase price between a solid wood and an engineered wood floor, if both are the same common species. But the engineered floor may cost substantially less if it is a less-common species. Engineered may also cost less for installation. If you are investing for the long haul, however, look seriously at solid. Remember, it can be refinished many times through the years.

Will it last?

Your new floor may look wonderful on the day it is installed, but if it won’t hold up to foot traffic, you’re probably not going to be a satisfied customer. Durability is a key factor. There are two chief considerations: hardness of the wood and hardness of the finish.

The Janka Hardness Test (JHT) was invented to determine wood hardness. JHT is a scale that puts hardness into number form. The higher the number, the harder the wood. Generally, any woods in the 1000 to 2000 range will give you many years of good performance. But make sure you know the specifics of the species you consider. For instance, Black Cherry has a hardness of 950 and Brazilian Cherry has a hardness of 2350. The former may get damaged by constant heavy traffic, while the latter should stand up well.

The other factor is the hardness of the finish. For an active household, shop for a baked-on clear topcoat. Purchase from a brand name and get products with warranties of 25 years or longer.

For more information on flooring visit the World Floor Covering Association’s Consumer Carpet & Flooring Guide.

Submitted by Annette M. Callari, Allied ASID; Chair Holder, CMG

I just returned from one of the most important trade shows of the year for the floor covering industry—Surfaces/Stone Expo in Las Vegas.  I work my way through this show every year with a keen eye for products that fall into the category of being a ‘true discovery’.  Amidst all of the me-too products, there are a handful of gems that truly are discoveries, and it’s pretty exciting to be the first to bring this one to your attention.  Before I do, let me share something with you that I learned in my college History of Furniture classes:

……..The amazing technique of veneered marquetry had its inspiration as far back as the 16th Century in Florence, Italy.  These early techniques employed marble (and the inlay of intricate semi-precious stones) to create masterpieces in floors, religious altars, and even columns.  At the same time, cabinet makers in Antwerp adapted marquetry techniques to wood, to create furniture of unprecedented luxury.  By the mid 17th Century, the craft migrated to France and was employed to decorate Versailles and the royal residence of Louis XIV.

Now why am I giving you a history lesson about this? Because you will better appreciate the finely-crafted products I am about to share.

Yarema Marquetry and Parquet floors are crafted by YM Floors, a domestically-based company located just north of Detroit, Michigan. The lost art of parquetry (marquetry applied to floors using contrasting woods) has been resurrected by this company and translated to masterpieces that can be called works of art. Their product line includes stunning designs in wood parquet floors, creative medallions, and intricate borders. I’ve not seen anything like this in the twenty years I’ve done interior design!

Brilliantly conceived, the Yarema portolio of products translates well to both traditional and contemporary interiors. Finding a wood floor medallion to suit a contemporary interior is quite a challenge, but here is a company that effortlessly met that need. Custom designs are available, just in case you want a creation that is a true original.

Let’s talk about the parquet floor selections. The term “parquet floor” simply does not do this line justice. Abstract, asymmetrical designs are non-existent in hardwood applications, right? Wrong. Yarema identified a void in hardwood flooring designs and filled it beautifully. Take a look at their Portfolio Collection (ymfloors,com) and you will see exactly what I mean. The interplay of light and dark woods gives some of their more contemporary designs a three-dimensional look. When you walk into a room designed around one of these floors, you realize that the floor takes center stage as the natural focal point.

Other winners in their line-up of styles include: Skyline, Classic, Journey, Vineyard, and Centerpoint. This roster of names will come alive for you once you log on to their website and look for yourself. Request a catalog and you’ll get an even better feel for the richness of these floors. White Oak, Wenge, Cherry, Maple and Walnut are used like colors on an artist’s palette, mingling and harmonizing, to produce a singular work of art for the floor.

In the Color and Marketing classes I taught at Surfaces, I identified key marketing trends that are making headlines in 2011 and 2012. One of those emerging trends is called “New-Stalgia” (as taken from research from Color Marketing Group International). Consumers are searching for new products built on heirloom designs and fine craftsmanship. That’s New-Stalgia in a nutshell. What’s old is new…but with a twist! I cannot think of a better example of this prediction coming true than what I see from Yarema designs. They’ve resurrected a delicate craftsmanship rooted in the 16th and 17th centuries and have translated it to modern, relevant flooring. It doesn’t get better than that, and all that’s left to say is well done!

For more information on flooring visit the World Floor Covering Association’s Consumer Carpet & Flooring Guide.

By Steve Cooper

Though there are many home improvement projects that the average homeowner can tackle, refinishing your wood floors should be removed from the list in most cases. Putting life back into hardwood flooring can challenge the skill and experience of most DIYers.
Not convinced? Here top five reasons you shouldn’t attempt refinishing floors yourself:

1. Clueless about wood flooring. If your floors are less than 20 years old, chances are good that they are engineered wood. This means that they were made like plywood, with a series of substraits topped by a beauty layer that may be too thin to sand.

2. Struggling for time. It takes time to prepare and refinish a floor. It’s tempting to think that the drying of finishes will take up most of the time. However, there’s also moving furniture, cleaning floors, repairing flooring flaws, restaining, and putting down mutliple layers of clear topcoats.

3. Dangerous with a sander. You’ll probably feel in control right up to the moment that the sander digs in and gouges your flooring. Even if you use an well-worn sander belt to rein in the machine’s strength, it takes just a split second to ruin a job.

4. Mystified about stains. In a perfect world, getting the stain color you want requires making samples on small pieces of flooring material. But your house didn’t come with flooring samples, so all you can do is try out stain colors on a closet floor. Does this seem professional? Will the results be?
5. Confused by oil-based vs. water-based finishes. One smells more than the other—so what more do you need to know? But there may be a problem with the consistency of the finish. What do you use to dilute it if it seems too thick? Oh, yes, and what’s too thick?

There are more reasons, too. They add up to one obvious conclusion: Hire a professional to refinish those floors. This is a job that is definitely tougher than it seems.

To find a professional who specializes in cleaning and restoration, click here.

For more information on flooring visit the World Floor Covering Association’s Consumer Carpet & Flooring Guide.

Submitted by Annette Callari, Allied ASID; CMG

A few weeks back, I posted a blog about new directions in wood products.  Well, this blog dovetails with that subject beautifully.  I’ve always been fascinated by reclaimed wood products, where they came from, their history, and their future.  Companies that take the time to search out, harvest, and rejuvenate reclaimed woods should be commended.  What an excellent example of reusing resources and promoting sustainability.  Authentic Pine Floors in Locust Grove, Georgia is definitely one of those companies.

Started in 1984, Authentic Pine Floors can cater to the customer looking for a custom-finished solid wood floor that fits an “Olde World” profile, or the customer searching out unique pre-finished wood stains.  They describe their product as “recycled, antique in origin, hand-rubbed with oil; and custom stained”.  Now that certainly stirs the imagination.  Sources for their solid hardwoods are concentrated throughout the Southeast part of our country. Beautiful heart pine, aged wide-plank oak, and wide-plank walnut each tell a story of their own.  From old bridges to small town churches, their woods have a rich history. The Southeast, it turns out, is a treasure trove of aged woods waiting to be assigned a second life.  The antique heart pine collection was reclaimed from massive beams of distilleries and warehouses built in the19th century.

Prefinished, site finished, and engineered wood floors are all part of the offerings from Authentic Pine Floors.  That’s where Old Dirty Goat comes in.  Yes, it is one of the custom finishes used on the reclaimed heart pine.  The claim to fame of Old Dirty Goat lies in the light to dark tonality it gives the hardwood floor.  Its got character and sass, and so much intensity, the principals of this company said that “no other name would do…”  Love it—both the name and the look.  Weathered gray wash on solid pine is another finish I want to draw to your attention.  Warm gray tones are hot, hot, hot, and here’s a floor that will underscore that trend beautifully.  Heart pine is harder than the pine we are familiar with, so no worries about these floors living up to the use of an active family.

I spoke with the local distributor for Authentic Pine Floors here in Southern California, and I was amazed at the affordability per square foot of these floors.  That’s pretty astounding given the uniqueness of the product.  I encourage you to go online yourself at www.authenticpinefloors.com to investigate further and find a distributor in your part of the country. Plus, I know you want to get a look at Old Dirty Goat—admit it. And I do want to mention that you can install any of these floors unfinished too.  I cannot tell you how huge the trend of using wood floors in their natural state will upsurge over the next few years. It will become HUGE as we turn towards that which is real and as close to natural as possible.  Design is now all about authenticity (you’ve heard that a time or two from me) and back to basics. 

FloorTalk has an important job to do, and one that I take very seriously.  That job is to steer you towards unique design products. But also to provide you with a working knowledge of design trends that are here to stay. Those two elements in combination will help you create a timeless design, impervious to fads that come and go.  Hopefully I’ve accomplished both of those goals in this blog, and you have my promise I will continue to do just that.  Stay tuned…

For more information on flooring visit the World Floor Covering Association’s Consumer Carpet & Flooring Guide.