About Hardwood

Hardwood has many benefits such as being beautiful and long-lasting. Hardwood lends a certain elegance and warmth to a room.  The varieties and colors on the market make hardwood versatile.    When choosing your hardwood you can consider things such as the material used, the color or warmth of the wood, the type of wood and the grain or texture of your flooring.

Materials

Wood flooring can be Solid Wood or an Engineered Com-posit of layers of wood. Both types are made of 100% real wood with it’s characters and organic patterns.  Engineered Wood is constructed in layers running in different directions to help minimize warping in moist areas. Solid Wood flooring may be refinished more times and is thus more durability over time.

Grain or Texture

Wood logs are cut in different ways: Plain, Rift and Quarter. Plain cut is cut to show the wood grain’s undulating patterns that include peaks in the grain. Rift cut is a long linear consistent grains. Quarter are similar to Rift but contain irregularities. Different types of wood will have different ring patterns as well.

Finish

Most finishes are either oil or polyurethane.  Oil finishes penetrate the wood and have a feel of softness, however they are not as durable and resistant to wear and tear especially children, pets and food. Oil finishes have the advantage that their scratches are less visible and easier to touch up on a spot-by-spot basis.  Polyurethane creates a hard topcoat on the wood that is more resilient but is harder to touch up, often requiring replacing a board or re-coating an entire section of flooring.

Species of Wood

Wood comes in many different species including Oak, Cherry, Walnut, Hickory, and Maple among others. Woods are given Janka Ratings which is a measurement of their relative hardness. It is a measurement of the amount of force required to create a 200 square mm indentation on a surface.  The higher the number, the harder the wood.

Oak

Oak is a very popular hardwood for flooring and comes in two types, Red Oak and White Oak.  Red Oak is the most common hardwood flooring today and has a Janka Rating of 1290.  It has warm tones and graceful swirling grain patterns. It can vary in tone from one board to the next and comes in a range of natural colors from creamy to rusty brown. White Oak has a finer grain pattern and cooler tones in the grays and has a Janka Rating of 1360. It is harder that Red Oak making it better for hallways and main living spaces.

Cherry

Cherry wood is known to have warm brown tones and a smooth grain matter.  It can be a softer wood so maybe a better choice for less trafficked rooms such as dining rooms. Cherry’s Janka rating is 950.

Walnut

Walnut is known to have dark rich chocolate tones and straight large grains with a Janka Rating of 1010. Walnut can make a dramatic effect with its color variations.  It is a medium hardness and can be used in many locations.

Hickory

If you are looking for a very strong hardwood hickory may be it, with a Janka Rating of 1820.  It has a creamy tones with dark streaks and large knots.  Its strength has made it a favorite for gym flooring and areas that are going to take a lot of traffic.

Maple

Maple flooring has a light color with tones from cream to red with fines grain finishes.  The wood often has streaks or specks to keep it interesting.  Maple is another hardwood solution that can be used in high traffic areas with a Janka Rating of 1450.

Care and Maintenance of our Hardwood Flooring

Cleaning Your Hardwood Flooring

If in doubt always contact Elliott Flooring for detailed instructions on how to care for your flooring.

Spills and Stains

• Use a damp cloth to blot spills and spots as soon as they happen.  If you find stains you should feel free to contact Elliott Flooring for more detailed directions on how to deal with difficult issues without damaging your flooring.
• If you have dropped wax, gum or some other sticky substances, freeze the spot with some ice to harden. Then, very carefully scrape the spot off with something soft plastic like a credit card.  Do not scratch the flooring with steel wool or a knife.  When in doubt please contact Elliott Flooring for assistance.

Regular Cleaning:

Daily

Sweep or dust the flooring.

Weekly

Vacuum your floor with a specific attachment made for wood flooring to avoid scratches. Your vacuum may also have a floor setting that will adjust the height to protect your flooring.

Monthly

Wash your floor with a soft mildly damp cloth or mop.   For a more deep cleaning use specific hard wood flooring cleaners.  You can pick up some R2X Hard Surfaces Flooring Cleaner from Shaw’s line at your Elliott Flooring Showroom.

Warning…

• Do not use a wet mop or steam mop as this will push water into your flooring and could result in damage or warping over a long period of time.
• Do Not use a buffing machine on your flooring as it will damage the finish.
• Do not use oils or cleansers that are not specifically made and approved for Hardwood Flooring.

Hardwood Flooring Tips

Hardwood flooring is easily damaged by sharp objects. Consider keeping the following things away from your floors.

• sharp or pointed objects
• pet nails
• bikes and kids toys

Ways to Protect your Hardwood

• place area rugs in high traffic areas
• use fatigue mats in the kitchen to protect areas that would come in contact with water or dropped items
• use a dolly when moving heavy items
• use protective pads under legs of chair or tables
• periodically reorganize your rooms as UV sunlight will soften the tone of different species of hardwood to varying degrees
• maintain relative humidity level to between 45 and 65% to minimize moisture effect on wood

Take care of your Pets Nails

Long nails are not only bad for your pets they are bad for your flooring.  Keep those nails properly trimmed.  Consider asking your vet how often your pet would require nail trimming for a happy pet and happy floors.