Is it safe to use hardwood flooring in a kitchen?
You can install wood in your kitchen, but you must use caution. If food and liquid spills aren't addressed properly, you can permanently stain the wood or damage the finish. If you do install hardwood floors in the kitchen, be sure to wipe up spills immediately with a dry, clean cloth. To help with the wear and tear you can put a large rug in the kitchen, and be sure to keep smaller rugs by the stove and the sink.
Should I expect color variations in my hardwood flooring?
Every board is like a finger print, and every board will have grain variations. The wood also accepts the stain differently, which is what makes hardwood floors so appealing. The natural variation in the wood is stunning and beautiful. The lighter the stain, the more variation you will see. Whereas the darker stains tend to mask the grain and variation in the wood.
What can I do if the finish becomes dull?
When the finish of your flooring becomes dull due to foot traffic over many, many years, you can screen and re-coat the floors. Lightly sand them with 220 grit sandpaper just enough to roughen up the surface. Then re-coat the floors with a fresh coat of finish! This should solve the dull-ness, but it generally will not remove embedded dirt, scratch marks, or any dents. Removing those marks would entail sanding the finish off completely and re-staining and re-finishing the floors.
Is hardwood flooring a green environmentally friendly product?
Our Bamboo and Cork floors are not the only green, eco-friendly flooring in Madison! Hardwood flooring that is harvested in the US and Canada is one the of the best renewable materials. The harvesting process has changed so drastically over the years, and we are re-planting more trees now than there were 100 years ago. About 95% of all our forests generate four times the oxygen and clean up four times the carbon dioxide as the old growth forests. You can be assured that hardwood floors are a practical and beautiful flooring, but also very environmentally friendly.
Can I install hardwood flooring in high traffic areas?
No matter how durable the finish when grit, dirt and stones are tracked across your floors you will see premature wear and tear on the finish. To get the longest wear out of your new investment, we recommend heavy mats outside all exterior doors, with small rugs covering the wood on the inside. Regularly vacuum your hardwood flooring with a soft bristle brush and keep felt chair glides on all furniture. Cleaning your floors with a hardwood floor cleaner formulated for your floors can also help.
Which is better, prefinished wood floors or job site finished wood flooring?
Prefinished flooring allows for a strength and durability that only factory finishes can offer. Some finishes will have "aluminum-oxide-ceramic-titanium" particles mixed into the finish before applied giving it special durability to abrasive wear and tear. The installation time is also shorter with prefinished floors, sometimes they can be installed in just one day and then you can get your home back to normal. Site finished floors can takes up to 3-4 days to sand and re-finish, and then you'll have to stay off of them for a few additional days for the finish to dry. Each type has benefits, but pre-finished flooring has some major benefits.
When you're looking to upgrade to hardwood floors in your home, we have the best flooring in Madison! We would love to show you the different colors and styles to bring out the best in your home. We have many other flooring options to choose from as well. Between our laminate, LVT tile and carpet you are sure to find a flooring that will add to the value and flow of your home.
