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Wood flooring and kitchens.

If you read designer magazines its hard not to see hardwood floors being used in kitchens today. Its defiantly becoming an everyday design feature.

What type of wood floors are used?

Heavy grained patterns are normally used in kitchens as they help hide the normal wear and tear that happens in the kitchen. The open gained woods should be avoided as they will show nicks and scratches easier.This is also true to light color woods. Designers love to use hand scrapped or distressed woods so take a few points from them when choosing what type of woods to use.

How ever if your set on using a light color wood check out Anderson Virginia vintage line called Olde Paint, they offer some great damage hiding characteristic. Distressed woods are the best solution for kitchens as they are a pre-planned solution to the heavy traffic kitchens get, In most cases the damaged to them actually add to the over all look of the wood floor.

Moisture

This is the biggest concern when it comes to hard wood flooring in kitchens, Use area rugs near water sources and make sure to have your plumbing checked before installing because bad plumbing will cause a lot of damage to these types of floors.

Remodeling and wood flooring.

At the time of this writing homes are not selling to well because the big banks are not lending money like they used to. How ever even with that being said many people are still in a good position to buy a home and now would be that time. So as someone selling a home you may want to add hardwood floors to your home to help raise the price of your home to make as much money from it as you can.

Darker woods seem to be gaining popularity in today’s world. The washed out colors are seeming to fade well hand scraped distressed and character grade woods sells seem to be stable. Natural color woods are always a great choice to.

Pre-finished woods have a better warranty along with faster completion times, since on sight finished floors you’ll have to wait time for the finish to cure before they can be used. Completion times on jobs are very important when flipping homes since mortgage payments do cut into your profit. When looking at the warranty make sure to read it, yes it might be nice to see 25-50 years of warranty but what does that cover, in most cases only “Actual wear of the finish”, So please read the fine print.

Also research what type of wood flooring you should be using, if your doing a smaller room try wider plank flooring since they tend to make the room look bigger then what it really is.

What rooms to install hardwood flooring

Some of the most popular area’s in a home to have wood flooring would be; Dining rooms,foyers,dens,home offices,hallways, and libraries. With kitchens and powder rooms falling in behind them. Yeah I said kitchens if maintained with lay rugs near area’s where water can be found they are a good choice. But myself would rather prefer ceramic tile or stone.

What type of flooring should you use?

That’s really up to you, again research them and decide whats best fits your budget and your job type. How ever I will let you know that 3/4 inch flooring is by far the top choice if you have a wood sub floor and with the interlocking wood floors pretty easy to install yourself.

If you have a concrete sub floor your going want to consider engineered hardwoods, either in a glue down method or a floating installation.

Remember depending on where you leave you may need to rule out certain types of wood flooring, if you live in a area with will cause a lot of constriction and expansion in wood floors that will effect what type of woods to use. Key here is researching the properties of the hard wood floors and how they react to your climate. Then decide on types and styles.

Builder/re-modeler says it has to go next week

Contractors have a hard time figuring out when to install hardwood flooring, they tend to like to rush things since they want everyone to get done about the same time to avoid having to come back to finish up. One big reason for them wanting to rush is because they want their trim and painting subcontractors done at the same time.

IF they do install the hardwood flooring before other things are done speak up and tell them you want them protecting, its ashamed how often wood floors are damaged before the job is even done. Have them place 1/8″ Masonite board over your floors and to duct tape the seams and not to the floor itself. That just defeats the purpose of protecting them.

Depending what else is being dune debris still may get under the board so ask them to left it up and check each day and give the floor a sweep. Its your money and they are working for you, so you have to speak up.

Now if your doing a on site finished floor you may not be able to cover them since the finish will need time to cure, talk to the person doing the floor to find out how you can protect them if work still needs done.

Decorator says…

Sometimes these people like to experiment and when they do your left paying for it and looking at it. As a consumer you have to have some type of grasp on design and colors you want, and don’t let the decorator lead you, but you should lead their idea’s. Don’t let them place 5-6 different types and color floors merging together that will through the flow of the rooms off and may look great in the room with the door closed but if your hall way is on type of wood and color and you have 4-5 rooms coming off it with all different types of flooring it may become an eye sore.

Live near a beach?

Research the finishes of the type of flooring you want some may have durable finishes then other these will with scratches but not prevent them, maintenance is your best weapon against sand, but just remember the floor will get scratched at some point.

Water and hardwood floors

Mostly wide plank floors are easier damaged by water but not all, if your not sure what to use and plan on the floors being around water, such as an entrance into the dining room from the pool, try using engineered hardwoods.

Wood flooring vs Carpeting

Wood floors vs Carpet

Allergies

One of the main reason to why wood floors are making such a come back can be seen right under your feet. Carpeting contains a lot of things you do not want in your home. Sure you can vacuum them but does that really get all the harmful things out of the rug? Dust mites can cause allergies and you may think by getting your rugs steam cleaned you may be solving the problem but in reality dust mites tend to work themselves deep into your rugs and can get under them into the padding, where vacuums and steam cleaners cant get to.

On top of dust mites carpets holds odor in. This can make your house smell odd and dirty, and if you love pets like I do then this can be a serious problem as the odor from your pets get trapped along with pet dander.

Natural and not synthetic

In today’s world a movement has been gaining momentum and that movement is “Going green”. Not only are wood floors a green solution but they are also a renewable resource. Carpets use many different chemicals such as petroleum based products. Bamboo floors or cork floor sales have been gaining momentum for the last few years since these types of floors are very Eco friendly. Cork flooring is made from the barks of the tree’s. By stripping the bark from a tree to make a floor you keep from cutting the tree down and the bark regrows over time. Bamboo is a very fast growing plant and can be replaced and harvest in a matter of months.

Wood Finishes

Some things you need to know if your a sensitive person to chemicals. Pre-finished floors release a gas but will dissipate quickly in most cases, Chinese imports on the other hand may take a bit more time to release their gases. How ever if you finish your own floor will also have a lingering effect and if you use an oil base you’ll notice this effect even more. So if your sensitive to chemicals I suggest using the pre-finished flooring and just to remember to keep your windows open and if your very sensitive maybe spend a few days out of the home.

Appearances

This is most likely one of the main reasons why people are going back to hard wood floors, I would love to say its because of the reasons I listed above but in fact to many people are worried about looks and money over their own health and the world they live in.

Hardwood floors add value to a home in most cases, lets face it if you live in a ghetto your more then likely not worried about the value of your home but rather how it looks on the inside, its kinda hard to add resale value to a home if the city cant keep the town looking nice as well. apart from adding value to your home they are beautiful and improve the quality of your life style.

Rental Properties

Most landlords will place carpets in their properties, Either these people don’t care about up keeping their properties or they are just not thinking of up keep in the future years. I’m not saying to go out and buy the best hardwood flooring you can find but instead think about some things. Carpeting may seem cheaper at around a dollar something per sq ft, how ever your going have to pay someone to install it so that raises the price to about 2-3 dollars a sq ft. Then you have to change it every so many years if you have a rental that See’s many different renters. Lets say you have a place that changes renters every 3 years, if you want to keep it looking nice you may want to change the carpets. So reoccurring cost can start hitting your wallets. Even if you don’t change them you have to get them professionally cleaned.

With hard wood flooring you have a selling point to say, people love them and that feature alone may make people rent from you then another landlord. On top of that refurnishing them is simple and they hold up to wear and tear a lot better.

Where to look

Since a large portion of your remodeling expense will be spent on wood flooring’s if you choose to get them, ID do some research into them, Learn the options available to you using the Internet is one of the best ways to do this. Home improvement stores will have a nice selection but they are usually marked up since they have to take in count the cost of workers and warehouse storage.

By checking online you can buy direct from the manufactures or small mom and pop shops you would have never found that have great prices for hand crafted pieces.

Water spills,water damaged and pet stains on wooden flooring.

Water and hardwood floors will never mix, but there are things you can do to help prevent them and in case you found us because they already happen well keep reading we have solutions for you as well. How ever some of the best solutions happen before installing.

Minor water spills on wood floors.

The pet spills his water bowl while your asleep no need to fear just wipe it up and light the area dry. Potted plants can cause some serious problems if not watched after, Wet soil can seep into the wood and if you don’t catch you may ave to tear up the boards and replace them. So keep a pan or cloth under them and check it often.

Dish washer or washing machines leaking on to the wood flooring.

First you must find the leak and fix it, then look at the floors, large water leaks can be a serious problem, they don’t just ruin the floor but they can also lead to growth of mold and discolored flooring. Discolor means that water is trapped under the boards, so you’ll want to replace the boards.

Precautions for new wood floor owners.

Make sure before laying hardwood floors to have a professional plumber to come in and check the plumbing, in kitchens have water lines checked to your dish washer have your windows checked for leaks, same with doors and base boards.

Pet stains on wood floors.

IF your animal loves to urinate on your carpets and you remove them to find hard wood floors that are stained, you have to replace them if they are extensive, how ever smaller stains can be repaired by removing the boards and placing new ones. you may want to go to salvage yards and find boards that are aged about the same as your floor, this well help cut back on people noticing the boards been replaced.

Some cleaning products.

Six Starter SH-Mops : Base, Pad, Pole, SH-Wipe

Two (2) 32oz. Bottles of BonaKemi(R) REFRESHER

Murphy Oil Soap Concentrate, 1gal Bottle