Wood Floor Categories

After cutting and grading the wood flooring product is milled or manufactured into one of the final wood floor covering categories.

Solid

Solid wood floor coverings are comprised completely of pure wood. They are available in strip, plank and parquet. Traditionally sanded and refinished on site, however factory finishes are obtainable.

Engineered (laminated)

Engineered (laminated) products are an assembly of multiple layers of hardwood veneer or dimensioned stock. The layers are kiln dried; assembled with opposing grain direction (cross-hatched); and bonded together to form a single unit. The unit is milled on all edges and surfaced.

Engineered Wood Flooring
These products are available in strip, plank and parquets. The construction consists of using a cross-directional lamination process to bond three to five layers. The top layer or wear layer being comprised of a premium hardwood caliber. These floors can be finished or unfinished with variations of botanical species being used.

Plywood, Particleboard and Fiberboard
This classification of wood floor coverings is also very diversified and used for many different applications. Industrial application extensively incorporates the use of particleboard and plywood (laminated materials) to be used as the substrate or disposable flooring. These floors act as sub floors or protection for floor coverings for the duration of the construction period, then discarded or covered upon completion.

Specialty

The specialty classification of wood flooring products includes different types of wood flooring that are available in the market today. These types of flooring possess different properties than traditional wood flooring so they are considered specialty products.

Cork Flooring
Cork flooring is made from cork oak bark. Although it traditionally resides in the resilient category of hard floor coverings, it possesses the properties of wood and as such should be discussed in this section.

Cork flooring comes in basically two varieties. They do contain similar properties, however that is where similarity ends. Manufacturing and maintenance for the two products can be completely different.

• Cork Tiles

Cork tiles combine granular cork of various sizes and bonds them with natural resins. When the floor tile is complete it can be distributed unfinished, waxed or pre-finished. The tiles measure 12” by 12” and are very distinguishable

• Cork Carpet

Cork carpet is manufactured with smaller granules similar to the manufacture of linoleum floor coverings. Large cylinders press the cork, linseed oil, natural resin and other additives onto jute backing. The product is then calendared and dried into the final product. Cork carpet is generally found as sports/cafeteria type flooring.

Bamboo Flooring
Bamboo flooring is becoming very popular, it is a product that can be grown in a very short period of time in comparison to other timber and is a reliable resource. It is dense and hard with unbelievable wear ability.

The product is cut in a special way that allows the material to be engineered into a laminated product. They are found in primarily in strip form and laid in parallel.

Recycle/Reclaimed
These classifications of floors incorporate the use of old timber that has been either reclaimed or recycled. This very old timber is laced with knots, flags, wormholes and color variations. The rustic affect lent to them makes them a popular item.

• Recycled

Recycled flooring material is manufactured from old timber that has been salvaged. The lumber is generally at least 60 - 70 years old, older on the east coast. Different techniques are incorporated to give the flooring an antique appearance. Sometimes the old finish is left on to accentuate the look.

• Reclaimed

Reclaimed products come from salvaging logs from the old river and creek bottoms. These logs were lost in the transportation to old sawing installations. Over time they became waterlogged and sunk. They are now retrieved, dried and manufactured into floor covering products.

Sports Floors
Sports floors are often constructed of various hardwoods. They may be strip or parquet. Sports floors are exacting when it comes to coatings and painting lines. That is why they occupy a special place of their own.

Custom

The final classification of wood floor coverings is custom floor coverings. These floors are made to order and have complete flexibility in design, species, grade, and size. These floors are unlimited in design.

Custom flooring is a product that is used to enhance the floor covering such as accents, borders and corners. This classification also includes inlays, parquets and parquetry. Marquetry (very delicate inlay) and medallions (custom mosaics of fine wood) can give the facility unique flooring.

Mixing species and mixed media are other methods of giving the floor a unique look. Mixed species combines combinations of wood together for a contrasting look. Mixed media may incorporate the use of stone, ceramic, carpet or other materials in conjunction with wood.

Painting of the wood floor covering is also an option that may be encountered. This can be a traditional checkerboard pattern, stencil or intricate hand painted design.

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Wood Floor Terminlogy

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