Good wood floors

The wood flooring industry owes a huge debt of gratitude to Manfred von Ardenne, a German physicist born in 1907 and builder of the world's first scanning electron microscope. That's the optical device that makes it possible to publish those terrifying, close-up images of dust mites you see in advertisements for allergy medicine. We're told that hard-surface floors, wood among them, offers a fighting chance against the dust that feeds these microscopic monsters as they lay in waiting, ready to assault your nose.

Whether the dust mite threat is real or perceived, fear isn't the only reason wood floors are on the upswing. It probably isn't even the biggest reason. Wood looks great, and who can argue with that?

Wood flooring can be divided into three main categories: traditional site-finished solid wood; prefinished solid wood; and engineered wood. And understanding the vast differences between these competing varieties is the first step towards making an optimal choice for your home.

When most people think of hardwood floors, they immediately envision 3/4-inch thick strips of lumber (usually oak) fastened to a subfloor with hidden nails. When you're selecting a traditional, site-finished hardwood floor, you'll need to consider four factors: wood species; wood grade; finish chemistry; and installer skill. And sadly, you can't expect that all these variables will be properly handled by everyone who puts out their shingle as a professional hardwood flooring expert. In fact, installer incompetence is a distinct possibility. That's why it's essential to ask prospective tradespeople for at least three references from previous clients they've served more than a year ago. Ask for phone numbers, call the people and visit if you can. Are they really pleased with their floor? Would they hire these people again? Any problems? This may sound like overkill, but considering you're dealing with thousands of dollars and very little opportunity to fix a botched up job after the fact, it's worth the trouble.

Factory-Finished Hardwood

This addresses some of the drawbacks of site-finished hardwood, and that makes it an approach that's more do-it-yourself friendly. That said, a key term called "surface bevels" needs to be fully understood before you make a decision in favour of prefinished hardwood.

Slight variations in flooring thickness and subfloor surface conditions means that small steps can occur between wooden floor boards as they go down. This is normal and completely eliminated by sanding a site-finished floor. But since sanding isn't an option with a factory-finished product, bevels are used instead. These are angled edges milled around the top edges of prefinished floor boards, and they're designed to disguise any slight board-to-board mismatch. Economy grades of prefinished hardwood have wide bevels (to cover inconsistency in board thickness), while higher-end products have just a tiny micro bevel. Prefinished hardwoods save you the hassle of site finishing, and they offer an extremely tough surface. Just be sure you like their distinctive look.

Engineered Wood

This flooring is typically made from slices of solid wood bonded to a substrate of plywood or high density fiberboard (HDF). The thickness and density of the wood and foundation layers defines quality. All this said, engineered wood flooring is a category that's changing more quickly than competing options because of innovations that keep popping up from manufacturers all over the world. Roughly speaking, engineered wood flooring falls into a couple of categories right now.

The universal type can be floated, glued or nailed down and installed above or below grade and on top of radiant in-floor heating. It usually comes in planks 5-inch to 7-inch wide, 7 feet and longer, with square-edge design. Solid wood substitutes are another kind of engineered wood flooring. They look like strip hardwood 2 1/2 or 3 inches wide, with beveled edges like prefinished solid wood.

The most frequent complaints against engineered wood is that it's fake and can't be refinished. But as it turns out, neither of these are true for all products. High-end engineered flooring has a real-wood wear layer of about 3 mm, offering as much room for sanding as you'll find above the nails on a 3/4-inch thick tongue-and-groove solid strip floor. Even the less expensive 0.6 mm-thick wood veneer on lower-priced engineered flooring can be rejuvenated in some cases. If the factory finish is polyurethane, it can be roughened up slightly and recoated.

With all this choice, how do you decide what makes a good wood floor for your home? Warranty is an excellent yardstick for judging product quality, but in the end, you've got to see the various options on the floor. But once you've got that far in your own home, get ready to enjoy a terrific floor experience for years.