Residential Wood Flooring
Hardwood Floor Installation:
There are several things to consider when installing a new wood floor.
Acclimation to the environment: The wood needs to be in the home prior to installation for several days to acclimate to its lived in environment, meaning the heating and air is consistent like the conditions would be while someone is living there.
Sub-floor preparation, undercutting door casings, and trim work, and stone surrounds. Consider cabinetry and all other considerations to achieve a proper layout to ensure a pleasing view.
Some other considerations or questions:
- What type of sub-floor do you have? Is it level and of adequate thickness?
- Is the installation over a crawlspace or basement? Are they dry?
- Is the installation below or above grade?
- What species of wood?
- How wide of board to choose?
- Adjacent flooring heights? Consider how your choice will affect the adjacent rooms.
We offer flush mount and drop-in wood registers and custom reducers to transition different floor heights.
In our consultation with you we will go over these questions, all of them will reflect the best decision for the product we would recommend for you.
Flooring Choices:
3/4" Prefinished solid hardwood has become quite popular for several reason over the years. It is readily available to be seen at many home stores and flooring outlets, thus it is easy to pick out your style and especially your choice of color. It has a really good finish on them and can be installed quickly without the need of sanding. This type of floor can be cleaned, re-coated and sanded.
3/4" Raw solid site finished hardwood is still our preferred choice when available just because the floor is tighter board to board and overall flatter. It looks more like a piece of handcrafted furniture. The floor is installed, sanded on site and then finished natural or stained to your choice of color. This option we feel has been largely overlooked due to the prefinished trend and has become somewhat of a lost art. Fortunately for our customers Allred's Floor Service still does it!
Engineered wood floors are available in different thicknesses and widths. This may come in handy while trying to create the same level of flooring heights to adjacent room floor height. It can also be glued down which is ideal for below grate applications. If this type of floor gets damaged it is unlikely able to be sanded.
Laminate floors are in inexpensive option. This type of floor covering is a floating floor and may be a candidate for some applications.
Hardwood Floor Repair:
Whether you have pulled up carpet and found a large hole from a hvac duct that was patched with plywood, or if a wall was removed, or termite damage, etc. It takes a true craftsman to repair the damage. The damaged area must be removed along with some area around the damage in order for the repair to flow into the existing floor. This is known as "fingering" or "lacing" and makes the repair look seamless. This is very time consuming and tedious work but well worth the time and cost. However sometimes a total tear out is a better option depending on each job.
Hardwood Sanding/Refinishing:
Considering to rent or sand the floor yourself? We wouldn't wish this task on anyone who is inexperienced. It truly is an art!
Sanding and refinishing a hardwood floor can be a daunting task for the inexperienced craftsman. We know the amount of tools, equipment and procedures it takes to sand and refinish a floor properly. We have been hired on several occasions to re-sand a project that someone has tried to sand a floor by renting a couple of pieces of equipment, often times this equipment is worn out or not ever setup correctly.
Allred's Floor Service uses the best equipment and materials available. By utilizing the best equipment, we have a virtually dust free process. We mask off adjacent rooms when needed and take care of our mess leaving the site sometimes cleaner than we found it.
Whether it's a home, a place of business, a church or a gymnasium floor, restoring the beauty of an existing hardwood floor can bring the life back into the room and provide that new look and perform well for decades to come.
Allred's Floor Service would like to sincerely thank you for consideration and business. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Contact Allred's Floor Service today for a free estimate.