Job-site hardwood flooring finishing methods are also available.
If you want a custom stained hardwood floor, or a wood floor to match existing trim,
than a job-site finish is your answer.
Job-site finish means you start with a bare (unfinished) hardwood floor and than
the floor is sanded, stained, and finished in the home.
The other advantage of a job-site finish is, if you are concerned with uneven heights
between planks, the sanding process will smooth out the floor. Be warned, though,
this can be quite a mess and the process does take several days.
Job-site hardwood floor finishing methods include:
- Water Based Urethane – Water is used as part of the
chemical make up of the polyurethane finish.
- Solvent Based Urethane – Oil is used as part of the chemical
make up of the polyurethane finish.
- Moisture Cured Urethane – A similar chemical make up as solvent
based urethanes, but this finish needs the humidity (moisture) in the air to cure.
What to know about board widths.
When shopping for a hardwood floor you will see boards in various sizes.
The narrower board widths are referred to as “strips” and the wider
units as “planks.”
You should be aware that board width can visually impact a room.
Narrow width boards will expand a room, while wider boards work well in a larger
room or area.
All about edges.
Different hardwood floors have different edges. Hardwood floors come in either a
beveled edge, or a square edge.
Today, most hardwood floor manufacturers are calling their beveled edge "eased
edge" because the tapered edge is dramatically reduced from the old
deeply grooved edges.
The beveled edges do serve a purpose. The manufacturer can produce beveled edge
planks faster than square edge, which in turn lowers their production costs.
Also, a beveled edge floor is more forgiving when installed over irregular subfloors
and you don't have the problem of overwood (uneven plank heights abutting each other).
To help you understand hardwood edges, here’s a summary of today’s types:
Square Edge:

The edges of all boards meet squarely creating a uniform, smooth surface that blends
the floor together from board to board. The overall look of this floor gives a contemporary
flair and formal feeling to the room.
Eased Edge:

Each board is just slightly beveled. Some manufacturers add an eased edge to both
the length of the planks as well as the end joints. Eased edges are used to help
hide minor irregularities, such as uneven plank heights. Eased edge is also called
micro-beveled edge.
Beveled Edge:

These products have a very distinctive groove in them. Beveled edge planks lend
themselves to an informal and country decor. With the urethane finishes applied
at the factory today, the beveled edges are sealed completely, making dirt and grit
easy to be swept or vacuumed out of the grooves.
Rating the hardness of wood.
Below are listed the relative hardness for numerous wood species used in flooring.
These ratings were done using the Janka Hardness Test, which measure the force needed
to embed a .444 inch steel ball to half its diameter in a piece of wood.
The higher the number the harder the wood. Although this is one of the best methods
to measure the ability of wood species to withstand indentations, it should be used
as a general guide when comparing various species of wood flooring.
The construction and finish also play an important role in the durability and ease
of maintenance of any wood floor.
Wood Species
|
Hardness Rating
|
Douglas Fir
|
660
|
Southern Yellow Pine (short leaf)
|
690
|
Southern Yellow Pine (Long leaf)
|
870
|
Black Cherry
|
950
|
Teak
|
1000
|
Black Walnut
|
1010
|
Heart Pine
|
1225
|
Yellow Birch
|
1260
|
Red Oak (Northern)
|
1290
|
American Beech
|
1300
|
Ash
|
1320
|
White Oak
|
1360
|
Australian Cypress
|
1375
|
Hard Maple
|
1450
|
Wenge
|
1620
|
African Pedauk
|
1725
|
Hickory
|
1820
|
Pecan
|
1820
|
Purpleheart
|
1860
|
Jarrah
|
1910
|
Merbau
|
1925
|
Santos Mahogany
|
2200
|
Mesquite
|
2345
|
Brazilian Cherry
|
2350
|
Understanding the hardwood family should help you decide if this is a flooring answer
for you and your home. At the very least, we hope this section has increased your
knowledge of hardwood, one of the most beautiful, inviting and enduring flooring
options around.