You are at the end of your floor installation process. You have built layer upon layer, possibly starting as far down as the joists and subfloor, upward through the underlayment, finish flooring, and stain. Now you are at the final layer: the flooring topcoat finish. What to do now? Glossy vs. Semi-Gloss Topcoats Your...
Staining your wood floor after sanding changes wood’s natural pigment; stain, by itself, does nothing to seal the floor against moisture and wear. Floor staining is not a requirement, of course, because many homeowners prefer their floors clear-coated after sanding. But many types of flooring species such as lighter grained soft woods like pine...
Sanding wood parquet flooring is more difficult than it may seem at first. Think about it… When sanding conventional solid wood flooring, you need to be aware of the direction of the grain of the wood. But because parquet wood flooring has wood grain going in all sorts of different directions, the concept of...
Wood parquet tile flooring is a sort of like a combination between hardwood flooring and vinyl tile squares; in a way, it is the best of both worlds. So it is kind of interesting that wood parquet tile flooring is not more popular, but there are some design issue involved here mentioned at the...
Tough question, so before we talk flooring jacks, let’s ask about your circumstances: Are you a professional installer? If yes, then you need a flooring jack. But you probably know this already. Tougher question: Are you a DIY floor installer? If yes, then we’ll ask if you have more than one room to install. ...
After you’ve got a good, smooth, stable subfloor and underlayment, the last step before installing the finish flooring–red rosin paper. This stuff mystified me the first time I saw it installed. I thought: Isn’t there anything better to lay down as a moisture barrier? Well, for one thing, you don’t want an absolutely impermeable...
It doesn’t matter if you’re installing your wood flooring yourself or hiring someone–wood flooring moisture is something you need to think about. Every guide you read, every set of product instructions will say, “Let the wood floor acclimate in the house for 3 days” or whatever time length they specify (1 day? 5 days?). ...
Q: I’ve heard the term “overwood” in the context of wood flooring installation and wonder what the heck it is? So…? A: Overwood refers to the difference in thickness between two adjoining butted pieces of wood floorboards. Now, keep in mind that we’re not talking about huge differences in thickness; just a few millimeters. ...
So, is wide plank flooring in or not? Fashions in wood flooring come and go, and one of the biggest stars in recent years has been wide plank flooring. Imagine flooring that come in widths between 3.5 inches and 8 inches (or even up to 10 inches and sometimes even wider), and you’ve got...
Penetrating wood floor finishes have one assigned duty: penetrate that wood and protect it. Here are 5 major categories of penetrating wood floor finishes: Sealers – Sealers are kind of like paint primers: they provide a good, workable base for subsequent finish coats. Linseed and Tung Oils – These oils also penetrate the wood,...
