How to Choose & Install Hardwood Floors: A Complete Guide
You’ve decided you want to install hardwood floors in your home, but where do you begin?
At Bull Tough Flooring we strive to answer all your questions on how to choose and install hardwood floors so that you fully understand the different factors that impact both the look and performance of your floors.
1-Choose between solid or engineered flooring
Depending on what you’re looking for, you will need to decide between solid or engineered flooring. Engineered flooring consists of a thin layer of hardwood bonded to other layers of material to try and prevent the floor from shifting during expansion and contraction. It is suitable for basements and apartments where you can directly glue the pieces to the concrete, but the disadvantage of engineered flooring is the hardwood layer is so thin, you can’t sand and refinish in the future. At Bull Tough Flooring we specialize in solid wood only but can recommend other trusted brands to install your engineered floors.
2-Choose site finish or prefinished wood
The choice is yours on whether you prefer a raw face to the wood on which we can apply a stain and topcoat after installation, or prefinished planks of wood on which the final color is already applied.
Prefinished wood takes less time to install and you see the exact color you are getting right from the very start. But the advantage with installing raw wood which we stain on site allows us to do spot testing and customizing color that suits your home and taste based on light and color conditions in the room. This allows for more control over the sheen and stain and results in a smoother floor too because after we nail down your floor, we sand it down before we paint it.
3-Choose your type of Finish
Your choice in finish depends on the level of maintenance you’re interested in.
Loba is our flagship product, a German-based company with over 98-years of experience making high quality hardwood flooring finishes. This range of water-based products is guaranteed to bring the best out of your floor while protecting it. There are dozens of products specifically designed to react differently with your floor giving you a wide range of options to choose from for the look and feel you’re after.
4-Choose your wood type
There are many choices to choose from, contingent on your budget, size of project, traffic in areas, color and grain preference.
Oak, walnut, maple, ash and hickory are just some of the types of wood that we can install-be sure to ask us about the advantages of wood type for your Calgary hardwood flooring project!
Check out all the different woods Bull Tough offers – our gallery will help you see how the wood looks in different light.
5-Pick your grain and plank width
Here again you have several options to choose from. Depending on how the logs of wood are cut, you will end up with different grain patters being shown and so the choice you make for your floor comes down to a personal preference.
Wider planks are more modern than the traditional two-to-three-inch cuts used before. You will spend more money using a wider plank, but installation is faster as you cover more ground faster.
6- Installing your floors
Once you have decided on all the items mentioned above, it is time to install your floors.
Calling on professionals will ensure it is done perfect the first time – at Bull Tough Flooring we have all the equipment, tools and materials needed to ensure the installation of your floors goes smoothly and is done right the first time. We will work with you to answer all your questions, acclimatize the wood, prepare your space, install the floors quickly, add finishing touches and always leave without a trace.
Whatever your hardwood flooring or hardwood refinishing needs may be, Bull Tough Flooring is your trusted professional solution! Contact us for your quote now.