Wood flooring is any product manufactured from timber that is designed for use as flooring. Wood, with its elastic and flexible qualities, is an ideal material for flooring structurally and aesthetically. Wood flooring is a popular feature in many houses.
Solid hardwood floors, with the planks made from solid wood and milled from a single piece of timber, come in a wide variety of dimensions and styles. Solid hardwood floors were mainly used for structural purposes and were installed perpendicular to wooden support beams of a building. Nowadays, modern construction techniques rarely use wood building frames and solid hardwood floors are almost used exclusively for their appearance.
Wood can be manufactured with a variety of different installation systems: tongue-and-groove, click systems, floor connection system and glue-down method.
The tongue-and-groove system involves joining and aligning the planks. One side of the plank has a groove and the other side and end have a tongue (protruding wood along the edge's center). The tongue and groove fit snugly together and are not visible once joined. Tongue-and-groove flooring can be installed by glue-down, floating or nail-down.
The click system, popular in the Do-It-Yourself market, is similar to tongue-and-groove, but instead of fitting directly into the groove, the board is angled or tapped in to make the curved or barbed tongue fit into the modified groove. No adhesive is used when installing a click floor, making board replacement easier.
The floor connection system allows for different materials to be installed together if they have the same connection system. With this system, there are a wide range of connection systems since most of them are mill-specific manufacturing techniques. The general idea is to have grooves on all four sides of the plank with a separate, unconnected, piece that is inserted into the grooves of two planks to join them. The connection piece can be made from wood, rubber or plastic.
The glue-down method is an especially popular method. A layer of mastic is placed onto the sub-floor using a trowel. The wood pieces are then laid on top of the glue and hammered into place using a rubber mallet and a protected 2x4 to create a level floor. The floor usually requires sanding and re-finishing after the glue-down installation method due to the small size pieces.
Due to their natural characteristics of wood, solid hardwood floors have certain installation and durability limitations. Moisture and temperature fluctuations, causing expansion and contraction of wood, put many dimensional restrictions on hardwood floors. Typically, 5" wide and 3/4" thick boards are the largest that can be manufactured from solid wood without compromising the structure of the flooring. It’s also important to note that there is no standard size which will perform well in every environment.
Oil and polyurethane are two of the most popular modern finishes for wood flooring. There are many variations and other names used to describe the finish within both categories such as natural shellacs, lacquers, varnishes and waxes blended with oil. Oil and polyurethane also have very different refinishing and maintenance regimes.
When caring for hardwood floors, it’s best to use the manufacturer’s recommended cleaning products. Vacuuming, sweeping and damp mopping is usually all that is required to maintain the cleanliness and appearance of a wood floor.