WC Floors can help you carefully plan you installation to ensure that it will complement your decor. The following information is a basic guide to help you learn more about our wood flooring products and help you make the right choices for your home.

There are many domestic and imported species of wood available to the consumer for use in the installation of hardwood flooring. The most common species used for wood flooring is a red or white oak. This is the floor that you see in most of your friends' or families' homes. However, woods are available in a variety of grades and sizes. Each species of wood has it own grain, color, and veining. Your choice of species depends on your personal preferences and the effect you want to achieve. The most popular species are oak and maple, followed by birch, ash, beech, cherry, and walnut. Exotic, deluxe woods are also available, such as Brazilian cherry, mahogany, merbau, and sepele, which are very warm in color and extremely hard.

Types of Wood Flooring

Solid wood flooring is made of solid lumber, It is available both unfinished and refinished, and comes several forms and sizes.

Species and Grades of hardwood flooring Species

The following table lists some of the more commonly used species for wood flooring.

Grades

The grade of a hardwood floor is determined only by the appearance. All grades of a species rate equally strong and serviceable.

Oak and Ash have 4 basic grades

» Clear - is free of defects though it may have some minor imperfections.
» Select - is almost clear, but contains more natural characteristics such as knots and color variations.
» Common - Grades (No.1 and No.2) have more markings than either clear or select and are often chosen because of these natural features, and the character they bring to a room.
» No.1 common has a variegated appearance, light and dark colors, knots flags and worm holes.
» No.2 common is rustic in appearance and allows all wood characteristics of the species.

Hard Maple, Beech, Birch and, Pecan have 3 basic grades
» First - has the best appearance, natural color variations and limited character marks.
» Second - is variegated in appearance with varying, sound wood characteristics of the species.
» Third - is rustic in appearance allowing all the wood characteristics of the species.

Most of the other species are either select, common, or character grade. Ask your dealer for specific price, grade and availability of any species.

Bevel

Hardwood floors come in either a square edge or a beveled edge, Today, most prefinished hardwood flooring manufacturers are calling their beveled edge "eased edge" because the tapered edge is dramatically reduced from the old deeply grooved edges. The new Micro beveled edges provides a smoother more uniform surface and eliminates some of the problems seen with some manufactures prefinished square edge flooring that has sharper edges (called overwood).

Square Edge- The edges of all boards meet squarely creating a 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

Micro or Eased Edge- Each board edge 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 that are often called "overwood". Eased edge is also called micro-beveled edge. These micro-beveled edges are factory finished and so small there is very little room that will allow dust or dirt getting trapped in them.

Heavy or Hand Bevel- These products have a very distinctive groove in them and show off each plank. 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. Beveled edge floors help hide sub-floor irregularities that could result in variations in board height, which is often called "overwood".

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