Expert Tips & Trends in Hardwood Flooring | Parqueteam Hardwood Flooring Blog

Installation of Engineered Hardwood Floors

2/5/2015

Engineered Hardwood Floor

Engineered Hardwood Floors

Hardwood floors that is explicitly available in variety sources such as internet, through the network as well as personal experience. I have collected information in regards to engineered hardwood flooring as a material as well as the installation process of the engineered hardwood floors for your convenience. Please feel free to share your personal experience or tips that you obtained through your own research in order to help other homeowners to make an informative choice.

If you consider to install engineered hardwood floors keep in mind that you can purchase either pre-finished hardwood planks that is fully ready for the installation. The downside of pre-finished engineered hardwood material is that you will not be able to change the color shade of or the top coat of the planks. On the other hand, if you decide to purchase unfinished engineered hardwood planks you can unleash your imagination and choose any color shade that works best for you. The main advantage: Full control and ability to customize. The downside: Unfinished planks of engineered hardwood floors requires extra work. In terms of grinding of the wood, there are plenty of choices, it is only limited by your level of involvement and the care for the finished result.

You can install engineered hardwood floors by yourself. However, there are worth noticing the three method of installation that are currently available. Perhaps the best for self engineered hardwood floor installation is Click Lock, which means that planks of wood are clicked together. Such method is easiest and faster in comparison to other two methods: Glue Down and Floating.

It is also worth noticing that you can install engineered hardwood floors that are environmentally friendly.

Types of Hardwood Flooring Finishes

1/30/2015

When it comes to the choice of wood floor finish, it is good to consider both aesthetic and practical aspects of it. The look of the floor after applying a wood floor finish could be directly related to your taste and lifestyle. However, it is important to keep in mind the maintenance and consistency of the product as well. Now, there are a few types ofhardwood flooring finishes that are currently available in the home design market.

Water-based finishes are highly reliable and durable. Such wood floor product will not change its color over the years. For example, it will not turn yellow or become a darker shade of original color. Water-based wood floor finish dries fast and does not posses strong chemical-related odor when applied.

Oil-based wood floor finishes will leave your floors with an amber glare. Although, oil-based wood floor finish requires less coats, the drying time is quite long: 6 hours between the coats and 8 to 12 hours after the last coat being applied, which can limit the access to the installation/renovation areas. Both water and oil-based wood floor finishes possess high resistance to moisture, scratches and other damages.

There are also wax finishes available for the wooden types of floor. Such wood floor finish is more traditional and old-fashioned, but nevertheless its highly durable and reliable. Wax finish will leave your floors with a mate look. The main advantage of the wax wood floor finish is that you can apply it by yourself after the wooden floor installation or if you wish to enhance the new look of your existing floors. The downside of the wax-based floor finish is that any liquid spilled will appear visible on the waxed hardwood floors.

There are many things need to be considered when one is choosing a wood floor finish. However, by obtaining as much information as you can will make the decision process less stressful. Besides, you can always seek professional help from wooden floors installers if you overwhelmed with the numerous products currently available in the market.

Hardwood-Parqueteam offers hardwood flooring Toronto and hardwood flooring installation in Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area. Contact us anyitme!

Hardwood Flooring Installers in Toronto

1/17/2015

In order to obtain the best team of professional installer and get outstanding results, you can follow a few easy steps listed below. It will help you to organize the whole floor installation process from very beginning to the end.

Step 1. Conduct explicit research in regards to all company’s that are currently operating in the hardwood flooring installation in Toronto market. Thing to look for: number of years in the industry ( level of expertise and experience). Location might be an issue, so start looking from your own location . Read review about the chosen company. Check the gallery on their web site ( visual images might be helpful if you want to see the “final” look).

Step 2. Schedule the meeting. Create list of questions to ask before the estimation.Make sure to include: wood type, its structure (colour, grinding, texture, colour of stain/finish etc). Also decide on installation system (method) that best suits your expectations.

Step 3. If any customized work needs to be done, clearly articulate it prior to installation.

Step 4. Agree on time slot for the actual flooring installation process. Agree on cost/price. Inspect the flooring material prior to installation.

Step 5. Enjoy your sparkly floors

Parqueteam Hardwood Flooring, a small family owned business specializing in hardwood flooring in Toronto, and hardwood flooring installation in Toronto. Call us anytime for additional information.

Steps To Install Hardwood Floors

1/7/2015

Engineered hardwood flooring in Toronto indeed has numerous advantages such as stability and high resistance to moisture and humidity. However, there are another advantage that concerns your budget allocated towards engineered flooring installation: you can do it yourself in a timely and messy-free manner with minimal money spending. Let me guide you through the installation process with the 10 easy steps. You can follow in order to be in control of the entire installation of your engineered hardwood floors.

1.Decide on the installation method. For the engineered hardwood flooring type there are three main methods: Float, Nail and Glue. Today I will talk about floating engineered hardwood flooring installation method. Please follow my blogs for the future information in regards to other two installation methods).

2. Prepare your subfloors for the installation: cover the subfloor area with the plastic sheets. If you working with the concrete sub floors below grade level place more layers of plastic sheets. Then cover plastic sheets with foam underlayment (its comes with the wood material).

          3. If you have click lock type of engineered flooring material then click the planks together as stated at the guide from the manufacturer. (You will end up with one big panel that is not attached to the subfloors). If you purchased engineered hardwood material with tongue and glue method then apply glue to the end of the planks and glue them together as specified in the manufacturer's guide.

         4. Start to install engineered hardwood on your first row. Leave the expansion gap as recommended. Remember that rows should be vertical, not horizontal i.e along the length of the room, not the width.

         5. Continue installing engineered hardwood flooring by starting a second row. Fit the planks at the end of each row carefully in order to get perfect gaps between plans and rows. Keep add rows in the same manner you install the first two.

        6. Now you can remove the guideboard and install engineered hardwood in the resulted space.

       7. You almost done. Now it is time to install the baseboards in order to cover the expansion gaps near the wall.

      8. Now its time to enjoy the result: a great looking, stable and comfortable engineered hardwood floor that will last for decades. Congratulations !

Installing Hardwood Floors In Toronto

12/29/2014

Installing Hardwood Floors

Installing Hardwood Floors

Installing hardwood flooring in Toronto might not be the easiest task, but the payoff is priceless. Hardwood flooring is known for its rich look and strong structure. Now, if you decided to install hardwood floor by yourself its usefull to keep in mind a few necessary steps and tasks that will help the proud installer to achieve best result and obtain sophisticated looking floor in a timely manner.

First, you need to examine your subfloors ( the service area you are going to install hardwood floors on). The sub-floors should be clean and even. There are variety of tools that are readily available for you to measure level of your subfloors. Moreover, there are also special tools that will test the level of moisture. This are basic tasks, but the most crucial ones. Simply because you want to end up with an even, bumps- free hardwood floors after the installation process.

Secondly, you have to tighten your sub-floors in order to prevent future squeaks. Once you install hardwood floors, it is almost impossible to get rid of the noisy floors, but repeat the whole installation process. By simply putting screws in the “problem” areas of your subfloors will prevent any complications such as squeaks in the future.

It is important that your sub-floors are firm and damage-free. You must install hardwood floor over firm and stable area that does not have any severe damages or missing planks, and/or wholes. Take an extra time to closely examine the final look of your subfloors after completion of all tests.

Now you are ready to install hardwood floor by carefully following the guide from the manufacturer. Keep in mind though, you can obtain professional flooring installation services if you wish to save time and get a guaranteed high quality result.

Engineered Hardwood Flooring: The Glue Down Installation Method

6/26/2014

Glue Down installation

Glue Down Installation

As discussed in previous posts, there are many different types of hardwood flooring in Toronto and Vaughan area that are available for the everyday consumer. Engineered hardwood floors are one type of hardwood flooring, and the glue-down installation method is a good and reliable method to go with when installing engineered hardwood floors.

The glue-down installation method could be used for both types of hardwood floors: parquet and hardwood engineered floors. Typically, professional hardwood flooring installers and renovators using such method when installing a wooden floors over a concrete subfloors. What glue-down method is all about and how does it works? Well, there are 2 types of glue-down flooring installation methods: Direct and Double glue-down. During direct glue-down flooring installation method, the engineered hardwood flooring is being glued to the concrete subfloors. This type of glue-down method is cheaper than double glue-down methods since it is requires less labour time of installing as well as it is requires less tools and flooring products.

During the double glue-down method the layer of cork is getting glued to the concrete subfloors at first, and then the actual wooden floors weather engineered hardwood or parquet are being glued to the layer of cork. Such method provides extra sound isolation, stability and overall durability of the floors. Since double-glue down installation method requires more material and involves extra labour, such method is more expensive than direct glue-down installation method mentioned above.

The cost of glue-down installation vary largely, especially among GTA area and Downtown of the Toronto city. However, the average price for the direct glue-down method is $2.00 per Sq.ft and $2.75-3.00 per Sq. ft for double-glue down respectively. Such prices include labour only, the material and the garbage removal services costs are being charged in addition to the labour costs. The right choice is an informative choice, that’s why its would be a smart idea to invest considerable amount of time into the search of the right hardwood flooring installation companies in the Toronto area.

Floating Hardwood Flooring

4/23/2014

This is a self-explanatory style of flooring, this style just does that, it floats. This style is like a puzzle, each of the individual hardwood flooring boards lock together without the use of glue or nails etc. The entire floor thus floats right on top the subfloor or underlayment. In relation to the other styles of flooring this one surely has its benefits, on top of being very easy to install. In regards to moisture, this style of flooring is ideal because this allows for a installation of some sort of moisture barrier that can be installed between the hardwood and the subfloor. In addition, these boards react differently when exposed to humidity, if properly installed this floating wood style will not bucket and adjust under moist conditions, and this does not develop any sort of gaps that would normally occur under certain dry conditions. This method will surely prove to save you time and most importantly money. There is no mess to deal with in regards to special adhesives and different nails, this is perfect for individuals who prefer doing their own home renovation projects, no need for a professional installer in this case. The time that it takes to install this neat style of flooring is almost half it would take in comparison to other methods. You are even able to install this flooring method on top of many materials such as carpet, plywood, concrete, vinyl sheet as well as low pile carpet. Easy enough right? Any Do-It-Yourself individual can easily take advantage of this easy to do flooring method, at a reasonably cost to add!

Hardwood Flooring Repairs

4/6/2014

Hardwood Flooring

Hardwood Flooring

For a person who is not familiar with the industry of hardwood flooring in Toronto, you might need some extra knowledge in regards to how the hardwood flooring repairs are done. First of all, professional flooring installers usually do not work with the areas smaller than 500 sq., ft. However, some of them will make an exception if the opportunity will exceed the company’s expenses in terms of both: labour and material costs. Whether you like it or not, the repair process might involved a lot of special tools that needs to be carried and used in part with labour expenses.

So how is it done. If a specific area of your hardwood floors was severely damaged, the whole area needs to be cut and replaced with the new planks of wood that should match the rest of the floors. You might notice that such task might be hard to perform. Usually, the whole floor area needs to be sanded and refinished: a few coats of varnish or floor stain might be applied. It is possible that only a few planks will be removed and then replaced.

It is essential that the actual cause of damage is fixed prior to the repair process. For example, a major leaking needs to be stopped and fixed. It is not a secret that hardwood floors might fade due to the constant direct sunlight. In addition, the high traffic areas might wear out leaving some “ugly” spots on your beautiful hardwood floors. However,with constant growth within hardwood installation industry , professional hardwood flooring installers will repair hardwood floors effectively and efficiently. The gaps between the planks of your hardwood floors could be also fixed during the overall repair process.

Weather your desire to enhance the look of your old hardwood floors or trying to fix the damaged spots, flooring renovation and repair might be done in timely and stress free manner by the team of professional hardwood flooring installers.

Install Hardwood Flooring That Will Last For Decades

3/30/2014

maple wood floor installed

maple wood floor installed

It is fair to say that the days of carpet floors in Toronto are gone for good. Lack of durability, unrepresentative and faded look of the carpet floors are now replaced by enduring and sophisticated hardwood floors that are last for decades. Due to the innovative technologies within the hardwood flooring installation industry you can now install a floor that poses both aesthetic look and high quality simultaneously.

In terms of wooden types of floors, hardwood is still at the top of the list. Due to its unique texture, color richness and strong structure such floors could serve a homeowner for up to fifty years without being renovated or re-installed. The more modern hardwood flooring type that gains more and more popularity among owners are engineered hardwood floors with it most stable structure and ability to illuminate sound. Moreover, engineered hardwood flooring installation could be done quickly and at the reasonable price.

Another wooden type of floors that will last for many years ahead is laminate. Installation of the laminate flooring is relatively easy and stress-free. It is the easier type of wooden floor installation that could be done by a homeowner without a hassle. In addition, laminate flooring is a good quality floors with a budget saving attributes ( material and cost of installation is lower than both hardwood and engineered hardwood floors).

If you wish to install a floor that will lasts for decades, consult professional flooring installers who are being expert within wooden types of flooring installation and renovation.