The hardwood flooring world is pretty overwhelming and stressful to understand sometimes and in order to understand it a bit better (which is very important, when you already own a hardwood flooring, or you are planning to purchase one), you have to take advice from the professionals. Here are some of the most popular and useful hardwood terms explained.
Sanding
This is the process of removing the old finish and the imperfections that appear on the top of hardwood after a certain period of usage and high traffic.
Edging
The process is similar to sanding, but it is performed around the edges of the floor and tight spots.
Refinishing
It is literary giving aged and damaged hardwood floors a new life and refreshed look. First, the old finish is removed and sanded away along with all scratches and dents, then the surface is re-stained and three new coats of finish are applied.
Installation
The process of placing hardwood planks within a room.
Moisture
Moisture occurring on your wooden floor is usually in the form of indoor humidity levels of any room and it can greatly affect the whole construction by making wood naturally expanding and shrinking.
Concrete subfloor
This is the most popular type of subfloor you can find in most of the houses where hardwood flooring is installed over. Concrete has to be even, dry and clean in order for the floor installed above to be stable and solid.
Wood subfloor
This is a layer of wood that is installed beneath the final hardwood planks. This can also work as insulation.
Nailing down
A method of wood flooring installation with the use of nails.
Floating installation
This is a method of installation when no nails or glue are used for arranging the wooden planks. It free floats on the tops of the subfloor over an underlayment foam that is applied beforehand.
Coating
The application of polyurethane finish coat over hardwood planks installed.
Water base/Oil base
These are the short ways to talk about the water-based wood finish and oil-based wood finish. Usually, these types of finishes are used for commercial use or for a highly professional result.
Eco Friendly
In case hardwood materials are eco friendly, they call under certain guidelines of low volatile organic compounds (or VOCs for short) and come from sustainable forests and resources. In order to make sure that you are purchasing eco-friendly wooden materials, make sure to check for labels like FSC-certified.
FSC (Forestry Stewardship Council)
An international not-for-profit organisation that sets forestry practices and responsible management of wood resources around the world.
DCS (Dust Containment System)
DCS refers to sanding and sanding equipment in particular. This is a vacuum system that significantly reduces the amount of dust that is left during the sanding process in about 75 to 80%. DCS is very beneficial, because it makes the whole process of cleaning after a lot easier, faster and cheap.
IIC (Impact Insulation Class) and STC (Sound Transmission Class)
These are sound guidelines that are used for both commercial and residential use. Both of these classes are ways to rate the amount of sound through walls, ceiling and floors.
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