Purposely Traditional

What is a traditional hardwood floor? The short answer is any wood floor completely manufactured and finished in North America; but it goes into more detail from there.

There’s no denying that the North American continent has an abundance of indigenous hard and softwood species of trees that stretch from coast to coast. In the days before wall to wall carpet, it was a commonality to use wood flooring in single detached homes as well as rental  apartments. Because of the vast supply of wood, it was considered inexpensive and practical to install linear and parquet type wood floors in residential dwellings across both Canada and the US. Traditional wood floors were all produced in North American mills providing good paying jobs and supporting local families with a better quality of life. These floors were long and  thick, and the quality was not compromised. People took pride in their work, and formed an industry that was exclusive to their community. North American industry is what built this great country of ours!

Fast forward to present day 2011 and the flooring market has been molested with cheap imitations sold primarily for low price and high margins! Many of these products are farmed out to over seas producers who take no concern in the preservation of the “traditional hardwood floor”. To manufacture a hardwood floor for little money, you must pay little money to the people who work in the plants. Its kind of a “with every action there is a reaction” thing. Much like the law of physics. Does this sound like a tradition?

More and more entrepreneurial types are finding ways to reduce costs and increase the esthetics of their products thus “cheapening” the brand. A traditional wood floor should be at least three-quarters of an inch in thickness, and boast lengths of over 7 feet. Today we see products as thin as 3/8 of an inch with lengths up to four feet…not very traditional at all!

For so many people who cherish the one and only biggest investment in their lives…their homes. Why would anybody not want a traditional hardwood floor to live on? That’s like buying a very expensive high performance automobile, and putting cheap tires on it! It just doesn’t make sense!

The next time you shop for hardwood floors, ask your representative if they sell traditional hardwood floors.

-Allan Sieben

Adhesives: A Very Sticky Topic

Which adhesive should I use? Is it compatible with your products? Can I use it over radiant heat? All are good questions, and here is my short answer.

In my experience with the sticky wonder of glues, I find that it all comes down to personal preference from the installers’ perspective, and price comes into the equation as well. There’s only one way to make a strawberry milkshake, and they all pretty much taste the same…like a strawberry milkshake! Moisture cure urethane adhesives are no exception in my opinion. All have similar characteristics, and pretty much tackle the job at hand. Some are more pliable than others, while other brands may clean up easier. No matter how you “trowel” it, they all function similarly.

Wide Plank carries the Fortane brand of adhesives, and aside from the fact that it “trowels like warm butter” as some installers have noted, it is well priced, and performs as good as the best of them! So I pose the inevitable question: Why don’t you give the Fortane adhesive a try on your next Wide Plank order?

-Allan Sieben

An Introduction to the Art of Wood

Wide Plank Hardwood, the leading custom manufacturer of wide plank hardwood flooring products is starting an educational blog about flooring, tips, the environment and general wood industry.

This blog will feature articles by our own writers about various topics related to Hardwood Flooring as well as an array of articles from writers around the world that we find interesting enough to share with you, our followers.

Enjoy!

Stefan Baer
Director of Social Media
Wide Plank Hardwood Ltd.