| There are many different types of hardwood flooring options available depending on your flooring needs. There are unfinished solid woods, pre-finished solid woods, engineered flooring and laminates. Each type of wood has unique characteristics such as hardness, light sensitivity, durability, and wood grain appearance. All of these characteristics come into play when a homeowner decides what type of hardwood flooring would best suit his or her home. We also carry a few brands of vinyl click together flooring options that can look like wood, tile or stone.
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| Unfinished Hardwood products after installation but before sanding, staining, and finishing. |
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| Unfinished Solid Wood:
GSHF deals with many distributors that carry a wide variety of unfinished solid wood flooring products. Unfinished solid wood products are products that must be installed, sanded and have stain and/or a finish applied. Unfinished products provide the highest quality of hardwood flooring for your project due to the durability of the finish and uniformity of appearance. Unfinished products can also have longer longevity. Many customers remark that unfinished products provide a much more authentic hardwood appeal.
* Domestic Products: Walnuts - Ash - White oak - Red Oak - Maple - Hickory - Pine
* Exotic Products: Brazilian Cherry - Red Iron Bark -
* Tigerwood - Santos Mahogany - Brazilian Walnut - Purple Heart - Blood wood - Brazilian Teak * Many more
* Eco-Friendly Products (Teragren Brand Bamboos and Jolka Brand - Many exotics avaliable)
* Reclaimed Products through a local lumber mill - Vintage Lumber Company in Woodsboro, Maryland
- Vintage carries many Domestic varieties of reclaimed unfinshed flooring in the highest of quality
* Hicksville Plaining Mill *We have many brand options available for any need.
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| Pre-finished hardwood products available in a choice of colors and finish |
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| Pre-finished Flooring:
GSHF deals with many distributors that carry wide variety of pre-finished flooring selections. Pre-finished flooring is a completely finished flooring product that requires installation only. Pre-finished products fall into three categories: nail down, glue down, and engineered flooring that can be installed in both applications . Some products are a better fit than others depending on the type of surface area your installation calls for. Please consult your salesperson about your specific installation to aid in making the best decision. A verypopular durable look in todays world with a busy life style is a "hand scrape textured look", this flooring choice can hold up to the task of a busy life style.
What should I choose? Unfinished vs. Prefinished
Many customers ask what factors should be considered when choosing between unfinished solid wood products and pre-finished solid wood products. The answer really depends on your personal preferences, the amount of time you are able to dedicate to the overall project time, and your household's tolerance to temporary airborne wood dust and finish vapors (i.e. household member allergies, asthma, tolerance to finish vapors). It is important to keep in mind that pre-finished floors eliminate the need to sand, stain, and apply finishes to the wood thereby eliminating airborne exposure to wood dust and lingering stain vapors often experienced with install, sand, and finish projects. In addtion, the installation of a pre-finished floor is less labor intensive and can be completed in a shorter period of time thereby reducing homeowner inconvenience often experienced during multi-step install, sand and finish project.
Pre-finished Solid Wood Flooring is available in:
Bruce Armstrong Crestwood Mullican B2W
Trout River Jolka Master's Choice Floors
**Many other brands are available** *If it is made and you want it, we will track it down and nail it down!
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Laminate and Engineered Flooring:
*GSHF deals with many distributors that offer a wide variety of laminate and engineered flooring products. A laminate flooring product is an assembled product made by bonding layers of formica veneers with a impreganated look of real wood for the finished product. Laminate floorings are ideal for use in below-grade installations in areas such as basements or over concrete slabs. These products can be difficult to match up in the future because of changing trends in the industry and some times hard to repair, if at all. Please consult your salesperson to determine which laminate installation would best suit your project.
Laminate products are available in:
*Fusion
*Engineered flooring products are a ideal choice for the customer that wants to have the authentic real solid wood look and durability over a concrete application. There are many choices in the industry for this application:
Trout River - Armstrong - UA Floors - Mulican
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*Exotic Woods:
Brazilian walnut - 3680
Australian Ironwood - 3540
Brazilian cherry - 2820
Santos Mahogany - 2200
Tigerwood - 2160
Merbau - 1925
Brazilian Hickory - 1820
Brazilian Maple - 1500
| Janka Chart for both exotic and Domestis Woods:
*This chart is a measured hardness of the surface face of these woods
| *Domestic Woods:
Hickory - 1820
Maple - 1450
White oak - 1380
Red Oak - 1360
Birch - 1260
Walnut - 1010
American Cherry - 950
Pine - 870
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* When choosing a Exotic Wood Flooring Product such as: Brazilian Cherry, Santos Mahogany, Purple Heart,Teak or Brazilian Walnut, etc., please note that these woods are light sensitive and will darken over time. Areas where rugs or furniture that may sit for a long period of time in direct sun light will surely show a sun line in your floor. Over time, the lines may even out a bit and blend again. These woods are very beautiful, but do require attention due to their light sensitive nature. Use window sheers, blinds, or window tinting to offer sun protection.
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