Hardwood floors add timeless beauty and warmth to your home. They say this is my home, not just another house. They are a reflection of who you are and your style. They are welcoming and inviting and can complement any décor.
There are now many different species of wood to choose from, not just North American woods but exotics from all over the world. This variety of colors allow you to create a look that is uniquely yours.
Durable, timeless, warm, low maintenance and, an endless choice of styles and colors make hardwood floors a great choice for your home. This variety and the variety of colors allow you to create a look that is uniquely yours and at a price you can afford.
Hardwood flooring will not only add value to your home but may last as long as your home itself. The finishes on hardwood flooring have improved dramatically. No longer do you need to wax them periodically. Typically, today’s hardwood floors offer numerous coats of durable urethane sealers that are hard and scratch-resistant.
Hardwood floors are extremely durable and will last a lifetime if you choose the right product for your lifestyle. Your Color and Style flooring expert will guide you to the right choice when you tell us about your space and your unique needs.
Pre-finished or manufacturer-finished, hardwood floors typically offer 6-10 layers of UV cured layers of polyurethane which is very hard and tough. Many manufacturers are now adding Aluminum Oxide to the urethane for additional protection against abrasion and wear. There are several other options available that offer protection against wear and abrasion. Again, ask your flooring expert to explain the difference.
The hardness of the wood you choose will also affect its performance. A softer wood like pine is more likely to dent than a hardwood like oak.
To sum it up, hardwood floors are one of the most durable, long-lasting products you can put in your home.
There are three types of construction in hardwood flooring, solid, engineered and now hybrid.
Edge detail is the way the sides and ends of the planks are cut. They can include beveled, square, eased, and micro bevel. The different edge details will have a dramatic effect on the look of your new floor. For example, if you want the look of a furniture finish, the square edge would give you that look. If you are looking for a more casual effect, a beveled edge would be a good choice.
Picking the right species for your new floor is very important for how the floor is going to wear in different traffic conditions.
Solid hardwood is 100% solid wood, it can be nailed or stapled to a wooden subfloor above grade. It is not recommended for installation on concrete because it is susceptible to expansion in high moisture areas and will shrink in high temps and high heat applications.
Engineered hardwood is also 100% wood that is manufactured from 3, 5 or 7 thin sheets or plies of wood that are stacked on top of each other in opposite directions then glued with high pressure. This process is called Cross-Ply construction that, when finished, makes the product dimensionally stable. The advantage of cross-ply construction is it will not warp in high moisture conditions or shrink in low humidity or high heat conditions. You can install on or above grade on wood and on concrete subfloors.
Hybrid hardwood floors are similar to engineered hardwood in that they feature a veneer of real wood on top but have either an SPC vinyl core or an HDF core. SPC cores are waterproof and HDF cores can be protected from water from above with finish coatings and good locking systems like UniClic and underlayment below. Both can be installed above, on and below grade.
Hardness is also a factor when determining which species of wood to select for your new floor. With the many different species available today, each has its own rating, which will determine how well the floor will react to wear. The method used here is the Janka Hardness test.
Maintaining your hardwood floors is now easier than ever. Remember dirt, grit, dust particles, and water are enemies of hardwood floors. Just follow these basic guidelines:
Never wax your floors. Wax will dull the finish.
Sweep regularly with a broom or vacuum with a vacuum that does not have a beater bar or brush. Dirt and grit can cause scratches to the finish.
Doormats provide the first line of defense and prevent dirt and grit from being tracked onto your floors.
Excessive water causes wood to expand and swell and eventually crack. It could also possibly break the glue seal with the subfloor. Wipe up spills quickly. Do not mop with excessive amounts of water.
Only use manufacturer recommended cleaners to clean your floors. Typical household cleaners will dull the finish and reduce the performance of your floors.
Add leg protectors to all furniture.
We recommend visiting our partners’ websites to prepare for your carpet installation. Click each partner name below to explore their offerings.
Casabella hardwood flooring from around the world can satisfy the most discriminating tastes as well as the most vivid imagination.
Mannington hardwood floors are designed to reflect the latest trends in American home furnishings and cabinetry as well as offer beauty and performance.
Shaw hardwood floors are timeless. classic, and elegant. They offer warmth and natural charm while adding value to your home.
Somerset hardwood floors range from sleek modern styles to rustic character and lightly textured choices. You’ll find flooring to inspire your imagination and make your space just what you envision.
We supply, install and finish hardwood across the Miami Valley — Dayton, Kettering, Oakwood, Centerville, Beavercreek, Washington Township and the surrounding communities — from the same showroom on Linden Avenue we have worked out of since 1965.
Engineered hardwood: roughly $9 to $18 per square foot installed. Species, plank width and wear-layer thickness drive most of the range.
Solid hardwood: roughly $12 to $22 per square foot installed, more for site-finished work, wider planks or patterns.
Refinishing existing hardwood: roughly $4 to $8 per square foot — frequently the best value in the whole business if the floor under your carpet is sound. See hardwood refinishing.
The honest version, because the marketing muddies it.
Engineered is not “fake wood.” The surface is real hardwood; the core is cross-layered ply, which makes it dramatically more stable through Ohio’s humidity swing. In most Dayton houses it is the better-performing choice, and a good engineered floor with a thick wear layer can be refinished more than once.
Solid makes sense on a main floor over a wood subfloor, in a house you intend to keep, where you want the option to refinish repeatedly over decades.
Engineered is the answer over concrete slab, over radiant heat, in wide planks, and anywhere the humidity swings hard. Solid wide-plank over a slab is how you get gaps in February and cupping in July.
Wear layer is the number to ask about on engineered — it decides how many times the floor can be refinished, and it varies enormously at similar prices.
Pre-war Dayton, Oakwood and the older Kettering streets. There is frequently original oak under the carpet. Before you buy a new floor, we will look at what is already there — refinishing an original floor costs a fraction of replacing it and is almost always the better outcome.
1950s-70s ranches. Often oak strip in good condition, sometimes over a subfloor that has moved. These refinish beautifully.
Slab-on-grade and newer builds. Engineered, glued or floating. Solid over slab is a mistake regardless of who offers to do it.
Basements. Neither. Use luxury vinyl.
Prefinished arrives with a factory-cured finish that is harder than anything applied on site, installs faster, and has micro-bevels between boards where dirt can collect.
Site-finished is sanded flat and finished in place, giving a seamless surface with no bevels and letting you match an existing floor or choose an exact stain. It takes longer and the house is disrupted while it cures.
If you are matching into existing hardwood, site-finished is usually the only way to get it right.
Engineered runs about $9 to $18 per square foot installed and solid about $12 to $22. Refinishing an existing floor runs about $4 to $8.
In older Dayton and Oakwood houses, very often. Pull a corner of carpet in a closet and look. If there is, bring us a photo before you buy anything.
Prefinished is usually two to four days for a main floor. Site-finished runs one to two weeks because sanding and each finish coat need cure time.
Yes, and plenty of people do. Engineered handles it better than solid, and mats where water lands matter more than the product choice.
Usually. Species, width, grade and finish all matter, and an aged floor has color no new board has. Bring us a piece if you can — a closet threshold is a good donor.
Yes — see hardwood refinishing. It is frequently the recommendation.
Our showroom is at 3609 Linden Ave, Dayton, OH 45410, Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm. Call 937-253-1131, schedule a visit, or tell us about the project. Samples go home with you at no charge — every floor looks different in your own light.
Brands we carry in hardwood: Somerset, Mannington and Appalachian hardwood — see all flooring brands we carry.
See all flooring and remodeling guides.
See flooring installation in Dayton for how the floor actually goes down.
