Professional Floors of St. Louis Inc. Blog

Inquiries about Bamboo Flooring have increased during the past year at Professional Floors of St. Louis. Even though Bamboo is not as commonly used in the Midwest as other hardwood flooring species, such as Oak and Cherry, it does have its advantages in certain applications. Onlinetips.org lists Bamboo Flooring as having these positive attributes:

Hardness and durability

Bamboo flooring is extremely hard and interestingly, is stronger than many hardwoods. Some species have been rated higher than maple and almost double that of the red oak. It is also extremely resilient and can take tougher treatment from dropped, heavy items than a lot of hardwoods because it resists denting.

Another of bamboo flooring’s advantages is that it is highly moisture resistant. After all, it is a tropical grass – not a wood – and has already been subjected to humidity, rain, and other elements. It resists spills beautifully and so is an excellent choice for bathrooms and kitchens. Try installing hardwood in those rooms! Being a laminated product, bamboo flooring is less likely than hardwoods to cup, warp or gap.

An environmental darling

Here's what we're seeing in new flooring trends for 2011...

Ethical Floor Coverings - Now more than ever, it's easy for the average homeowner to make environmentally friendly choices when it comes to home flooring products.

Hardwood Floors - are adding old world elegance with a new twist, moving more toward distressed planks, wider widths, and the introduction of exotic woods.

Cork Flooring - Comfortable to walk on, incredibly warm underfoot, discover the beauty of cork floors.

Bamboo Floors - An environmentally friendly hardwood, bamboo is fast becoming one of the most popular flooring trends.

According to One Project Closer, hardwood floors are definitely a great investment "Hardwoods Add Appeal… and That Adds Value. Woodfloors.org (the Hardwood Flooring Association of America) reports that 90% of real estate agents surveyed indicated that hardwoods made a house sell faster or at a premium price. While real estate agents aren’t appraisers, if 90% of them believe wood floors are a significant factor in house buying, we think that says a lot. Plus, a faster sale means more money into the pocket of a seller faster. That’s real money into the seller’s bank account earning interest."

Today Professional floors of St Louis started to repair the hardwood gym floor for TouchPoint Autism Center in St. Louis.

The gym floor was damaged due to water seeping through the foundation. We also started tearing out carpet in preparation for an install of a new Somerset Hardwood Floor.

Sanding and refinishing of an oak floor also began in Widwood and Chesterfield.

Lately, there have been many phone calls on the cleaning and maintenance of wood floors. We at Professional Floors of St. Louis feel that too much water during the cleaning process can damage wood floors, thus creating a need for earlier wood floor repair and sanding. The National Wood Flooring Association now recommends that a non-wax or oil type wood floor cleaner be used instead. Recommended wood floor cleaning products may be found at your local hardware stores that are made by wood flooring manufacturing companies (such as BONA, Armstrong, or Bruce). Again, make sure the label plainly states that it contains no wax or oils that can built up on your floors.

According to eHow on the maintenace of wood floors, the following is stated:

Benefits

Many cleaning products require limited time and effort to use. Some may require the addition of water but generally they contain everything that you need in the package. Keeping a clean floor will eliminate that amount of dirt on the bottom of your feet or socks that is collected when you walk on it. Spills are much easier to clean off a floor as opposed to carpets. Also, freshly cleaned wooden floors are shiny and can make a room appear larger.

Prevention/Solution

Removing debris with a Dry Swifter, vacuum or a traditional broom several times a week will help prevent dirt build-up. Also, placing throw rugs or mats on frequently used areas, such as the kitchen sink or entranceways, will protect the wood. Removing shoes before stepping on the floor will limit the amount of dirt on the floor.

Considerations

If you dread cleaning hardwood floors, you can make the chore more eventful. Though it may seem childish, gliding or even dancing with the mop can be good for a few laughs. It is also a way to exercise and burn calories. If there are hardwood floors in virtually every room in your home, you may want to break up the task, instead of cleaning everything in one day which can be a daunting or dreaded chore.

In St. Louis, Oak floors still seem to be the wood species of choice. Here at Professional Floors of St. Louis, we agree, and think that oak floors are cost effective, durable, and stain versatile.

"Oak floors have so much going for them - they're durable, easy to care for, beautiful, and affordable when compared to imported hardwoods. It's no wonder that oak is the most popular choice in America for wood flooring. And when you add up all the advantages, oak provides great value for money.

No matter what your home is like -- traditional or modern, large or small -- chances are that it will look even better with oak floors. And they'll increase the value of your home too - both now and in the future. Although non-traditional woods like pecan or walnut can create a dramatic appearance, oak goes with every décor, and it's liked by almost everyone. If you ever resell your home, oak flooring will make it more desirable to many buyers.

You can buy oak in a wide range of finishes, so you can use it regardless of whether you want light or dark floors. It comes in strips as narrow as 2-1/4" and as wide as a foot, and in glossy, satin, or matte finishes. If you want a more rustic look, hand-scraped or distressed boards are available. Quarter sawing really brings out its beauty.

Oak is available as solid or engineered wood flooring, and it can be installed almost anywhere. Use solid wood over wood sub floors and engineered product over concrete.

Professional Floors of St. Louis has become a leader in the installation, refinishing, and re-coating of gym and sports court floors in St. Louis. A partial list of some of our more recent clients includes Parkway West School District, Afton School District, Vianny High School, Kennedy High School, St. Louis Institute for the Deaf, YMCA, and Touch Point Autism Center. We also specialize in gym floor repair, line placement and painting, and customized gym logos. Please visit our web site at www.profloorstl.com for photos of some of our recent gym floor projects. Our gym floor refinishing process should provide clients with an ease of maintenance for years to come. Here is what the Maple Flooring Manufacturers Association advises about refinishing Maple gym floors:

"From time to time, even the most meticulously cared-for maple gymnasium floor should receive a complete resurfacing. Resurfacing restores the luster in an older gymnasium surface and assures long life and excellent performance. The frequency of complete resurfacing depends on numerous factors, but typically is performed about every eight to ten years.

A complete resurfacing is accomplished by first removing all layers of finish and game lines down to raw wood. Next, repair/replace any split boards or seriously damaged areas of the surface or subfloor. The maple surface is then ready to be lightly sanded to remove accumulated minor dents and scratches. Once the sanding process is completed, the resurfacing process follows the same general sealing, court lining and finishing procedures used during the initial installation of the maple flooring system."

A typical gym floor needs to be followed up annually with an additional screening and recoating to keep its luster and durability. This maintenance process will keep gym and sports courts endure the intense athletic traffic they usually have during each season.

We're screening and recoating a large gym floor for a local St. Louis private school. Generally, this should be done on an annual basis, for sports courts tend to have a high foot traffic, thus high abrasion to it's finished. This will provide an additional barrier of protection, but will not fix any deeper scratches or dents that have damaged the floor. It will, however, create a greater shine for better reflectivity, which in turn will make the room have better line visibility for athletic play.

Summer is almost here and this is the time to have your gym courts refinished or recoated. Since schools are usually vacated for part of the summer, this is the opportune time to get them repaired also.

Professional Floors of St. Louis has recently revitalized a gym court in a St. Louis recreational facility along with the national volunteer organization, Rebuilding Together St. Louis, in partnership with Cricket Wireless. Cricket Wireless is hosting a five-city tour with high-impact projects tackling necessary repairs, modifications, and updates on individual homes and large-scale beautification and community wide renovation projects. In cooperation with former NHL football star, Dimitrius Johnson, Professional Floors of St. Louis repainted lines, painted a new CRICKET logo center court, and re coated the two gymnasiums in the facility. It is now ready for community recreational use thanks to the contributions of local volunteer organizations such as Rebuilding St. Louis, and Cricket Wireless.

Here are some rules to abide by when cleaning your hardwood floors:

Polyurethaned floors should never be waxed and require cleaners that won’t leave a film or residue.

To remove occasional scuffs or heel marks, spray some cleaner on a cloth and lightly rub the stained area. Sticky spots can be cleaned with a damp towel or sponge.

Never use ammonia cleaners or oil soaps on a wood floor, as they will dull the finish and performance of your floor. Also, ammonia cleaners may affect the ability to recoat your floor later.

Wood floors expand when wet or in high humidity. Therefore, never wet mop or use excessive water to clean your floor. Large amounts of water can cause the wood to swell and may cause your floor to rise up.

Wide range of finishes and colors - recent hardwood flooring trends include wider planks with deeper richer colors, with hand scrapped plank wood flooring becoming to latest desired item

Timeless beauty and stylish with any decor.

Wood floors are easily maintained.

Promotes healthy indoor air quality. Since it doesn't trap allergens like carpeting, it's healthier for you.

Good investment, Increases the value of your home.

We have more and more inquiries about Bamboo Wood Flooring. According to the Home Decorating Reviews Magazine, "Bamboo flooring is one of the most beautiful materials in today’s design community. Bamboo is a strong material, light, and filled with brilliant details. This inimitable grain, which is setting off throughout nice homes is becoming as smoothly as the original purchase. Buying bamboo flooring through the right people will have a foundation to last a lifetime. Properly installed, you will have the warmth and luxury appearance of fine hardwood with the ease of floor care and maintenance only possible with bamboo."

You can trust Professional Floors of St. Louis in providing excellence in customer service and installation of your Bamboo flooring project.

We get many questions about the sheen finish (or shine) on wood floors. Sheen finish is a matter of preference, but there are a few things to think about that might be helpful. You can choose from high gloss (very shiny), semi-gloss or satin finish.

Though high-gloss finishes look professional, they show scratches, dust, dirt, and animal hair more easily. High gloss is predominately used on sports court finishes, where reflective light is necessary. Semi-gloss or satin finishes are typically used in residential hardwood floor installations, with semi-gloss being the most popular choice. Low gloss hides the most scratches, as well as dust and dirt, but shines very little. Keep in mind that if you go with pre-finished flooring, you will need to make the finishing decisions when you order the product.

The relative hardness of wood species is measured using what is called a Janka Hardness Rating. This test measures the force needed to embed a steel ball (.444 inch in diameter) to half its diameter in the piece of wood being tested, with the rating measured in pounds of force per square inch. So with this rating system, the higher the number the harder the wood.

Wood hardness is important since one of the key considerations in selecting the species of wood floor your floor should be how much resistance the wood has to scratches and indentations. For example, if you have a dog with long nails then scratching the floor is a consideration and you should select a species with a higher rating such as hickory, maple, oak or ash.

Hardwood flooring is not only a better environment for people with allergies but it is also a safer environment for children and babies who may be crawling or walking on the carpet.

If you have children, grand children or friends that have children it is advantagious to have hardwood flooring on the floors. Even though it may seem like a better idea to have carpeting because it is soft, it's better for children to be playing on a clean floor. Children and kids will remain healthier when playing on a clean surface and a soft padded mat or blanket can always be spread underneath them if you are worried about them playing on a hard surface.

There are lots of older homes in St. Louis with original pine hardwood floors. Pine is very soft, and therefore is more time consuming and a little more expensive to refinish. It doesn't take stain well, so unless you go with a darker stain color, it may be blotchy. We recommend that if it's in decent condition, a clear sealer and urethane might be the best bet.

According to Garden Web's Old House:

Pine and hardwood are two different animals! hardwood usually has 2" wide boards, pine usually is 4" or larger. hardwood is, well, hard, it doesn't scratch as easily, so it held up very well. pine is soft, it will scratch very easily and the covering will flake off. well done and quality is EXTREMELY important, and even then care will be needed to keep the floor looking good. rollerblades are out! ;-P use coasters under furniture and use the felt kind, not the plastic kind. hard shoes will even damage pine floors. make it a "leave shoes at the door" rule and you can be very happy.

You can trust Professional Floor's 35 years of experience in refinishing your older, pine floors.

The National Wood Flooring Association recommends that hardwood floors be refinished every 7-10 years depending on foot traffic. When hardwood floors are rough and damaged to the point that they are quickly deteriorating, personal taste of what is acceptable is no longer the issue. It's just time to refinish them. Floors that are no longer protected from even momentary spills or floors that are splintering and pose a hazard should be refinished right away. The floor may continue to deteriorate beyond repair, and will eventually have to be replaced if left unsealed.

When choosing a hardwood floor stain, color is important. The correct stain color will be pleasing to the eye and bring the flooring to life. The wrong color may make the room's furniture and wall colors clash with the stain. Whether you are looking for a slight change or a dramatic one, you can choose a stain color for your hardwood floor that will be right for you and the room. If time allows, make your decision as to what color stain will work best on the hardwood floor once the stain has dried. Finally, look around the room to see if the stain will look complementary to furniture, walls and accents in the room.

An important characteristic that you should take into consideration when shopping for species of hardwood flooring is the hardness factor. If you been shopping around for a wood product, you may recognize the term Janka Table. The Janka table organizes hardness data. This is not a number that is via specific data, but rather by relative data. In other words, the Janka rating of unfinished hardwood flooring by itself means nothing other than to compare it to other woods. Both red and white oak is considered to be relatively hard woods. The Janka rating on red oak is 1290, while white oak rates a bit higher at 1360. Oak is considered relatively hard compared to other species, and with its high customer demand, it's also in a cost-efficient price range.

New concepts in environmentally sound construction include what lies beneath our feet. Consumer awareness and demand for eco-friendly structures has many flooring professionals offering new flooring products nationwide.

Professional Floors of Saint Louis today announced the addition of environmentally friendly Bamboo flooring. With consumer demand for on the rise for environmentally sound products many homeowners have elected to utilize Bamboo. Bamboo flooring is an excellent environmentally-sensible alternative to hardwood floors or carpet. The natural qualities of Bamboo include durability and structural stability in a wide variety of applications. "With several different options to choose from our customers have variety on colors and patterns just as they do with hardwood", stated Steve Simpson, owner of Professional Floors of Saint Louis.

The look and durability of Bamboo is very much like the traditional hardwood flooring products. Sustainability is one feature that consumers seem to find a major feature in selecting a floor. A simple way to discover all the features of Bamboo floors is to search the internet. There are many websites that feature Bamboo flooring products where consumers can learn more about this option and compare its features to that of traditional hardwood.

Professional Floors of Saint Louis offers a complete line of Bamboo in addition to traditional hardwood flooring. Other services include hardwood floor refinishing for homes, businesses and gymnasiums throughout the great Saint Louis, MO metropolitan area.