StewartFloor Blog

Hope everyone enjoyed their summer with family and friends. As we go into the festive seasons of the year, I thought it was a good time to discuss wood floor finishes and how they continue to evolve. I’ve noticed over the last year a definite transition in peoples attitudes and openness toward new finishes or “new” to North America. Homeowners and commercial property owners are learning that there is another option to strongly consider besides traditional aluminum oxide finishes. These finishes remain extremely popular, but gloss level desires are playing into clients being open to oil and hard wax oil finishes which have been traditionally used in Europe. Europe has certainly embraced aluminum oxide just as we have, but their has always been a significant desire for these “natural” finishes. This desire is growing in Europe and for really the first time, it is gaining traction here in larger numbers. Spot repairability is probably the largest benefit for you and your household, no need for a flooring contractor. If you love wood because it is a natural product, then these oil or hard wax oil should be on your list to check out.

The best part is that panic doesn’t need to overcome you with these new finishes and day in and day out wear and tear. Spills etc. are not the end of your beautiful wood floor.

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Hope everyone enjoyed their summer with family and friends. As we go into the festive seasons of the year, I thought it was a good time to discuss wood floor finishes and how they continue to evolve. I’ve noticed over the last year a definite transition in peoples attitudes and openness toward new finishes or “new” to North America. Homeowners and commercial property owners are learning that there is another option to strongly consider besides traditional aluminum oxide finishes. These finishes remain extremely popular, but gloss level desires are playing into clients being open to oil and hard wax oil finishes which have been traditionally used in Europe. Europe has certainly embraced aluminum oxide just as we have, but their has always been a significant desire for these “natural” finishes. This desire is growing in Europe and for really the first time, it is gaining traction here in larger numbers. Spot repairability is probably the largest benefit for you and your household, no need for a flooring contractor. If you love wood because it is a natural product, then these oil or hard wax oil should be on your list to check out.

Best part is that panic doesn’t need to overcome you with these new finishes and day in and day out wear and tear. Spills etc. are not the end of your beautiful wood floor.

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Brazilian Hardwood Flooring remains one of the most sought after product categories today. These species are renowned for their distinctive and individualistic design palettes as well as their amazing durability. High design and practicality don’t usually go together as an attractive package. All of our products are graded to Stewartfloor standards and inspected again independently from our manufacturing partners personnel by our own quality control manager. All of our products are finished with European finishes. Nearly all of our products are packaged in Stewartfloor boxes with foam between the layers.

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Brazilian Cherry Flooring, more appropriately referred to as Jatoba flooring, is the most popular tropical wood in North America.  You may not realize all the steps it takes us to get product to market, especially when you are dealing with a direct importer such as stewartfloor who is involved in the process at all levels.  The following photos show the process of taking Brazilian Cherry lumber and turning it into flooring blanks first and the blanks into moulded flooring.  It’s very different from going to the supermarket and buying off the shelf.  Nature works very differently, not to mention the issues we don’t control, such as shipping, currency fluctuations, manufacturing delays etc.

Many companies promote their many locations on the internet, dozens of warehouses or the fact they “represent” the best mills in South America.  The difference is those companies buy the flooring product out of someone elses warehouse here in America.  We directly import our flooring in 20′ ocean containers at 11,000 square feet a container.  We are financially invested in the process as stewartfloor has to pay it’s manufacturing partners days after the container sails from the port in South America.  You can realize the financial commitment and resources this takes to bring these products to market without a middleman being involved.  We are proud to offer you the finest flooring which is proven in the marketplace through distribution, dealers and homeowners alike.  We maintain warehouses in Chicago, Illinois; Greensboro, North Carolina; Baltimore, Maryland; and Oakland, California.

I hope you find the following photo journey interesting.

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Mr. Lee of Oak Ridge, Tennessee originally contacted us to purchase approximately 3,300 square feet of 5″ Prefinished Brazilian Cherry.  We discussed his thoughts for a new wood floor and the fact he was building a custom home and the expense of doing so.  After discussing this and providing samples, I suggested sending him a sample of our 5″ Prefinished Patagonian Rosewood flooring.

5" Prefinished Patagonian Rosewood Flooring

Gorgeous 5" Prefinished Patagonian Rosewood

Stewartfloor 5" Prefinished Patagonian Rosewood

He fell in love with it and the added benefit was some cost savings.  Now that Mr. Lee has finished his house he is ecstatic with the results and his neighbors are jealous as well.  After you review the attached pictures you will be too.

Mr. Lee loved the grain and the combination of colors were more to his preference.  My job is to ask the right questions in order to help you know what you want even when you don’t know it exists!  As well, Patagonian Rosewood is significantly harder than Brazilian Cherry and this was also a contributing factor.  We import all of our Patagonian Rosewood prefinished flooring from Paraguay and it is finished with the finest German coatings for years of enjoyment.  Why not join Mr. Lee and discover today what stewartfloor can do for your new home or your remodeling project.  Unlike others online, we have “skin in the game” as we import all of our own flooring, visit all of our suppliers and maintain over a half million dollars worth of South American manufactured  wood flooring in our inventory.

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Ever wondered about Prefinish vs. Unfinished/Site sand and finish?  Our Brazilian Hardwood Flooring is factory finished in South America or in North Carolina.  The picture shows the realities of a jobsite and your total reliance on the skillset of the person doing work.  You see puddles of Bona Traffic finish in this picture due to improper application – too much finish.

Improper application of finish at jobsite -Had to be redone!

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The hardwood flooring business has changed dramatically over the last 4 years just like everything else has.  Brazilian Hardwood Flooring has increased in pricing due to currency issues with the weak dollar, less supply overall as the internal South American markets have shown unprecedented demand and less resources due to a correct crackdown on illegal activities which some participated in.

This is actually a very exciting time because these woods are being respected for what they are and not simply a low cost alternative or similar price alternative to domestic woods.  The reality is that these are more expensive woods today and you definitely have to want to pay the premium in order to attain these gorgeous dense rich hardwoods.  It seems correct that these woods have now truly become more boutique as stewartfloor believes they always should have been.  Why stain a wood when nature can provide the coloring you want naturally?

We continue to develop new species and will have some new options arriving in the coming months, stay tuned for announcements.  We also have some exciting new developments we are working on for our prefinished materials stateside.  All of our material we prefinish in North America arrives to Premiere Finishing & Coating and they unload our containers.  From there, they custom apply specific stewartfloor finishes and pack into our stewartfloor boxes.

We are direct container importers and own every square foot we sell.  If you bought from another online company, you may very well have received stewartfloor product in stewartfloor boxes as we have worked with many of these companies over the years.  Why not buy direct?  Call us today, we only import South American flooring manufactured in South America, we offer no Chinese manufactured products.

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Stewart Floor video shows our sourcing reach to all corners of Brazil, Paraguay & Peru.  From the forest to the log, sawmill to container shipment and onto prefinishing and installation in your home.  Stewartfloor is proud to be a part of your families memories.  We are happy to provide you with free expert advice, after all, we own everything we sell as we purchase containers direct from our small group of family owned manufacturing partners, import with our own USDA permits and deliver product to you.  We don’t just have a nice website, this video shows you the effort we make to bring the beauty of the forest direct to you in a responsible manner and with a proven quality product.

Featured in this video are various Braziian Hardwood Flooring species from Brazilian Cherry being prefinished to Santos Mahogany and Tigerwood installations.

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I was recently in a retail store here in Chicago and discovered a text book case flooring issue.  Wood flooring is directly impacted by the relative humidity and it needs to be maintained at 35-50% regardless of where you live.  This is the standard which the NWFA – National Wood Flooring Assocication states.  Wood is hygroscopic which means it adapts to the environment it is in, much like your skin for a comparison.  In the winter time we turn the heat on and this causes the wood to shrink and potentially create gaps in your floor, it’s not defective, the wood is simply shrinking due to the lack of humidity.  In the summertime with a higher relative humidity, the wood swells and depending on species, fills back in.

Consumers and commerical clients alike need to understand that no manufacturer warrants against this issue.  The reason?  It’s not a defect, it’s simply wood reacting to the environment.  It’s essential to maintain the proper humidity with a built in humidifier or a portable humidifier and everyone should have a hygrometer to measure the conditions.

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If you think that most American consumers can ‘only’ afford Chinese engineered flooring, you’ve already lost! Products need to compete on quality and value not simply who has the lowest price. Low prices do not inherently equal value, in fact, many times they can be the worst value. As engineered flooring is the most technically challenging to produce correctly, manufacturing techniques need to be evaluated. America doesn’t deserve blind allegiance, nor do we deserve to face unfair trade practices. We must compete on quality, ingenuity and value. The fact is that a foreign company cannot own the majority of a company in China, this is great for the Chinese as the transfer of intellectual property is great and you help create your largest competitor. Where is the environmental community activists and social justice defenders when it comes to China? Human rights, work place safety etc. I don’t remember seeing fences in America or Europe or South America to prevent workers from jumping to their death. We are much more open to the world’s products than they are to ours. American consumers have the greatest choice because we are the most open.

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