StewartFloor Blog

Industry standards allow for 5-7% waste in cuttings and defects.  Measuring Rooms for Hardwood Flooring unless you have odd angled rooms or off grade material, this should provide enough material.  If you want to have extra wood in case of damage or plank replacement it is a good idea to purchase an extra box so that you know the finishes match and the profile matches.

If you are buying first quality material which is well manufactured and graded, you simply do not need to order excessive volumes of material.  The exception to this rule would be unless you are going to do a lot of further hand selection prior to installation.

Continue Reading

Shopping for a new wood floor and confused by names?  Names such as Brazilian Koa?  Koa is a wood from Hawaii, but some refer to Tigerwood as Koa.  Often times it seems some cannot resist to urge to “create” a name in the hopes of relating to the consumer, while confusing their competitors.  True common names for Tigerwood include Muiracatiara and Goncalo Alves, named after the man who discovered the tree – Goncalo Alves.  The list goes on and on.  Another good one is Brazilian Oak which can refer to Tauari or now more commonly, Amendoim.  Although Tauari grows in Brazil, Amendoim is not found in any significant volumes at all, but rather next door in Paraguay.  Neither of which has any relation to any Oak.  Tauari is normally stained and Amendoim is a unique exotic with swirly grain and a tight knot structure which separates it from all other exotics.  This madness only serves to confuse rather than to educate.

Don’t worry, we are here to help and can dispel any myths or fairy tales you have been told.  Your head need not be spinning, The Woodman is here to help!

Continue Reading

Do you think the national big box stores are the only option for your new floor?  Hardwood Floors For Less?  Does it seem that they have the best prices?  Don’t allow yourself to believe it.  As you know, they spend millions and millions of dollars on advertising to attract clients.  As we all know, nothing is for free and those costs have to be included in their products.  We don’t have this overhead!

All of our products are purchased directly from the manufacturer and imported by us.  We are experts at what we do and are very educated in what we sell and regarding the competition, in many cases we know exactly where they buy their flooring.  We encourage you to inform yourself and to compare the quality, service and pricing as you are likely to be surprised.  Top quality flooring delivered at truly direct prices is what we do everyday.

Continue Reading

So are you shopping for a new wood floor?  What are you looking for and why?  Would love to hear from you..I am happy to answer any general questions you may have regarding flooring regardless of what you purchase.

If you have already finished a project and chose an exotic wood floor, we’d love to feature your project here on our blog and hear all about it.

Continue Reading

Are you doing a remodel of a room or perhaps your entire residence?  Are you planning to install new wood floors and perhaps doing some painting?

Something you want to be aware of and one of the most common mistakes made, you should not or your builder should not be painting a room or the entire house after your wood floors are installed.  Don’t forget that wood is hygroscopic.  What does hygroscopic mean?  It means that wood adjusts to the environment it is exposed to, paint represents moisture, moisture and wood do not go together!  This is a very common mistake made in new construction, not to mention that you must avoid getting paint on your floors by adequately covering them up.  All of the moisture from the paint is going to be absorbed within the room.  Please do yourself a favor and protect your wood floor investment, painting should be done before the installation of a new wood floor NOT beforehand.

One cannot recommend enough the use of a hygrometer to measure relative humidity.  As a general statement a room or home with wood flooring should be kept at 40-60% relative humidity at all times.  If a room is to dry it will cause shrinkage and gaps or in severe dryness, surface checking or cracks on the face of the flooring.  If the moisture is too high, cupping of the floor can occur as well as other moisture related issues.

Continue Reading

Shopping for a new wood floor?  Are you dreaming about that gorgeous American Cherry or Walnut floor which matches your kitchen cabinets or bedroom ensemble?

Something often overlooked in this choice is the wood flooring species and durability.  An educated consumer needs to consider the hardness of the species they are considering.  Do you like the species because of the grain or because of the color?  Generally speaking, we choose a floor because of color and not because of a species particular grain pattern.  If this is the case for you, please do your homework and analyze your own lifestyle.

American Cherry and Walnut are very prestigious hardwoods and we certainly have an affection for them in North America, but they are very soft.  This fact doesn’t so much matter for the dining room table or for your bedroom, but when you are walking on it, it makes all the difference in the world.  All woods dent due to their cell structure.  Denting occurs when this cell structure is crushed.  Consider this fact, a 125-pound woman walking in high heels has an impact of 2,000 pounds per square inch.  An exposed heel nail can exert up to 8,000 pounds per square inch.  These types of impact will dent any floor surface.

Analyzing your lifestyle and household when making a flooring choice will help assure your longterm satisfaction.  Expectations are everything, so arm yourself with the facts in order to make the best decision for you.

Continue Reading

Brazilian Cherry/ Jatoba Long Length Flooring 8' to 13' Lengths

Brazilian Cherry Long Length Flooring from a Direct Importer

Looking for that special floor?  The one that would make your neighbors salivate?  We have Brazilian Cherry Long Length Flooring available for your special project.  Typically this category would be defined by flooring which is 6′ to 10′ in length, we are offering 8′ to 13′ with an average length of an incredible 10.5′!  For you designers and archictects out there, this will completely separate you from your competition and create an exceptional and exquisite design for your client.

This flooring was hand selected for its appearance and only the finest boards were approved.  This product is tongue and groove 4 sides.  Make a statement today!

Continue Reading

Don’t be fooled!  If you are shopping for wood flooring, don’t be fooled by a salesperson discussing the number of coats of finish as a comparison of the durability of one flooring product over another.  This has become one of the greatest and most confusing myths in the wood flooring business.  This floor has 7 coats, this one has 15 coats, it doesn’t matter how many coats.

Flooring finishes must be optimized for hardness and flexibility.  All urethane aluminum oxide finishes have to put x amount of grams of aluminum oxide per square meter(10.764 square feet) of flooring.  Different finish manufacturers use different methods as well as some manufacturers develop more proprietary finishes with the assistance of the coating manufacturers.  When it comes to the practical points of a finish, keep in mind gloss levels and textured surfaces have much more to do with how a floor will look over time than the number of coats of finish.  The higher the gloss level, the more wear and tear will show.  A textured finish such as an open pore/brushed finish or a handscraped surface will show less wear.  The reality is that although aluminum oxide makes for a low maintenance and durable finish, it will still scratch.  Some finishes are better formulated and refined than others, but this has no relationship to the number of coats.

Don’t be fooled and fall for this misleading and uninformed information.

Continue Reading

“Good Things” to keep in mind when considering your new wood floor purchase from an internet source:

• It’s relatively inexpensive to start a business and launch a website
• It costs very little to offer products for sale on a website
• Does the website you are considering to purchase your new floor from actually own an inventory or simply offer manufacturers products for sale?  This is unfortunately very often the case which means the site is purchasing flooring from an importer or distributor.
• Does the website company have any influence or control over the quality control of the flooring production?  This is a key element in protecting yourself.  If a company has no investment in inventory and no control over the quality of the product they are selling this is a red flag.
• We own all the flooring we sell.  The difference?  We are completely invested in the process from start to finish.  We have exclusive relationships with manufacturers in Brazil, Paraguay & Peru.  We inspect everything we purchase and offer for sale.  Although we currently do not have a storefront, we maintain a half million dollar investment in Exotic Wood Flooring between our 4 warehouses.
• We are specialists!  We are available to answer any and all of the questions you may have and help you navigate between fact and fiction in the world of exotic wood flooring.
• As the old adage goes, “if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is.”  We have 13 years experience in brazilian hardwood flooring.  We are here to help educate you so that you can make a sound buying decision and one made with confidence.
  

  Stewartfloor flooring being prefinished in Paraguay

  

  Stewartfloor Brazilian Cherry Flooring being inspected on grading table in Brazil

Continue Reading

High Gloss Brazilian Walnut Flooring - Shows light reflectivity

If you’ve been shopping for a new wood floor lately, I bet you have heard about wood flooring gloss or sheen levels.  Let me help you understand this concept better.  Gloss is an optical term that describes the ability of a surface to reflect light.  The higher the gloss level, the more it directly reflects light.  The lower the gloss level, the surface absorbs and diffuses the light sources.  This is normally measured at a 60 degree angle which is equivalent to looking at the surface while standing up.

As a homeowner or commercial property manager it is key to understand what this means.  The higher a gloss level, the more wear and tear will show.  Think of a piano finish(high gloss)…..it shows everything!  The lower gloss level shows less wear and tear and depending on the gloss level will actually bring out more of the naturalness of your wood floor.  It seems crazy that we buy wood floors because they are a natural product and than we put a plastic derived finish on top of them which takes away from this natural surface.  The great news is that there are many options on the market to consider what is the right choice for you.

[...]

Continue Reading