Flooring News Center

If you’re looking to create a classic bath environment consider the warmth and durability of exotic engineered wood flooring from BR-111. Wood floors add immediate charm and sophistication creating a luxury bath environment. And thanks to superior engineering and exceptional UV finish, BR-111 flooring is durable enough to withstand even the most challenging bath environments.

Shown is the dramatic Provence Pecan from the BR-111 Engineered Collection. Provence Pecan’s rich brown and black hues, with reddish undertones mixed with it’s elegant hand-scraping will give any bath a relaxing spa feel. Provence Pecan features ultra wide 6-12” planks, with a 1/2″ thickness that come in 12″-48″ lengths and have a durable UV finish for lasting beauty. BR-111 backs the quality hardwood flooring with a 35-year warranty.

When compared with other floor coverings, wood floors are the cost-effective investment, paying dividends in usefulness and beauty over years of enjoyment. Create a seamless look in the home by carrying the wood flooring into all rooms of the home including the kitchen and high traffic areas. With BR-111, you can rest assured that you’re investment will pay off with years of enjoyment.

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Laminate Flooring has a variety of environmentally friendly benefits, but one of them beats them all: Laminate Flooring mimics a natural resource – such as wood or stone – as opposed to actually using it, so fewer raw materials are used in the manufacturing process. Because Laminate Flooring’s appearance is actually a high-definition photo, often printed on post-consumer recycled paper, it can effectively imitate any type of material without felling a tree or mining a quarry.

That’s just one of the ways that laminate is the green choice in flooring, and eco-conscious consumers are sitting up and taking notice.

According to Bill Dearing, president of the North American Laminate Flooring Association (NALFA), “Laminate Flooring has a wealth of green advantages, and products certified to NALFA environmental standards are being used in growing numbers because of them. Consumers are becoming increasingly conscious of the importance of environmentally friendly products.”

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The Construction Defect Center is initiating a national outreach campaign designed to identify homeowners, who are stuck with a U.S. made, poor quality wood flooring product. The specific issues targeted by the group include extensive cracking, delamination, curling, and splinters, and the specific name of the manufacturer. According to some consumer reports U.S. made wood flooring products, also frequently called engineered hardwood flooring orange county were frequently added as a builder upgrade in the last several years, or the wood flooring was purchased by the homeowner, via a local distributor, or retail outlet. The Construction Defect Center says, “If within the last four years, a homeowner has installed high end U.S. made wood flooring, or engineered hardwood flooring, only to see it delaminate, curl, crack, or splinter, our group would like to hear from you anytime at 866-714-6466.” http://ConstructionDefectCenter.Com

(PRWEB) October 25, 2011

The Construction Defect Center is launching a national investigation into high end U.S. made wood flooring products, also known as engineered wood flooring products, to discover if there are consistent complaints about the wood floors and delamination, curing, cracking, or splintering. The group wants to hear from homeowners, who have had these types of wood flooring defect issues, with their home’s wood floors, provided the homeowner can identify the wood flooring manufacturer, can confirm the wood flooring was installed within the last four years, and was told, or led to believe the wood flooring product was made in the United States. Homeowners with this type of information are encouraged to contact the Construction Defect Center anytime at 866-714-6466, or they can contact the group via their web site at http://ConstructionDefectCenter.Com

The Construction Defect Center is the premier private advocacy group in the United States for consumers stuck with construction defects. http://ConstructionDefectCenter.Com

Bamboo Hardwoods, the Northwest’s original bamboo flooring company, has announced that it is closing its retail operations and becoming exclusively a wholesaler of bamboo flooring orange county and related products. As part of this move, the company is launching national distribution of products with the Bamboo Hardwoods brand. Hardwood Flooring Distributors of Seattle has been named as the exclusive distributor for Bamboo Hardwoods products in the Pacific Northwest region.

Bamboo Hardwoods also announced that David Maritz is the company’s new owner and CEO. Other new executive positions include David Keegan, COO, and Hugh Gallagher, CFO. “This company now has the backing and team it needs to really establish Bamboo Hardwoods as the premier brand of bamboo flooring,” said Maritz. “We intend to leverage the quality of our products and our aggressive pricing to seize market share throughout the country.” Maritz added that the company is actively seeking appropriate distribution partners for key markets throughout the U.S.

Bamboo Hardwoods now offers a greater variety of floors and panels than ever before. The company distributes four high-quality lines of bamboo flooring: Loft, Hybrid, Arcade, and Construkt. It also distributes flooring certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which have a unique and stunning dyed strand woven bamboo with an AdvantEdge core.

Bamboo Hardwoods, which was founded in 1996, was a pioneer in the bamboo flooring arena and is credited with helping create a market for this sustainable, durable flooring product. The company was started with the belief that bamboo holds the promise of a sustainable, cost-effective, and ecologically benign alternative to the widespread clear-cutting of our old growth forests. Today, Bamboo Hardwoods is a leader in the fast-growing industry of bamboo flooring and panel products.

The Bay Area hardwood floor company, US Hardwood and Carpet has announced that they will be teaming up with Style Select to be able to supply beautiful and durable products that have been manufactured in an eco-friendly manner using sustainable and fast-growing timbers. While they have recognized the need to make a change to protect the environment, the company knows that they don’t want to sacrifice on quality or style in the products they offer, which is why they decided to team up with Style Select.

Teaming up with Style Select, US Hardwood and Carpet continues to supply flooring that will last a lifetime. The beautiful range of flooring is manufactured in ISO 9001/14001-certified factories and is independently tested in approved laboratories to confirm that all products meet the high quality specifications provided by the company. This unique range of flooring combines the beauty of nature with innovative technology to bring an extensive selection of exciting flooring solutions to a home.

The eco-friendly hardwood floor collection includes a style lock, style select, style vantage, style engineered, style engineered lock and restyle for redefined hardwood floors. The collection is made up of original solid strand bamboo that creates a solid and permanent floor installation. They are lightweight and easy to install for budget conscious projects and has an exceptional stability combined with a Uniclic locking system for a flexible and easy install solution.

“We are excited to be able to provide and install this beautiful and unique flooring,” said Herminio Bustos, President of US Hardwood and Carpet.

For more information about the Bay Area laminate flooring company, US Hardwood and Carpet and to inquire about special pricing, please call 408-329-9168 or visit their Santa Clara showroom at 2900 Lafayette Street Santa Clara, CA 95054. Visit them on the web at (website doesn’t exist yet ->  www.ushardwoodandcarpet.com ).

About US Hardwood and Carpet
The Bay Area’s US Hardwood and Carpet specializes in hardwood flooring installations, ceramic tiles and staircases. They provide services from floor installation to laminate flooring and have built a solid reputation on creating quality products and offering expert installation. They have an impressive showroom with large, realistic samples that provide the customer with a better picture of the flooring products.

U.S. wood flooring imports—including both engineered flooring like laminate flooring and solid products —increased for the third consecutive month in August, according to Zepol Corporation. August figures reached a 2011 high at $13.3 million, up from $12.8 million in July.

Despite the streak of monthly rises, year-to-date imports are down 8 percent. China holds a dominant position in supplying wood flooring to the U.S.; about 60 percent of wood flooring imports come from China. Canada, Germany, and Indonesia follow China as the other top suppliers.

Conversely, U.S. exports of wood flooring decreased slightly in August; however, year-to-date figures are up 2.5 percent from last year. The total value of exports in August was about $1.6 million, down from $1.8 million in July. The top country of destination is Sweden, which imported 44% of the total export share in August, followed by Canada and Mexico.

Urbanfloor launched a new website earlier this week. We are not sure what version this is for urban floor but it goes seem to be an improvement from the earlier version(s). Included is a floor finder for the public, and for dealers they have easy to use online ordering as well as some other features.

The worldwide laminate flooring market registered a phenomenal change over the last few years, led by developments in printing technology, high resolution scanning and finishes that are mirror images of real wood/timber. The market has made significant inroads into the global floor coverings market worldwide over the last decade or so, taking over from other hard surface flooring varieties. The floor coverings industry is witnessing a continuous shift away from vinyl, hardwood and ceramic flooring to laminate flooring. Performance of laminate flooring was instrumental in underpinning strong growth in the overall market for hard surface floorings in the recent years. Increasing concern for environmental protection among consumers and rising preferences for high-end products are the main contributors to the above-average growth in the market. Laminates with close resemblance to wood, and advantageous features of durability, beauty and novel designs capable of replicating granite and stone, are creating myriad decorating possibilities for residential and commercial interiors. Residential replacements (including DIY.) and new housing starts constitute two of the largest end-use segments for laminate flooring. Laminate flooring usage in the DIY installation sector expanded appreciably in the recent past, and is likely to continue in the future. Accelerated growth is projected from the transportation sector, comprising of floor covering applications in operator compartments of industrial equipment.

Realistic finishes and designs have helped in keeping laminate flooring one step ahead of other conventional flooring options including timber and carpet. In addition, technological advancements, resistant surfaces, quick fixing and wide variety of designs have lent a big hand in popularizing laminate flooring. Laminate flooring designers are rolling out unique designs ranging from floral motifs to graffiti to logos and even maps. Handscraped and distressed design laminates are currently the most popular designs in the global laminates industry. The pored structure concrete look is another emerging laminate design, which is finding increasing number of takers. Akin to several other industries that embraced the ‘Green’ concept, the laminate flooring industry has also been investing in R&D for greener products, anticipating that the green movement might have a positive impact on consumers’ flooring choices.

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Laminate floors are specially made floors that are synthetically manufactured by sticking different layers of plastics together to make it stronger and much more stable. Instead of using thick planks of wood, most modern homes now use laminate floors for interiors. Most popular varieties use photographs of wood onto plastic or melamine resin or fiber glass to mimic wood. This is one of the best varieties of hardwood flooring that you use in modern homes as the flooring is resistant and beautiful to look at.

Installation
These plastic laminate floors are very easy to install. As the flooring is plastic, it does not require floor preparation to resist wood or even a very strong sub base. Most companies recommend that you stick the laminate floors directly onto the existing floors with a glue backing. They also come with a tongue and groove lock system that will allow them to lock instantly into place without the need for adhesives either.  There is a slight problem with expansion though and you will have to leave a slight space between the floors and the wall to allow the flooring to expand after installation. Small beading trims can also be installed onto the flooring to make it look neater.

Care of laminate floors
As these laminate floors are made of plastics, you can clean them very easily. All you have to do is keep them covered from direct sunlight. If you have placed the laminate floors in high traffic areas, you can place rugs or mats on them to prevent the plastic coatings from coming off. The laminate floors are very resistant to water and moisture but you cannot leave water standing on the surface as this causes them to absorb the water and warp.  If you spill water all you have to do is wipe it off immediately and you should be fine. Ensure that you use rubber bands on furniture feet and use a broom to keep the flooring clean and you should be fine.

Although more laminate floors are every affordable and safe, there have been increasing concerns about the chemicals they emit. Laminate floors are made of plastics and they contain a small amount of formaldehyde which can contaminate indoor air. This has raised a few concerns but most manufacturers now use chemicals that will neutralize the emissions and reduce indoor pollution.

for more information or for pricing please visit www.averyhardwood.com