Assemble an Artificial Tree

Assemble your tree on a blanket on the floor. This blanket will protect your floor from accidental scratches while you assemble your tree.

Place a Real Tree on a Plastic Tablecloth

If you have a real tree, fold an old sheet into quarters exactly where you would like your tree to be placed. Cut and fold a plastic tablecloth to feet the sheet. Place your Christmas tree stand on top of this plastic tablecloth. Make sure you have this done before bringing your real tree home. Be sure you shake your tree before bringing it to your home. Dislodge any loose needles from your tree.

Use a Rubber Mat to Move Your Tree Around

A rubber mat can help you easily move a tree in your home without damaging your floor by dropping the tree or scratching the floor by dragging the tree through out your house.

For more tips on how to place your Christmas tree over hardwood flooring, read this article from Ehow.com.

If you have any questions or need professional help, contact the flooring experts at Signature Hardwood Floors, Inc. by calling 410.415.0755 or click here today!

Our mission statement is simple: stay small, personal, and in control of our work, all to ensure that you receive the best job possible! We have a passion for this industry.

You can follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn as well!

You do not need scuff marks, scratches and water damage to your hardwood floors this holiday season. Keep your holiday floors looking fabulous.

 Under The Christmas Tree

 You can have a fresh cut Christmas tree and still have beautiful hardwood floors. You can start to by giving your tree a good shake to eliminate loose pine needles. This will decrease nettles that can get stuck in your wood flooring. Place a plastic mat under your tree. This will prevent water damage from watering the tree. Remember, bacteria starts growing 24 hours after contact.

 Christmas Party Wood Flooring Safety

 If your house has an abundance of hardwood flooring, purchase extra rugs or mats to place over your hardwood flooring during the holiday season. Rugs and mats will protect your flooring from scuffs and spills in high-traffic areas during parties.

Do not use overly wet rags to wipe up food and drink messes. Dry or slightly wet rags are the best to use to clean a mess from hardwood flooring.

There is no excuse why your hardwood floors should not be in good condition this holiday season.

For more protection tips, read this article from AreaFloorsOnline.com.

If you have any questions or need professional help, contact the flooring experts at Signature Hardwood Floors, Inc. by calling 410.415.0755 or click here today!

Our mission statement is simple: stay small, personal, and in control of our work, all to ensure that you receive the best job possible! We have a passion for this industry.

You can follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn as well!

Protect your floors where your Christmas tree is placed:

Right under you Christmas tree place a plastic sheet beneath the base. You do not want your floor suffering from water damage, if any spillage happens when watering your Christmas tree.

Keep Your Pet Away from the tree.

Your pet, just like children, will be curious of seeing a tree in the house. Your pet might think it is potty time. He or she just might pee on your hardwood floor. Not only will there be urine damage but an unpleasant smell. Be careful.

Kick off the shoes at the front door.

During the holiday season, you may have many guests come in and out of your home. If you are not careful, your guests could bring in moisture from the outdoors on their winter boots. You will need to dry mop spills or liquid moisture as soon as possible. To save your hardwood floor, recommend to your guests to take off their shoes at the front door. Tell them your home is meant for them to be comfortable and relaxed. It works like a charm.

For more hardwood floor care and Christmas tree tips, read this article from Blog.BuildDirect.com.

If you have any questions or need professional help, contact the flooring experts at Signature Hardwood Floors, Inc. by calling 410.415.0755 or click here today!

Our mission statement is simple: stay small, personal, and in control of our work, all to ensure that you receive the best job possible! We have a passion for this industry.

You can follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn as well!

This week we will be focusing on Acrylic Impregnated Hardwood Floors. This hardwood flooring type is manufactured with the color and sealant infused all the way through the wood, providing a consistent finish throughout. Other benefits of Acrylic Impregnated Hardwood Floors include:

Wide Variety of Colors and Woods: You should be able to easily find a color and finish to match your décor. Acrylic Impregnated Flooring also comes in a wide variety of woods, including pine, oak, cherry, maple, bamboo, and walnut.

Fade Resistant: Because the color is impregnated into the wood, it is fade resistant.

Durable: This type of flooring is typically harder than traditional hardwood flooring, making it great for high-traffic areas. In fact, they’re 300% harder than natural wood and also scratch resistant. This is why Acrylic Impregnated Wood Floors are often used in commercial properties, such as bars, restaurants, shopping malls, etc.

Easy to Maintain: This type of flooring does not require the same amount of maintenance as other hardwood options. Typically all that you will need to do is regularly buff the surface to keep the wood looking polished.

Hopefully you now know more about Acrylic Impregnated Floors than you did before! But if you still have any questions, contact the flooring experts at Signature Hardwood Floors, Inc. by calling 410.415.0755 or click here today!

Our mission statement is simple: stay small, personal, and in control of our work, all to ensure that you receive the best job possible! We have a passion for this industry.

You can follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn as well!

Sources:

Three Types of Wood Flooring and How to Choose Between Them

Acrylic Impregnated Hardwood Floors Pros & Cons

You can make your hardwood floors look amazing, by adding some colorful paint to it. Popular colors to use are white, yellow, red and green. Painted floors look great in both historic and contemporary homes.

But how should you paint?

For one, do not put the paint on thick.

You should not put paint on thick because the chemistry of paint makes thin coats of paint wear slower than thick coats of paint. Why does this happen? It happens because thin coats of paint dry harder.

Use Oil-based Primers and Paints on Floors.

You should use oil-based primers and paints on your hardwood flooring because it will enhance the long-term durability of the wood. If you do not want to use oil-based primers and paints, you can use a waterborne enamel or specialty floor paint to do the job.

Here are just a few things you will need to foolproof paint your hardwood flooring:

-Sand paper.

-Powdered detergent cleaner.

-Primer.

- A Rag.

- Paint.

-Natural-Bristle Brush.

-Roller.

To learn what to do with these items, read this article from ElleDecor.com.

If you are considering hardwood flooring for your home or need help painting your hardwood floor, let Signature Hardwood Floors Inc. deal with the messy installation and design process. You might be surprised at just how much you love it!

If you have any questions, contact the flooring experts at Signature Hardwood Floors, Inc. by calling 410.415.0755 or click here today!

Our mission statement is simple: stay small, personal, and in control of our work, all to ensure that you receive the best job possible! We have a passion for this industry.

You can follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn as well!

Wait, there is!

An engineered hardwood floor is the perfect cost-effective and durable alternative to natural hardwood flooring. Engineered wood flooring is a combination of real finished wood on top of non-finished plywood. The additional layer of plywood (laid in a cross-way pattern) provides additional support and durability.

Choices include:

•      Hickory

•      Oak

•      Bamboo

•      Maple

•      And much, much more!

With so many choices available, it is easy to find an engineered hardwood floor to match your existing décor.

Other Advantages of Engineered Hardwood Flooring:

•      Pre-Finished: It has already been sanded and sealed, reducing installation time and cost (not to mention mess).

•      Easily Sanded: Unlike laminate flooring, engineered hardwood can be sanded to repair scratches or stains.

•      Withstands Moistures: Unlike traditional hardwood, engineered hardwood can be installed in areas of moderate moisture.

•      Easy Installation: Engineered hardwood can be nailed down, glued down, or used as a floating floor.

So if you are considering hardwood flooring for your home, but you do not want to deal with the expensive and often messy installation process, give engineered hardwood a look. You might be surprised at just how much you love it!

If you have any questions, contact the flooring experts at Signature Hardwood Floors, Inc. by calling 410.415.0755 or click here today!

Our mission statement is simple: stay small, personal, and in control of our work, all to ensure that you receive the best job possible! We have a passion for this industry.

You can follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn as well!

Sources:

Reasons to Select Engineered Wood Flooring

 Determine the Finish

Before you even touch a bucket of water or a mop, find out how your wood floor is sealed. You should do this because the finish, not your wood type, determines how you should properly clean and care for your hardwood flooring.

Surface-sealed floors

Newer wood floors are sealed with urethane, polyurethane or polyacrylic. These types of wood floors are stain and water-damage resistant. They are also the easiest to care and clean. All you have to do to clean them is sweep and mop.

 Penetrating-seal treated and oil-treated floors

A penetrating seal or oil finish soaks into the wood grain and hardens your flooring. You should clean this type of flooring with liquid or paste wax.

 Lacquered, varnished, shell lacked and untreated floors

 Lacquers, varnishes, and shellacs are not as resistant to moisture, spills and wear as sealants. Keeping this in mind, treat these types of wood floors the same, as you would penetrating-seal treated and oil-treated floors.

 Not sure of your finish type?

 If you cannot tell the difference between the finishes, rub your finger across the floor. If no smudge appears, the floor is surface sealed. If you do create a smudge, the floors has been treated with penetrating seal, oil finish, shellac, varnish or lacquer, and then waxed.

For more information on hardwood floor cleaning read this article from iVillage.com

If you have any questions, contact the flooring experts at Signature Hardwood Floors, Inc. by calling 410.415.0755 or click here today!

Our mission statement is simple: stay small, personal, and in control of our work, all to ensure that you receive the best job possible! We have a passion for this industry.

You can follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn as well!

Every hardwood floor will undergo some amount of wear and tear depending on the amount of foot traffic it receives. Preventative maintenance and regular cleaning can help to significantly reduce the rate of wear.

Preventative maintenance includes:

•     Keep dirt and grime off the floor: No matter what you do, dirt, sand, and other foreign particles will find their way onto your hardwood floors. While you cannot prevent this from happening, you can be prompt in cleaning it up. Sweeping regularly is a great way to rid your hardwood floors of dirt and grime.

•     Rugs are your friends: Use rug in high traffic areas. This will help reduce wear and further preserve your hardwood floors.

•     Fabric Glides: Moving furniture on any hardwood floor can be a very dangerous thing to do. However, placing fabric glides on the bottoms of furniture legs will allow you to move furniture around without scuffing your floors.

•     Vacuum: Using a brush attachment, vacuum as much as possible. This will help to get rid of particles that sweeping just could not deal with.

•     Do not let spills sit for long: Moisture and hardwood floors just do not mix. Deal with any spills as quickly as possible, using a dry cloth or paper towel.

So take the time to properly protect your investment. But remember to always follow your flooring manufacturer’s floor care recommendations.

If you have any questions, contact the flooring experts at Signature Hardwood Floors, Inc. by calling 410.415.0755 or click here today!

Our mission statement is simple: stay small, personal, and in control of our work, all to ensure that you receive the best job possible! We have a passion for this industry.

You can follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn as well!

Sources:

Routine Maintenance

There is no right answer. Each type of finish has its advantages and disadvantages. So let’s examine each finish on its own.

Unfinished Hardwood Floor

Advantages:

•      Unfinished hardwood floors allow you to create your own unique finish that suits you.

•      Applying unfinished hardwood floors and finishing them after installation maintain the natural characteristics of the wood.

•      These floors are more even and uniform than prefinished flooring.

Disadvantages:

•      The sanding and finishing required for unfinished flooring is extremely time consuming.

•      The above process can also be very messy.

•      There is also the issue of harmful fumes that comes with staining and sealing.

Prefinished Hardwood Floor

Advantages:

•      Ease of installation.

•      No need for dusty sanding procedures.

•      Very durable wear layer, and the finish itself is under warranty by the manufacturer.

Disadvantages:

•      Prefinished floors can sometimes be difficult to clean. Dust and debris gets trapped in the cracks and crevices in between boards.

•      Prefinished floors do not have a flat, uniform look like unfinished floors.

•      A pre-inished floor will maintain height irregularities of the substrate. In short, a bump in the sub floor means a bump in the pre-finished floor unless the sub floor is fixed first.

Contact the flooring experts at Signature Hardwood Floors, Inc. to help you determine which type of hardwood flooring is best for you. Contact us by calling 410.415.0755 or click here today!

Our mission statement is simple: stay small, personal, and in control of our work, all to ensure that you receive the best job possible! We have a passion for this industry.

You can follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn as well!

Sources:

Prefinished Wood Floors vs. Unfinished

Well, we are here to help. We will break down the three main types of hardwood floors to help you decide which makes the most sense for you and your home.

First of all, don’t confuse wood variety with flooring type; that is a whole other conversation. For this blog entry, we are just concerned with flooring type: solid, engineered, or Acrylic-impregnated wood flooring.

Solid Wood Flooring

This category of hardwood flooring can be broken down into three sub-categories; each is available in an unfinished and a per-finished version. Unfinished flooring must be sanded and finished after installation, while pre-finished flooring is sanded and finished at the factory.

The three sub-categories of solid wood flooring are:

1. Strip Flooring: Denoted by the thickness and width of its wood planks, solid strip flooring is the most popular hardwood flooring option available today. Strip flooring ranges in thickness from 5/16 of an inch to 3/4 of an inch wide, with widths of 1.5 inches, 2 inches, or 2.25 inches.
2. Plank Flooring: While this type of flooring only comes in two thicknesses – ½ inch or  ¾  inch – the widths can vary from 3-8 inches.
3. Parquet Flooring: Made from geometrical patterns, parquet flooring breaks from the traditional look of hardwood floors.

Engineered Wood Flooring

This flooring is produced by adhering layers of plastic laminate veneer with real wood. But do not confuse engineered wood flooring with laminate flooring; the latter does not contain any actual wood.

Acrylic-impregnated Wood Flooring

This type of flooring is infused with sealant and color throughout the thickness of the wood. This means that the “finish” is actually consistent throughout the wood.

Contact the flooring experts at Signature Hardwood Floors, Inc. to help you determine which type of hardwood flooring is best for you. Contact us by calling 410.415.0755 or click here today!

Our mission statement is simple: stay small, personal, and in control of our work, all to ensure that you receive the best job possible! We have a passion for this industry.

You can follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn as well!

Sources:

What are the different types of hardwood flooring? HardwoodFlooringBlog.com

Ultimate Guide to Hardwood Flooring TLC.HowStuffWorks.com