MacDonald Hardwoods HOME ABOUT GALLERY PRODUCTS SERVICES CONTACT RESOURCES REQUEST A QUOTE HARDWOOD FLOORING GUIDE The Ultimate Guide To Your Hardwood Floors CONTACT US THE BASICS Flooring Types Flooring sets the stage for a beautiful interior view, especially when you take advantage of the many exciting options for hardwood flooring at MacDonald Hardwoods. We are proud to offer you a wide selection of hardwood flooring, as well as some basic information to help make the design and purchasing process fun, creative, and easy. Our extensive selection enhances any space, with an unmatched variety of options. Widths - Traditional to Wide Colors - Light, Medium, Dark Species - Maple, Oak, Hickory, Ash, & more Textures - Smooth, Wire Brushed, Hand Scraped Styles - Solid, Enhanced, Engineered OUR PRODUCTS VISIT OUR SHOWROOM Wood Species Each species of wood offers different strengths and looks. Review our selection of hardwoods to learn more each species. Oak Maple Hickory Ash Oak Flooring Want a floor that is as strong as oak? Our team of flooring experts at MacDonald Hardwoods specialize in oak flooring. Oak has a reputation for being a strong, hard wood. The two main types used for our oak flooring are referred to as White Oak and Red Oak, and although they are similar, they have a few characteristics that are worth comparison. Red Oak Characteristics Color & Grain: Color has a reddish tint, and an open, coarse grain to it. Stability & Durability: Red Oak is less durable than White Oak. White Oak Characteristics Color & Grain: Can be light brown, white or off-white, and may even have a minute e amount of pink or gray to it. The grain has longer, open rays as well as knots or swirling patterns. Stability & Durability: White Oak is 1% more stable and 5% harder than Northern Red Oak, so is more durable. Due to tannic acid, White Oak is protected from insects and fungi. Glossary MacDonald Hardwoods would like to credit the National Wood Flooring Association for this comprehensive glossary of wood flooring terms. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z ACRYLIC/WOOD The generic name for wood-plastic-composites utilizing wood impregnated with acrylic monomers and polymerized within the wood cells by gamma irradiation. Some versions are cured by heat radiation. (In the case of acrylic/wood parquet, a semi-built-in finish is developed.) AIR-DRIED ANNUAL GROWTH RING CLEANING SOLUTIONS AND EQUIPMENT The Original Do-It-Yourself Store Our affordable cleaning solutions and equipment are available for rent or purchase. Check out our Easy Hardwood Floor Cleaner™. Just ask one of our flooring experts for advice on which hardwood floor cleaning product would be best for the wood in your home. We even offer instructional classes! RENT EQUIPMENT KEEPING HARDWOOD FLOORS BEAUTIFUL Cleaning And Maintenance For more than three decades, customers have relied on our MacDonald Easy Hardwood Floor Cleaner to keep flooring beautiful – no streaks, no residue! Check out our entire cleaning system, including cutting-edge quality and design products. We’ve put together a top selection of products over our 30-plus years in the industry. These hardwood floor care products enhance your home’s beauty while still keeping your budget in mind. Drop by our showroom to see the many options available. Wood Flooring Cleaning Tips Properly cleaning your hardwood floors is important to maintain the sheen and glossy finish of your floor. Keep your floor looking new by reading through some of our hardwood floor cleaning tips. THE DOS Vacuum or sweep your floor regularly to remove dirt, dust, and any loose material. We recommend the MacDonald Hardwoods Mac Vac™. Remove spills promptly. Use your terry cloth mop cover or a clean, soft cloth with MacDonald Hardwoods Easy Floor Cleaner™ to clean up wet spills. Use a vacuum or broom to pick up dry spills and abrasives. Placemats at exterior doors to trap sand and grit from incoming traffic. Install felt floor protectors on the “feet” of all furniture. Use area rugs on high traffic areas: at ends of steps, near doorways, etc. All rugs should allow your wood floor to breathe. Avoid rubber-backed or non-ventilated rugs. When rugs are impractical, periodically check your floor for wear. Maintain the relative humidity in your home between 45% and 55%. Excessive humidity or extreme dryness can cause your wood floor to swell or shrink, creating cupping or cracks THE DON’TS Do not let sand, dirt, and grit build up. They can act like sandpaper and actually abrade and dull your floor finish. Never damp mop a wood floor. Excessive amounts of water can cause your floor to swell and cup. No matter what you’ve heard from family and friends, do not wet mop with water and vinegar to clean hardwood floors. This can dull your floor and finish over time. Avoid walking on wood floors with high heels. They can severely damage wood floors. Keep heels in good repair. Keep pets’ claws properly trimmed to avoid excessive scratches and gouges. Do not use wax, oil soap, liquid polish, or other household cleaners on your polyurethane finished wood floor. The use of these products can dull today’s floor finishes and make refinishing difficult. SOME THINGS TO CONSIDER Humidity And Hardwood Flooring Colorado and the surrounding mountain states are among the most challenging regions for all wood products because of our extremely dry climate. The concerns of relative humidity control have been addressed by all major wood flooring manufacturers and are clearly documented by them and the National Wood Flooring Association. You should consider the following. It is the responsibility of the homeowner to keep the relative humidity within a constant and acceptable range. Consideration of an appropriate humidification system should be given when a home is designed, or when hardwood flooring is added to an existing home. A floor moisture barrier will help you keep moisture from under your home from seeping into the wood. If you live in a dry climate, it’s a good idea to understand how to increase humidity in a room. Here’s why. Experts differ slightly on the range they feel is the most appropriate, but a consensus would be between 25% and 40% relative humidity. Any in-home environmental conditions at the low end of, or below, this range will probably result in drying and cracking to some extent of most woods. Without additional humidification, in-home relative humidity can drop below 20% during the heating season because our Colorado winters are so dry. Even if the atmosphere is generally controlled within this range, there will still be some movement as the seasons change and the relative humidity moves up or down. Wood is a natural product and its limits must be respected. Because extremely low humidity has such a profound effect on properly manufactured and installed wood flooring, manufacturers do not consider some plank separation or cracking to be defects that would be covered under their warranty. Engineered wood flooring is more stable than solid wood flooring and will not shrink or expand as much. However, it is still an all-wood product that will react to swings in humidity. Solid wood floors generally will expand and contract more than engineered floors resulting in larger gaps between the flooring boards during dry times of the year. Extremely dry conditions (those below 25%) will result in gaps between solid wood planks. The size of the gaps will depend upon the size of the planks. The wider the plank, the wider the gap. Extremely dry conditions (those below 25%) will also result in gaps between engineered planks. However, they will not be as wide. Extremely dry conditions may also result in cupping of engineered planks. (Dry cupping is caused when the top of the board is dryer than the bottom.) Extremely dry conditions (those below 25%) may also result in cracks and checking in the surface of both engineered and solid planks. These are not considered defects and are not covered under manufacturer’s warranties. TALK TO AN EXPERT Schedule an Appointment 929 West 1st Avenue | Denver, CO 80223 800.639.3006 I can't say enough good things about MacDonald Hardwoods. We ran into several challenges with our 1,400 square foot project, and yet installation started on the day we scheduled and was completed ahead of schedule. Wow. Communication from Steve was... - Alison D. ‹ › VISIT US 929 West 1st Avenue Denver, CO 80223 Get Directions > CONTACT US info@macwoods.com 303.825.3006 800.639.3006 GET MORE Blog Posts Products Testimonials © MacDonald Hardwoods All Rights Reserved Privacy Policy