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We Specialize in Vinyl, Ceramic, and Hardwood Flooring in West Chester, PA
At Millennium Floors, we know all about various types of flooring, including luxury vinyl, ceramic, and hardwood flooring in West Chester, PA.
We’ll start by looking at hardwood because it's one of the most popular flooring choices. It's a versatile product that answers the need for beauty in residential settings and workplaces alike by adding warmth and elegance. It has natural character with depth and rich shading. Not only is hardwood beautiful, but it's also durable, easy-to-clean, and adds value to any property. There are many types of hardwood flooring made from a range of construction techniques, which we'll look at briefly. Having this knowledge helps you make the best decision and also allows you to understand your options. Remember, informed shoppers are smart shoppers.
When most people think of hardwood, they think of strips that are generally 3/4" thick and 2 1/4" wide and between 12" to 84" long. The common wood species are red oak, white oak, cherry, maple, hickory, pecan, and white ash. The main types are solid, engineered, and long-strip plank.
We’ll start by looking at hardwood because it's one of the most popular flooring choices. It's a versatile product that answers the need for beauty in residential settings and workplaces alike by adding warmth and elegance. It has natural character with depth and rich shading. Not only is hardwood beautiful, but it's also durable, easy-to-clean, and adds value to any property. There are many types of hardwood flooring made from a range of construction techniques, which we'll look at briefly. Having this knowledge helps you make the best decision and also allows you to understand your options. Remember, informed shoppers are smart shoppers.
When most people think of hardwood, they think of strips that are generally 3/4" thick and 2 1/4" wide and between 12" to 84" long. The common wood species are red oak, white oak, cherry, maple, hickory, pecan, and white ash. The main types are solid, engineered, and long-strip plank.
Solid Hardwood
Solid hardwood floors are one-piece construction with tongue-and-groove for easily attaching planks. These ¾" planks are available finished and unfinished. Solid wood is sensitive to moisture and needs to be nailed down for installation. It's important to have hardwood installed by a professional because the wood expands and contracts with seasonal moisture changes. That means expansion gaps must be left to prevent the wood from cupping or buckling.
It can be refinished or recoated multiple times, which adds to its longevity. Oak is often the wood of choice for these floors, with options ranging from no knots or visual blemishes to types with knots and dark graining.
Engineered Wood
This wood is made of two, three, or five thin plies of wood laminated together. Engineered wood is less affected by moisture than solid wood thanks to its construction methods, which keep the planks from expanding or shrinking with humidity changes. It can be installed anywhere in your home with nails, staples, glue, or over a subfloor. Engineered wood comes in thicknesses of 1/4" to 9/16" and varies from 2 1/4" to 7" in width and from 12" to 60" in length. You can create a custom appearance by mixing planks of different widths side by side.
Since this wood is engineered, the top layer can be a different wood species from the lower layers. It comes in varieties such as oak, maple, cherry, or hickory.
Before You Have Hardwood Installed
Before we install your hardwood, the first thing you need to do is remove all furniture and objects from the rooms. Ensure the areas where the flooring is going to be installed are climate controlled, with humidity between 45 and 65%.
Any existing flooring should be removed at least one day before your new flooring arrives to allow for cleanup and floor preparation. Baseboards should also be removed to ease installation.
The subfloor should be prepared for installing the new floor, or a new subfloor may be required. In either case, the subfloor should be clean and level.
Doors should be removed before installation. After the floors are in place, the doors may need to be shaved to swing free across the new flooring.
Long-Strip Wood
Long-strip wood is similar to engineered wood, with many plies glued together. The core is often a softer wood than the hardwood top layer and is used for the tongue-and-groove portion. Planks are about 86" long and 7 ½" wide.
It's available in a variety of exotic and domestic hardwood species is designed for floating installation. It can also be glued or stapled. They are very versatile and be laid over a variety of subfloors. Another benefit is that it's easy to replace damaged boards.
What You Need to Know About Placing Ceramic Tiles
Installing ceramic flooring is tricky, exacting, and labor-intensive. It's best to leave this job to our professionals. One key to success is to have a proper foundation, or substrate, in place. Typical substrates for ceramic tile installation are concrete, plywood, and drywall.
The substrate needs to be clean and dry. A waterproof layer may be necessary for areas such as the bathroom and kitchen. The substrate should also be 100% level so that the tiles will lay completely flat. An uneven substrate can lead to tiles that become chipped or cracked when weight is applied.
A layout plan considers the dimension of each room and the amount of tile required. It will also allow the installer to determine the orientation and pattern of the tiles.
In the past, tiles were installed using a thick layer of mortar. Today, tiles are glued with a thin layer of mortar onto the backer board attached to the substrate. The backer board acts as a water-resistant layer between the substrate and the tile.
The tiles are placed in a T shape without adhesive as a starting point for the installation. Once a layout is determined, mortar is applied to the substrate. The tiles are then laid. Once they have been left to cure for 12 to 24 hours, grout is applied between the joints. The grout should be left for an additional 24 hours to cure completely before you can walk on the floor. This ensures the tiles won't shift.
For some installations, you should mop the tiles daily for several days to keep the grout from cracking, curing unevenly, or pulling moisture from the underlying mortar.
Installing Hardwood
There are four methods for installing hardwood. They are nails, staples, glue, and floating, and each is generally used for different situations. Our professional installers are well versed in all attachment methods. We will take a basic look at them here.
- Nails – They are usually used for installing ¾" solid hardwood. There are adapters available for thinner flooring, too. Nailing cleats are used to attach the flooring to a subfloor with a nailer and mallet.
- Staples – Staples 1 ½" or 2" long are used to attach wood to the subfloor with a pneumatic gun.
- Glue – Adhesive is spread with a trowel to affix the wood to the subfloor. Only engineered wood or parquet can be glued. Solid strip and plank floors must be nailed or stapled.
- Floating – In this method, the flooring is not fastened to the subfloor. A thin pad is placed between the top floor and subfloor. Glue is used to hold the tongue-and-groove sections together.
Hardwood should be allowed to acclimatize to its new environment for a few days before installation. Opening the boxes can accomplish this.
Before Laying Vinyl Flooring
For luxury vinyl flooring, the room, floor covering, and adhesive temperature range should be between 65° and 100°F at least 48 hours before and after installation. Where epoxy adhesive is used, the temperature should not exceed 85°F. The vinyl should acclimatize for at least 48 hours.
A clean, debris-free subfloor is very important because foreign matter, such as old adhesive and other material, can cause imperfections in the newly laid floor. Underlayment panels are designed for a smooth working surface but do not correct deficiencies in the subfloor.
When the flooring is delivered to your home, make sure it's the correct style, color, and pattern. Once you've made sure it's the flooring you've ordered, our technicians can mix tiles and planks from various boxes to minimize variations in shading.
Our flooring specialists will take precise measurements and accurately lay tiles in the same direction with arrows on the tiles pointing in the same way. We'll plan the layout to avoid narrow planks at walls and junctures. For a custom installation, we'll consider the concept and pattern before we start.
All About Luxury Vinyl Flooring
Luxury vinyl tile flooring is made with layered construction of a decorative PVC film laid on the base layer with a transparent layer added over that for wear protection. It is also called LVT and is soft, easy to clean, durable, offers realistic wood and stone looks, and is available in a wide range of sizes, colors, and styles.
After LVT Installation
Most floors are rolled in both directions following LVT installation to set the flooring into the adhesive firmly. Furniture placement and foot traffic should be limited for at least 24 hours so the adhesive can completely dry. Floors shouldn't be washed for at least 48 hours.
On the Day You Have Your New Floors Installed
When you book Millennium Floors for installation services, you need to be at home if our crew members have any questions. This ensures the right flooring is installed in the right places. If you can do a walk-through with the installers, this will take answer questions and finalize all the details.
Call us today for a free estimate.