Not only is wood one of the most popular floorcovering products today it is also the one that can get you in a lot of trouble if you don’t understand a few things about it. Relative to its popularity, all you have to do is watch HGTV home fix up and flip shows or House Hunters to know that everyone on these shows wants wood floors. What you may not know is that there are as many suppliers, it seems, as there are trees. In a conversation I had with our wood expert, who was recently inChina, he was telling me that in one province there were approximately 3,500 wood manufacturers and one “overseer.” If you might be disillusioned with the product, service or quality you’re getting and you switch to someone else, you may still be dealing with the same entity.
The quality issue is one to be acutely aware of. Granted you have heard me say that wood is a tree cut into boards used on the floor and that it will still behave as a tree, expanding and contracting with gain and loss of moisture, drying out, cracking, indenting, scratching and discoloring. What you should also understand is that the reputable manufacturers that have been around for years and that have provided quality products should still be the ones you trust the most. They can control their products and have the experience to provide you with materials that everything possible has been done to make them the best they can be. What you don’t want to buy is wood that has been harvested in another part of the world that is being sawed and finished on a ship while en route to your store. In the zeal to buy at the lowest price you may be getting a deal that pulls you right into a buzz saw – pun intended – with no recourse when a problem arises.
Another thing you should understand is that there is a lot of information provided for you regarding wood species, installation, acclimation, testing and appropriate conditions for installation to keep you out of trouble. It should come as no surprise to you that if you glue wood to a concrete substrate that you haven’t tested for moisture and there is moisture vapor emission over 3 pounds you’re headed for a problem. Even at 3 pounds you may have an issue. For example we had a situation this week where a wood floor was installed over a cushion and the boards along the perimeter expanded measurably. The dealer wanted to blame the adhesive people, the cushion people and everyone else but himself. The problem was moisture vapor traveling under the cushion and venting at the perimeter areas. The wood was absorbing the moisture and swelling, just as nature and the law of physics would have it. No moisture tests were conducted so the dealer had no idea he was in trouble from the start. Now he’ll have to not only replace the floor, fortunately only the affected boards, but he’ll have to pull everything up to remediate the substrate – an expensive undertaking.
We also regularly hear from dealers regarding problems with cupping and warped boards, tenting, checking and cracking of the finish, noise and squeaks, and gaps at sides and ends. These things can happen to wood and do, as most of you who sell wood should be well aware. Again, atmospheric conditions, changes in the weather or HVAC system in a home, use of the wrong wood, not knowing where the wood is coming from and who processed it and taking chances on buying stuff that is a great deal but really not, can all affect the performance of wood. You don’t know what the wood went through or what was or was not done to it prior to you’re receiving it. Our lab has clients that send all the products that come into the country for testing prior to accepting them to insure that what they’re getting is what they agreed to buy as well as wood producers who send their products in for testing to insure they are putting out a quality product.
With wood you can’t be too cautious or too trusting. Unfortunately you have to be a little paranoid if you stray too far off the beaten path with wood flooring suppliers and manufacturers.
Author: Lewis G. Migliore
LGM and Associates – The Floorcovering Experts