Click Flooring: What Are the Benefits?

If you’re currently going through the process of making a decision about what type of hardwood flooring product to use in your upcoming project, you can be forgiven for feeling a little overwhelmed. Engineered or solid? Flat or hand-scraped? Float, glue or staple?

We understand, and that’s why this blog will always be here to guide you through the bewildering array of wholesale hardwood flooring options out there. In that spirit, we’d like to tell you a little bit about HDF click hardwood flooring.

HDF click hardwood flooring is an engineered hardwood flooring product that offers significant advantages. The most prominent is that click flooring is designed to “click” into place as it’s installed. This is a particular plus for the do-it-yourselfer who may not be a hardwood flooring installation expert: the planks align automatically, making errors nearly impossible.

Another advantage of click hardwood flooring: many homeowners see it as a more sustainable option. The product is engineered in such a way that more of the tree is used, meaning it takes fewer trees to make a floor. Many of our wholesale hardwood flooring customers cite this as a factor in their decision to use click flooring.

Additionally, click flooring is suitable for damp, “below grade” installations such as basements, where a solid hardwood flooring product wouldn’t be appropriate.

Finally, the engineered product can be easier on the home improvement budget than a comparable solid-wood installation. That doesn’t mean it’s not remarkably handsome, however. Click flooring is available in most species and finishes, to fit any design concept. Contact Wood Monsters today to learn more about this marvel of hardwood flooring technology!

Hardwood Flooring and Radiant Heat Systems: Which Material Is Best?

When it comes to efficiency and effectiveness, radiant heat systems are great. But when it comes to hardwood flooring, they can do some pretty serious damage. Hardwood flooring is more likely to dry out faster when installed over a radiant heat system, and overly dry flooring is just as prone to damage as flooring that has too much moisture. There are, however, certain types of hardwood flooring materials that work better with radiant heat systems and are less likely to experience the same kind of damage. Here are the best hardwood flooring materials to install over radiant heat systems.

Narrow Boards
Narrow boards are generally more dimensionally stable than wider boards, meaning they will bend, buckle, and warp less when installed over a radiant heat system. As a general rule of thumb, using any width under 3” works well. The preferred width is 2 1/4”, especially in solid flooring.

Quartersawn Flooring
Again, the important factor with this type of flooring is dimensional stability. Quartersawn floors and rift-sawn floors are more stable than their plain sawn counterparts.

Engineered Flooring
There are many reasons engineered hardwood flooring is preferred over solid hardwood flooring: it's versatile, it's relatively easy to install, and it can be installed in almost any room in the house. Engineered flooring is also the preferred choice when it comes to radiant heat systems. The dimensional stability of engineered flooring makes it a perfect pairing with radiant heat.

Engineered hardwood flooring is a great material to use over a radiant heat system.

For more information on installing hardwood flooring over radiant heat systems, contact Wood Monsters today!