Residential Hardwood Floors
Hickory Great Room
Making the grade with Phoenix Hardwood Flooring
North American Oak is the most common species used for hardwood flooring installations. As such, oak has become a commodity item and is subject to price fluctuations based on market conditions.
Customers can sometimes confuse the quality, consistency and uniformity of various hardwoods. At Phoenix Hardwood Flooring, we use accepted industry definitions – or grading systems – to determine the degree of uniformity and explain the natural variations in all wood species.
Unfinished wood is further designated by the milling process.
Sawing Directions
- Plain-Sawn Lumber – Plain-sawn hardwood boards are produced by cutting tangentially to a tree’s growth rings, creating the familiar “flame-shaped” grain found in most hardwood flooring and millwork. This method produces the most lumber from each log, making plain-sawn lumber a cost-effective design choice.
- Quarter-Sawn Lumber – Quarter-sawn means cutting a log radially (90°angle) to the growth rings to produce “vertical” graining. This method produces fewer boards than plain-sawn lumber but the quality of the flooring produced is higher. As such, quarter-sawn lumber is a bit more expensive.
- Rift-Sawn Lumber – Rift sawing is similar to quarter sawing with many of the same advantages. It accentuates the vertical grain and minimizes the figured effect common in quarter-sawn oak. The angle of the cut is changed slightly from that of quarter-sawn lumber. Riftsawing creates more waste than quartersawing, making it generally more expensive, but it produces the highest quality grain and an absolutely exquisite hardwood floor. Often, rift-sawn lumber and quarter-sawn lumber are packaged together and sold as “rift and quartered” lumber.
Antique Flooring
“They don’t build them like they used to… ”
No doubt you’ve heard that phrase before and it’s true in flooring as it is with many other things. Customers who want the look and feel of an authentic antique floor, want the widest boards and the longest lengths. Installing wider boards in long lengths creates a floor with fewer seams and the look of an old, tradional home.
Old Growth Eastern White Pine
When you think of traditional, New England Style country homes, old growth Eastern White Pine sets the standard. The even grain and unique knots create a floor that looks like it's been around forever.
American Chestnut
Although there is no “new growth” Chestnut left in North America, an active reclamation industry has been thriving with this specie. Reclaimed from old factory beams, barn siding or from the bottom of old logging rivers, it is milled into tongue and groove flooring and creates a truly unique floor.
Antique Oak
Reclaimed in a similar fashion to American Chestnut, oak is a favorite on many restoration projects.
Old Growth Heart Pine
Wood that is cultivated for its amber-orange patina, Heart Pine's tight vertical grain structure gives it additional strength that rivals oak.
Character Oak
Character Oak is a lower-priced alternative to achieving the rustic feel of an authentic antique floor.
