Hardwood flooring
Having a beautiful and durable hardwood floor will bring years of joy to any home. Deciding on the best flooring for your home doesn't have to be a difficult decision. Hardwood flooring has been around for centuries as one of the most durable flooring options. With it's ability to be stained, sanded and re-stained multiple times, hardwood flooring is a great option in just about any environment. Corlew and Perry is Nashville's first choice in both solid wood floors and engineered wood floors.
Solid wood flooring
Solid wood floors are made out of a solid piece of wood with no other layers involved from top to bottom. One primary advantage of using solid wood floors is the ability to sand and re-stain the wood multiple times. Since most solid wood floors come with a minimum 3/4″ thickness, re-sanding and finishing is much easier to accomplish. With the ability to sand and re-finish the floor multiple times comes a higher price tag. Solid wood floors come either unfinished or pre-finished. With unfinished wood, the floor must be sanded, finished, and then stained. It then requires a polyurethane coat to protect the floor. With pre-finished solid wood, no sanding, staining or polyurethane is required.
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Engineered wood flooring
Engineered wood is a piece of wood that has multiple layers with the top most layer being of the highest quality. Since the wood is made of multiple layers and the grain on each layer runs in different directions, the wood is often more stable than solid hard wood floors and less resistant to changes in temperature and moisture. Engineered wood can be sanded and finished as well, but not as often as solid hard wood floors. Since the layers of wood are thinner the number of times it can be sanded is less than solid wood flooring. All engineered wood floors come pre-finished in several colors. Having the wood pre-finished means the sanding, finishing, staining and polyurethane coating is already on the wood saving the time and money involved in doing those steps.
There are several different species of wood to choose from when deciding which type of wood floor you want to install.
Red Oak
Slightly pink in color -grain is more pronounced than white oak – open, porous wood – easy to finish.
White Oak
Slightly browner than red oak – grain is more subtle than red oak – easy wood to finish – stains are normally darker.
Maple
Wood is more "whitish" in color – generally lightens up darker rooms – closed pores – smooth wood – should be professionally finished.
Hickory
best known for its hardness, which ranks 1820 on the Janka hardness scale - the preferred wood for hardwood flooring.
Walnut
The sapwood is creamy white - heartwood is light to dark chocolate brown. The wood is generally straight-grained; sometimes with wavy or curly grain that produces an attractive and decorative figure.
Slightly pink in color -grain is more pronounced than white oak – open, porous wood – easy to finish.
White Oak
Slightly browner than red oak – grain is more subtle than red oak – easy wood to finish – stains are normally darker.
Maple
Wood is more "whitish" in color – generally lightens up darker rooms – closed pores – smooth wood – should be professionally finished.
Hickory
best known for its hardness, which ranks 1820 on the Janka hardness scale - the preferred wood for hardwood flooring.
Walnut
The sapwood is creamy white - heartwood is light to dark chocolate brown. The wood is generally straight-grained; sometimes with wavy or curly grain that produces an attractive and decorative figure.
Stain colors
After you choose the type of hardwood for your floors, you'll choose your stain color! We partner with DuraSeal to provide high quality stain to create the floors of your dreams.
You'll also choose the right finish for your dream floor. Learn more about your options!
Matte
A matte finish does not reflect much light, meaning the shine level on this finish is non-existent. Matte finish is a duller aesthetic.
Satin
A satin finish is the next level on the shine spectrum. Without much light reflection, it will hide dirt and scratched more efficiently than a high shine gloss.
Semi-Gloss
The Semi-Gloos finish gives your floor more luster and shine. Although beautiful, it is harder to maintain with kids or pets.
High-Gloss
A high-gloss finish will give you the highest level of luster. This finish is more often reserves for low traffic areas and unique or exotic hardwood to emphasize the grains and texture of high quality hardwood.
You'll also choose the right finish for your dream floor. Learn more about your options!
Matte
A matte finish does not reflect much light, meaning the shine level on this finish is non-existent. Matte finish is a duller aesthetic.
Satin
A satin finish is the next level on the shine spectrum. Without much light reflection, it will hide dirt and scratched more efficiently than a high shine gloss.
Semi-Gloss
The Semi-Gloos finish gives your floor more luster and shine. Although beautiful, it is harder to maintain with kids or pets.
High-Gloss
A high-gloss finish will give you the highest level of luster. This finish is more often reserves for low traffic areas and unique or exotic hardwood to emphasize the grains and texture of high quality hardwood.
Hardwood floor installation
Corlew and Perry has almost one hundred years experience in wood floor installation and have learned what to avoid and how to do it right. There are four primary ways that wood floor laid down onto the subfloor.
- Nail Down - Nails, generally from a pneumatic nail gun, are used to fasten the flooring to the sub flooring.
- Staple Down - 1.5″ staples are used in a pneumatic staple gun in lieu of nails.
- Glue Down - Generally used only with engineered floors as well as parquet floors.
- Floating Floor - Not attached to sub-floor. Easiest option for DIY projects, inexpensive but not as stable as other options.
