Hardwood Flooring School - NWFA St. Louis 2010

For those that have an interest in learning the hardwood flooring business, or others that need a general knowledge of how hardwood floors are handled from installation to finishing the NWFA (National Wood Flooring Association) wood flooring basics school is the place to be. Held once per year at their headquarters in Chesterfield, Missouri cost for members runs $475 for a packed full four day course. Non members can also submit to the education.

I had always wanted to attend one of these schools, but this time around it was more for my son Ryan who has an interest. Incidentally the NWFA runs classes covering many other aspects of the business throughout the year in other locations. Here is a sampling of their 2010 schedule. Others I found at the four day event outside of the actual contractors that attended included inspectors, manufacturer and distributors sales reps, along with independent dealers just wanting more knowledge of how things work.

In a nutshell, the four day course covers safety, properties of wood floors, preparation and basic knowledge of how hardwood floors perform under the right conditions, installation of nail and glue down  floors (unfinished and prefinished) and finally sanding, staining, and finishing. The time spent is broken into about two hours of daily classroom education and the rest actual hands on experience working with wood floors in their expansive training center. Each day begins at 8AM and finishes around 5 PM, with an exceptional lunch included.

The first photo shows event hosts and educators Daniel Boone and Frank Kroupa (left) explaining proper layout that includes centering, and proper staggering of a typical installation. I cannot stress how important this step is in the planning stage. Daniel and Frank go on to show how trammel points are used to center rooms, and connecting areas should the installation involve larger layouts.

Having about 15 years experience in the business myself I definately learned quite a bit. It should be noted however, installing hardwood floors and their procedures will vary from one region to another. Essentially what may work in New York for example, may be quite different than that of Las Vegas.

Everybody is included! This means you get your time behind a sanding machine or try your coordination with that old fashioned manual nailer or go for the penumatic. I was almost at the point of saying...

"Hey let's break out those modern tools, nobody uses these antiques anymore." Shown is Susan Christie of  Toronto trying her hand at the double hit cleat nailer. This particular layout was interesting in that we learned how to intersect two floors running in opposite directions without transitions.

Hey, this is what I'm talking about! Introducing the sleek looking pneumatic (air driven) Primatech cleat nailer...on wheels!

Poor Don Conner the NWFA director. He failed to get a good laugh during the early morning joke of the day.

"Geesh, what's with everybody?"

Classroom...

The bleachers and Dan'l Boone nearing the end of the week...

Video Added September 25, 2010

Hardwood Floor Installation School

BR111 Selling Direct On The Internet

BR111 has altered their website look to fashion what appears to be direct sales to the consumer. While this is a big change of marketing that took place principally through dealers, time will tell if it succeeds or fails. There are not any real numbers to show how much hardwood flooring is being sold over the internet compared to what is sold through local dealers. A few years ago we did notice a 2 % number being kicked around.

We're curious how others are looking at this move. Considering the company is now selling direct to the consumer how do dealers feel that have spent money promoting their products through their showrooms and displays? I wonder how many displays are being thrown into the street? Comments welcomed.

BR111 home page look June 3, 2010.

End Block Flooring

Here's something in the unique category! Doubtful if many of us have ever seen this kind of hardwood floor pattern work. Leave it to anyone's imagination, end block flooring can offer a multitude of designs.

One company that specializes in such is Kaswell Flooring Systems. Currently offering a multitude of different hardwood patterns with hardwood species in the likes of teak(shown above) to bamboo and some reclaimed hardwood. Products offered vary in four different thicknesses and glued to any proper subfloor. Following installation, sanding equipment is brought in much like traditional hardwood floors.

The appearance offers a busy look, but think about using them for border work or entry ways. If they're installed with solid 3/4" floors, other preparations will have to be considered to reach the same vertical height.

Unlike older methods where lumber was cut on site and dried accordingly, the Kaswell product line arrives kiln dried with some patterns sanded to a 40 grit appearance. Definitely more time saving than the older methods.

Cork Underlayment For Hardwood Floors

We're often asked; can cork underlayment work to reduce noise from the upstairs floors before we install new solid hardwood? Or... can I use the standard roll stuff that comes in 1/4" thickness?

The answer lies in a few questions asked first. In the case of the example above we're dealing with a standard 3/4" plywood subfloor where the new hardwood will be nailed or stapled. If you're seeking to eliminate squeaks that are now heard under the carpeting cork is not the answer. But once some repairs are made to the squeaky areas cork will definatly muffle or quiet and sometimes eliminate foot traffic sounds. It is not exact as other factors come into play.

Image Credit

For instance. If the subfloor is uneven, boards will have a tendency to rub against one another, or up and down. Cork underlayment will suppress the noise but it will be heard when walking on that upstairs flooring area. For the underlayment to work effectively one needs a flat subfloor substrate to work with.

Okay. But You're Adding 1/4 of an Inch Under The New Hardwood. Will the Fasteners Hold?

This one is up for debate. Considering a standard flooring staple or nail used for plywood over floor joists systems is two inches in length and penetrates 3/4" plywood by approximately 3/8 of an inch, you're not really losing anything. On the other hand, if you're nailing through the plywood into the joist system (which I rarely see being done) you do lose some of the grabbing power of the joist system.

All are welcome for debate!

Hardwood Floor Nailer Shoe

Here's a new tool addition that makes installing solid hardwood flooring easier. Shown on the right is a standard Bostitch MIIIFS flooring stapler before someone came up with something called a nailer shoe.

What's a nailer shoe and why is it advantageous to have? The gizmo attaches to the bottom plate of many nailers including the following manufacturers:

• Powernail
• Senco
• Bostich
• Porta Nail

What Does It Do?

If you look closely at the photo on the right we have the stapler in action. It is necessary to have the bottom plate slide along the top of the board while nailing and positioning yourself for the continuation. Often what happens is the nailer will not seat correctly when the plunger is tapped which forces the nail or staple above the tongue and into the subfloor at a 45 degree angle. The result? A fastener that has been "nailed" improperly. It may have found a home well above the tongue area or on the face of the board. The latter will have to be removed; not an easy job considering how a pnuematic hardwood floor nailer drives nails.

The Benefits

The addition keeps the flooring nailer better aligned during the course of nailing a hardwood floor. The tool will no longer wobble as it now has a seat into which it lays. It becomes more balanced. An added benefit is the shoe provides better surface protection of the new hardwood. This is particularly important when installing factory finished flooring. In other words, the likelihood of premature scratching from the actual nailer is reduced.

Related Link: http://www.originalnailershoe.com/images/sweezy.pdf

Interesting Ways To Find Websites

I had a long list of funny search queries I put together five years back, but as luck would have it; gone in one of my numerous computer crashes. Use Firefox...Yes I do..now.

What's a Search Query?

It's the words you type into a search box. In order to find out what people are searching for you need a stats program. Google analytics (tough word to spell) is a freebie that's used for this blog, but I've been hooked on www.sitestats.com since 2003 for the main site. Not all stats programs are created equal but having one for six years is great for comparing and improving your website traffic.

Here's a funny search query. I wonder what was on this persons mind?

"installing hardwood floors yourself sucks"

Initially I thought I would not see the visitor spending much time looking around, but sitestats shows where the person went and to what page after landing on the website. Maybe it was a he trying to please the wife? "Look honey, this guy says it does suck, let's hire a pro"

They were a previous visitor from October 16 while spending 38 minutes the first time, 18 minutes another time and today 23 minutes. Folks will tell you keywords are important to be seen in search engines, but "sucks" does not exist on the site anywhere. Maybe it's that semantic search stuff Google has been working on that got the person to the site. Actually I have a better idea how it ranked or how the term ranked well. Hey, I'm not tellin:)

Some folks don't spend much time trying to get a search query right. You have to wonder what are they are actually looking for.

"can i sanding cork?"

Huh? Yes. I know what you mean

"diy floor sanding australia"

Well, sure you can do it down under.

"hand scraped wood floor with pegs china"

I guess they have pegs in China. Yea..I know what they were looking for.

"examples of door trim while tiling a floor"

What am I, John Bridge? It's a tile forum

"pecan ahrdwood flooring"

Hey I do it too. Many, many times...misspell words. I found it interesting someone from Google stated 20% of the searches people do on their site have never been used before. I thought that was astounding until I thought of my own habits. Most of it must be from misspellings?

That's just a sampling from this morning.

Engineered Floating Wood Floors - Kahrs Hardwood

Here's an article I wrote almost two years ago for this blog but never got around to putting it up.

12/20/07

Upon starting this product review category I thought, okay tone it down, give people what they want; honest reviews of a product. Running a small online business(as of December 2007) that sells these products while offering a fair opinion is not an easy task. It didn't take me long to come up with a product that probably ranks the highest in this category.

I'll be straightforward, we do not sell much of the Kahrs product online these days because of the pricing. Other competitors are happy to make 30 cents on a product that costs about $ 3.70. It is likely to be the leader in it's field when it comes to lack of consumer claims. Or at least that was our experience when we did sell a lot of it. Others that fit this bill are Mirage(which we'll get to at a later date) and Lauzon. The latter of which we cannot provide a review because frankly we cannot get a sales rep to call on us.

Kahrs has several lines, most of which are the Woodloc installation system. Woodloc is their own proprietary name for their locking mechanism. The beauty of the Woodloc is it provides a wonderful square edge appearance once installed, opposed to many of the beveled products out there today.

Square edge is the appearance of what one board adjacent to another looks like when installed. It becomes a near seamless fit, similar to a traditional floor that is installed, sanded, and finished.

Kahrs offers three different appearances in their Woodloc line. All are approximately 8 inches in width, with some being slightly different as they are manufactured in different facilities in Europe. In pricing terms, the narrower the width the lower retail cost.

• Three Strip- three strips across the face of the board apprx 2 5/8" wide(shown above)


• Two Strip- two"strips"(planks) across the face of the board apprx 4" wide


• One Strip- one "strip"(plank) makes up the whole board or 8" wide

October 25, 2009- Back in March I also put together a video on Kahrs and their other lines. I shelved it until September because I wasn't happy with how it came out. Not being able to find the original video draft file I could not change it. Upon looking at it I thought, "what the heck it's not that bad..." I was really nit picking, but it doesn't have the lighting I'm after with "action shots."

Since that time the two strip has been discontinued. It took too long to start a new video, so I just let it ride. Many of their products are now manufactured in the US instead of Europe. Surprisingly, Kahrs has also jumped on the made in Asia bandwagon as the new Spirit Collection is manufactured there.



Another video, from Kahrs directly, dealing with installation of their products.

Very informative for those seeking how to.