Sunblock For My Floors?

Oh how we love to luxuriate in the suns rays and feel the warmth! Of course, we know that the sun's rays can be harmful to our skin and we should take precautions to protect our skin against the damage the sun can cause. Well, it's no different for hardwood floors!

Direct sunlight can cause floors to change shades. Some woods will fade and lighten, while other woods will will darken with sun damage. Protect your floors as you would your skin, just with a different form of sunblock:

• Hang window treatments to block out the sun.

• Rotate area rugs to help the floors age uniformly.

• Sheer drapes are great way to allow sunlight into the room, but block out the sun's harmful UV rays.

 If your floors have signs of sun damage, it is important to know the extent of the damage. For example, is it limited to just one or two board near a window or does it cover a wide expanse of the floor? Is the damage just surface deep or deep into the wood?

GR Flooring can assess the damage to your floors and make recommendations for repair. Give us a call to schedule an appointment.

Refresh Your Home for Spring!

Spring is a season of renewal and often sparks the desire for homeowners to redecorate or refresh their home. GR Flooring can help by installing or refinishing hardwood flooring. Don't forget, GR Flooring is the ONLY flooring company on Long Island that can offer Ultra Violet Curing so that your hardwood floors are IMMEDIATELY ready for furniture and footsteps!

Need some decorating inspiration? Here are some photos from the HGTV website. Take a look and give GR Flooring a call!

Distressed Wide Plank

Ebonized Hardwood

Brazilian Cherry

 

 

Reclaimed Wood

 

Want a Unique Looking Floor? Consider These Design Elements!

In our last blog, we discussed the different styles of wood to choose from when designing your home. In addition, there are many design elements to consider as well. These upgrades allow you to design an individual look that is unique to your home!

• Borders: Contrast can be added to the main area of the room by outlining the room in a contrasting darker species of wood. Borders may include multiple wood species, stone, marble, stainless steel, nickel and other metals.

• Medallions: Generally installed in the main field of the floor, such as foyers, medallions may incorporate multiple wood species and other materials such as stone, metal, or leather. Factory finished medallions can be routed into existing floors with minimal disruption. If you would like to add a personal touch, GR Flooring can help you choose the species and colors to fit your design idea.

• Hand-Distressing: This process is labor intensive and time consuming, but, creates a unique and antiqued appearance. Typically, the look is  achieved by hand-scraping with tools such as chisels, planes, wire brushes, awls, ice picks, and grinder.

• Painted Floors: Let your imagination run wild to design a truly individual and unique look! Your floor will be a piece of personal art. Create dramatic designs, patterns, country, formal, or anything you can imagine.

• Staining: Staining offers and affordable way to change the look of your floors. Light color stains can refresh old floors. Warm colored stains will produce traditional looks, while dark colored stains give a new look.

Spring is the season of renewal so get inspired and let GR Flooring help you create your new look!

Show Your Style!

Spring is a season of new beginnings and a time when many homeowners enjoy making home improvements. One of the best investments you can make in your home is to install hardwood flooring. Before you think that all hardwood flooring is the same, let us show you just a few of the many choices you have to make your floor unique.

Which wood species, grade, or cut will best fit your design idea and the purpose of the room? Should you use solid wood or engineered wood? Which finish will be best? We have discussed these in previous blogs and will be happy to advise you on the specific options you have for your home.

Now, though, let's talk about style. There are three styles of wood flooring:

• Strip Flooring: Ranging in size from 1 1/2" to 3" wide, strip flooring creates a linear effect which may make the room appear larger. Strip Flooring is often considered to be "traditional" wood flooring.

• Plank Flooring:  If you are looking for a more casual look, consider plank flooring. The width ranges in size from 3" to 7" and is also linear.

 

• Parquet Flooring: If a geometric, non-linear look is what you are after, parquet flooring may be for you. It varies in size and can create either simple or complex designs.

For more design ideas, stay tuned for our next blog which will discuss Design Elements.

Spring Cleaning? Don't Forget the Hardwood Floors!

Despite the cold temperature, Spring has officially arrived. So the spring cleaning begins! 

Spring cleaning typically brings to mind thoughts of window washing, drawer and closet clean outs, linen changes and more. For the enthusiastic spring cleaner, furniture and appliances may be moved and every nook and cranny may be scrubbed. 

Spring cleaning is all about freshening up your home so this is a great time to freshen up your floors! One of the best features of hardwood floors is the ability to refinish and bring out the shine. But who wants to deal with all of that hassle when the sun is shining and spring time activities await?

GR Flooring has the solution! The only Long Island company to use Ultra Violet Curing, we can have the entire process completed in one day! Our ultra violet curing technique instantaneously dries the floor allowing you to replace the furniture and rugs immediately. Just one day and your home returns to normal except that now you have gorgeous hardwood floors!

So let GR Flooring be a part of your spring cleaning! Call for an estimate on refinishing your floors with ultra violet curing and free up time to enjoy the spring!

Now For the Big Finish!

Deciding to install hardwood floors in your home or business is easy. They are beautiful, easy to care for, and can enhance any decor. The challenge, and the fun, is the plethora of choices to be made! Type of wood, solid or engineered wood, grade, cut, finish, design. It can be overwhelming, but GR Flooring is here to help make the process easier.

Here we will discuss the different types of finish you have to choose from:

Surface finishes are the most popular because they are water resistant, durable, and require minimal maintenance. Surface finishes come in many different types and are frequently referred to as urethanes or polyurethanes.

Ultra Violet Cured: Extremely durable and will last  two - three   times longer than any other finish. Resistant to scratches, scuffs, and black heel marks. No drying time required. Furniture and rugs can be moved back onto floor immediately.
Water-Based: Has a mild odor when applied, will dry within two to three hours and is very durable. Appearance is clear and will resist turning yellow over time.

 Oil-Based: Has a moderate odor when applied, will dry in 8 hours and is very durable. Appearance is amber in color.
                    
 Moisture-Cured: Has a strong odor when applied, will dry in about two to three hours in humid conditions, and is extremely durable and more moisture resistant than other surface finishes. Appearance is clear to amber.

With so many choices, let GR Flooring help you choose the best combinations and best style designs for your room!

   

Repair Common Wear and Tear on Hardwood Floors

Life happens and it will happen to your hardwood floors too. Luckily, with a little tender care hardwood floors can quickly recover.  Here are some tips to tackle common problems:

Floors Finished With Wax or Penetrating Stains

• Scratches - Wax the affected area using a soft, clean cloth.

• Dried Milk or Food Stains - Gently rub with a damp cloth, then rub dry and wax.

•  Heel Scuffs - Rub in a small amount of wax with fine steel wool and hand buff to a shine.

• Mold or Mildew - Rub with a wood cleaner using a soft, clean cloth.

Floors Finished With Ployurethane or Surface Finishes

• Scratches - Repair with a touch-up kit for urethane finishes.

• Dried Milk or Food Stains - Use a cleaner developed specifically for urethane finishes. For stubborn spots, scrub using the urethane cleaner and a scrub pad made for urethane floors.

• Heel Scuffs - Follow instructions for dried milk or food stains.

• Mold or Mildew - Use a cleaner developed for urethane finishes. If the mold or mildew lies beneath the surface finish, sand and refinish the area.

Go Green With Hardwood Floors!

Separate your garbage and recycle paper and plastics. Bring your own reusable bags to the supermarket. Change your lightbulbs to CFLs. Use reusable water bottles. These may be kind to the environment, but they require extra work from us. In fact many of the environmentally friendly steps we can take or products we can use require extra effort on our part or do not give us the same results we have come to be used to.

There is one environmentally friendly step we can take that will actually increase the beauty of our homes or workplaces. Install hardwood flooring! The United States Senate Resolution S. Res. 411recognizes hardwood as an environmentally preferable building material. Here are some facts:

• United States hardwood inventory has more than doubled in the past 50 years.

• Annual hardwood growth exceeds annual hardwood removals by a margin of nearly two to one. 

• Annual growth of hardwoods in the United States has exceeded annual removals since 1952.

• The Senate has mandated that United States hardwoods and products made from these hardwoods must be considered for construction in any program that promotes itself as environmentally friendly.

So, be kind to the environment and let GR Flooring beautify your home with hardwood floors!

Why All The Buzz About Ultra Violet Curing?

Have you heard the buzz about Ultra Violet Curing? It is a fantastic process which allows you to beautify your home with little hassle and GR Flooring is the ONLY company on Long Island who can provide it to you! What is it? A process to refinish your hardwood floors with NO DOWNTIME! Here are a few of the benefits of UV Curing:

• NO DOWN TIME!

• FLOORS CURE INSTANTLY

• FURNITURE AND AREA RUGS CAN BE PLACED BACK THE SAME DAY

• VOC COMPLIANT

• LOW ODOR

• NON-YELLOWING

• PET FRIENDLY

  Call GR Flooring to learn about UV Curing and how we can help make your hardwood floor dreams come true!

Why Natural Wood?

Sparkling Pointe Winery Southold NY

What is it about natural wood that we find so appealing?  What makes it so luxurious?

Let's take a look at it where it comes from: Nature.  We as humans have a natural attraction to nature.  It's universal just as laughter is.  In a world that is so often plastic and digital, from our computers and televisions to our phones, people want to come home and relax.  They want to be in touch with nature again, be reminded that not everything is cold.

Just as wood carvers take pride in their art, GR Wood Flooring takes great pride in their work.  Installing a natural wood floor, they are transforming your house into something much more.  They are making your house warmer, more natural, transforming it from a house to YOUR home. 

Aesthetics aside, you add value to your home when you add a wood floor. When you were house hunting, what was the first thing your real estate agent did when he saw a carpet?  Take a look underneath to see if there were hard wood floors.

When floors are done properly, they make your house into a home, add value and can last years.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact GR Wood Flooring.

Decorating a Baby's Nursery

Our wonderful little addition to the GR Flooring family has us engrossed in the world of all things baby! We thought this would make a perfect opportunity to share some pictures of nurseries decorated with hardwood flooring. 

There are a number of advantages of decorating a child's room with hardwood floors. First is the mess factor. Babies, infants, and toddlers are messy little humans! Everything from biological matter to play doh will eventually wind up on the floor. Hardwood floors will make clean up easier. Also, hardwood floors make it easier and less expensive to change the look of the room as the child grows up. It is easy to go from Winnie the Pooh to Star Wars without worrying about the matching the color of the carpet. Just change or add a throw rug to make the look complete. Here are some cute rooms we found!

Decorating Rooms with Hardwood Floors for the Holidays!

One of the benefits of having hardwood floors is the ease in changing a rooms decor. As the air turns colder and we enjoy the holiday season, many people will be changing up the look of their home.

One way to instantly change the feel of a room, is to change the rugs. Area rugs in warm, deep colors can help a room feel cozy and inviting. Throw rugs in holiday themes can infuse holiday spirit in to the home. Throw pillows and blankets can coordinate with the rugs to complete the easy transformation. 

Here are some pictures of rooms decorated for the holidays to inspire you!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM 

GR FLOORING!

Thanksgiving and Harwood Floors

So much effort goes into creating a warm and welcoming home for the holidays. Friends and family sit back, relax, and enjoy all the fruits of your labor while you sit nervously hoping no damage comes to your home. You deserve to relax and enjoy too!  Here are some tips to ease your worry!

• Welcome your guests at the door with a basket of warm slippers. Ask that your guests remove their shoes and make themselves comfortable. The slippers provide warmth and encourage relaxation while reducing the amount of dirt tracked inside and scratches from shoes.
• Spills happen! Ask your guests to let you know about spills as soon as they happen to reduce damage to hardwood floors.
• Catch the spills before they hit the hardwood floor. Place a large rug under the dining room table and all areas where people will be eating. Felt pads placed on table and chair legs will also help prevent scratching the floor.
• Clean floors immediately after guests leave. 

If damage does occur, don't worry.  GR Flooring can help! Our UV Curing method can even refinish your floors with NO DOWNTIME! Have questions on how to protect your hardwood flooring?  Give us a call!

From our families to yours, Happy Thanksgiving!

Hardwood Floor Repair After Hurricane Sandy

The residents of Long Island were hit hard by Hurricane Sandy last week.  As a Long Island based business, GR Flooring saw first hand the damage and destruction the storm caused. Our thoughts and best wishes go out to everyone who has been affected.

If your home or business has sustained damage to hardwood flooring, please give us a call. We will determine if the floor needs to be replaced or if it can be repaired. We are the only flooring company on Long Island that utilizes UV Curing which allows us to refinish a floor with NO DOWNTIME!  Let us help you return to life, and business, as usual.

Decorating Rooms with Dark Hardwood Floors

Your hardwood flooring has been installed and looks amazing! Enhance the beauty by coordinating the decor with the shade of the flooring. Light shades are relatively simple and many people find it easy to decorate a room with light flooring.  The darker shades are the ones that sometimes result in a challenge.  GR Flooring has some tips to decorating a room with sark hardwood flooring.

• Use color to make the room appear brighter. Choose a paint that has just a slight hue to it for the walls and paint the ceiling with a semi-gloss white.
• Light will also help the room appear larger and brighter. Use window treatments that allow light to filter through. Wall sconces, chandeliers, or high hats are good choices for adding light to the room as well.
• Accent pieces help add depth to the room. Reflective surfaces are a good choice. Hang mirrors and place metallic picture frames around the room. Choose rugs, pillows, throws, etc. in bright colors and add accent pieces with texture such as bamboo.

The accent pieces can easily be changed along with the seasons. Mix it up and enjoy a new look every few months!

Grades Make the Difference

Color and style are typically the choices most people think they will need to decide when choosing the hardwood flooring for their home. There are actually a number of variables which influence the how the wood looks.

The first variable to consider is the grade. The appearance of the wood determines its grade. Each grade offers a different look, but is equally strong and serviceable.

• Clear Wood - flooring product with minimal character marks that provides a uniform appearance.
• Select Wood - flooring product with natural heartwood/sapwood color variations that also includes knots, streaks, etc.
• Common Wood (No. 1 and No. 2) - more natural characteristics such as knots and color variations than either clear or select grades, and is often chosen because of these natural features and the character they bring to a room.  No. 1 Common has a varied appearance, light and dark colors, knots, streaks, and wormholes. No. 2 Common is rustic in appearance and emphasizes all wood characteristics of the species.
• First Grade - uniform appearance, natural color variations and limited character marks. It is similar to a select grade.
• Second Grade - varied in appearance and features knots and some variation in color. It is similar to a No. 1 Common Grade.
• Third Grade - rustic in appearance allowing all wood characteristics of the species. It is similar to a No. 2 Common Grade.

The specialists at GR Flooring can answer all of your questions and help you choose the right grade of wood for you!

Hardwood Flooring is Environmentally Friendly

Did you know that hardwood flooring is not only beautiful, but is also environmentally friendly? With a multitude of choices available, installing hardwood flooring in your home allows you to be creative and care for our environment at the same time!

Sustainable forest management allows wood to be harvested without causing serious harm to the environment due to the fact that trees are a renewable resource. Here are some facts taken from the National Wood Flooring Association's website:

• Average annual net growth for hardwoods is greater than average annual removals (Source: US Department of Agriculture Forest Service)
• Indoor air quality is better with wood floors (Source: US Environmental Protection Agency)
• Wood is a carbon neutral product that produces oxygen during its growth cycle and stores carbon during its service life (Source: University of Wisconsin Wood Products Program Solid Wood Flooring Life Cycle Analysis)
• Wood floors use less water and energy to produce than other flooring options (Source: University of Wisconsin Wood Products Program Solid Wood Flooring Life Cycle Analysis)
• At the end of its service life, wood flooring can be burned as fuel or recycled (Source: University of Wisconsin Wood Products Program Solid Wood Flooring Life Cycle Analysis)
• Wood floors last hundreds of years, so won’t need to be replaced as often as other flooring options (Source: National Association of Home Builders)
• While it takes most hardwood trees 40-60 years to mature, the inventory planted today won’t be needed for 100-plus years (Source: National Wood Flooring Association)
  Learn about installing hardwood flooring in YOUR home by calling GR Flooring and speaking with one of our professionals!

What is the Difference Between Solid and Engineered Hardwood Floors?

One frequent question we get at GR Flooring is, "what is the difference between solid hardwood floors and engineered hardwood floors?" Here is a quick explanation:

 Solid Hardwood Floors: Real wood from a hardwood species is the only material used in solid hardwood flooring. This flooring may be affected by environmental conditions such as extreme heat or rainy seasons which may cause the floor expand and contract. The thickness of the wood allows it to be sanded and refinished many times.




Engineered Hardwood Floors: This flooring is comprised of three or or more layers of HDF or MDF, with a real hardwood veneer, which are bonded together under heat and pressure. This means the wood is less likely to expand and contract in response to the climate.

Call GR Flooring to discuss the best option for your home!

Things to Do Before the Flooring Crew Arrives

Congratulations! You've decided to install new hardwood flooring or sand and refinish the existing flooring in your home. Here are some things to consider before the GR Flooring crew arrives:

• Will you live in your home while the work is being done? Consider how much of your living space will be affected. Is it just one room being done or the whole house? Will you be able to access and use the kitchen or should you plan on eating out? Will you have enough space for your family members to sleep? Will you have access to a t.v. and/or a computer for entertainment?
• Will you work out of your home while the work is being done? Can you work well with noise and activity going on around you?  Will the noise affect your ability to make and receive phone calls or participate in phone conferences?
• Do you have pets? If so, they will need to be restricted or confined so that they do not enter the work area.  We do not want them getting hurt or damaging the flooring as we work.
• All furniture will need to be removed from the work area. Be sure to get any items you may need during the process. Clothing, books, laptops, cell phones, chargers, wallets, keys, and any other items you may need. 
• Have you made arrangements for the crew to be let into the home?

The GR Flooring crews will hang plastic and take every measure to limit the amount of dust and debris in your home. Still, be prepared to do some follow up cleaning. With some forethought and planning, you can limit the inconveniences and enjoy your new flooring!

Water Conditioning Produces Rich, Dense Color on Hardwood Floors

One of the many benefits of hardwood flooring is the ability to sand and refinish it after years of use scratches and dulls it.  If you want a rich, dense color after staining, consider using water conditioning.

Sanding hardwood floors entails going over the surface many times using different grits of paper. This will make the floor smooth, but will close up the grain and make it tight. This matters because it will not allow the stain to soak into the wood. The result is that the stain will sit on top of the wood and much of it will be wiped away.

However, if you use the water conditioning process before staining, it will open up the grain.  Once open, the grain will accept the stain properly and evenly.  The final color will be much richer than if the wood had not been water conditioned and the finish will be stronger.

Ensure that you know exactly what the final color of your floor will be.  Ask to see samples of the stain on water conditioned flooring!

For more information, please call GR Flooring.