Hardwood Floor Manufacturers Basics

hree easy steps to select a hardwood floor manufacturer for your flooring projects

By Virginia Franco, Freelance Writer
A wood floor always seems to stay in vogue and, when in top shape, can increase a property's value. Builders and design professionals can choose from wood floor manufacturers that produce everything from exotic materials like bamboo wood flooring to more traditional types such as a cherry wood floor or even engineered wood flooring that use less trees in their making.

The selection and purchasing process for wood flooring can be complicated and choosing between hardwood flooring manufacturers even more so. Consider the three steps below to help you better understand hardwood floor manufacturers basics:

1. Select the material and type of wood floor that meets your needs.

2. Measure your room to determine how much wood your project requires.

3. Comparison shop hardwood floor manufacturers to find the best value.

 

Select the material you require for your wood floor project

Today's hardwood floor manufacturers offer a variety of products. The type you select will depend on the look you are striving for, your client's tastes, as well as the traffic a particular area will receive. The type of wood you choose, along with the finish you select, will impact the durability of the floor.
Try: Hardwood Flooring Guide's website lists the differences between unfinished and prefinished products. The Wood Floor Covering Association's website includes a listing of the hardness of specific types of wood as scored by the Janka Hardness Test.

Measure the area to determine how much wood floor materials your project requires

Measure the width and length of each room and multiply the two to determine its square footage. Where hardwood floor installation is concerned, a "waste factor" of an additional 10-15% must be added to the square footage total to account for extra angles.
Try: Advanced Floorcovering offers a step-by-step floor calculator guide. Floor Covering Soft offers free trials on floor estimating software that targets design professionals, contractors and multi-home builders.

Compare prices among hardwood floor manufacturers

Once the hardwood floor material has been decided upon and the quantity calculated, it is time to comparison shop. There are dozens of manufacturers from which to choose, so reviewing a directory of manufacturers that specialize in the type of flooring you have selected is a great place to start.
Try: FloorFacts has a guide that compares various hardwood floor manufacturers and the types of wood flooring that they provide. Wood Floors Online's website includes a listing of hardwood and wood flooring manufacturers and provides a brief description of the products they manufacture.

 

  • Consider discount wood flooring outlets and hardwood floor manufacturers that offer factory direct pricing on flooring materials. These places eliminate the middle man in the purchasing process and the savings are passed directly to you and your clients.