Why hardwood flooring?
Ease of maintenance
Maintenance of today's wood floors is easy. New technology in stains and finishes call for regular cleaning that takes little more than sweeping and/or vacuuming, with occasional use of a professional wood floor cleaning product. You will want to use a cleaning product recommended by your flooring manufacturer, installer, or another wood flooring professional. This will ensure that you use the proper cleaner for your type of flooring and finish.
Ecological
Wood floors are ecologically friendly. Since it is a natural resource, wood is both renewable and recyclable. Many of yesteryear's old wood ships, warehouses, barns, and other structures often find a second life in wood flooring. And, because wood does not collect dust and other allergens, many leading health associations agree that wood floors are the perfect choice for a healthy home.
Types of Wood Floors
The two types of wood floors available in today's market are solid and engineered.
Solid Wood Floors
Solid wood flooring is exactly what the name implies: a solid piece of wood from top to bottom. The thickness of solid wood flooring can vary but generally ranges from 3/4" to 5/16". One of the many benefits of solid wood flooring is that it can be sanded and refinished many times. Solid wood flooring can be installed above or on grade.
Engineered Wood Floors
Engineered wood floors are real hardwood floors that are manufactured using three to nine layers of different wood veneers. The sub-layers can be of the same species, or of different species. The grain of each layer runs in different directions, which makes it very stable. This means that the wood will expand and contract less than solid wood flooring with fluctuations in humidity and temperature. The top layer of engineered wood flooring consists of high-quality wood. While this type of flooring can be sanded and finished, it cannot be refinished as many times as solid wood flooring. Engineered wood flooring can be installed above, on, or below grade.
Brands We Carry
We proudly offer quality hardwood flooring from the brands that you love, like Shaw, Anderson Tuftex, and Mohawk. Shop our impressive selection of hardwood flooring today.







Hardwood Flooring Construction Basics
Solid Hardwood Flooring
Solid hardwood flooring, as it sounds, is milled from a single thick piece of hardwood. Because of its thickness of ¾", solid hardwood floors can be sanded and refinished over several generations of use. One of the characteristics of solid wood flooring is that it will expand and contract with changes in relative humidity. For this reason, installers compensate for this movement by leaving an expansion gap between the floor and the wall. Base molding or quarter round traditionally is used to hide the gap. It is not recommended to install Solid Hardwood directly over a concrete slab.
Engineered Hardwood Flooring
Engineered flooring is actually produced with three to five layers of hardwood. Each layer is stacked in a cross-grain configuration and bonded together under heat and pressure. As a result, engineered wood flooring is less likely to be affected by changes in humidity and can be installed at all levels of the home.
Most Hardwood flooring offers two different engineered constructions
Engineered with Hardwood Core
Engineered with High-Density Fiberboard Core
Before Deciding on Solid or Engineered Hardwood Flooring, Here Are Some Important Factors For Your Consideration
Location, Location, Location, Location...
The location of installation for your hardwood flooring basically falls into three categories:
On Grade – at ground level.
Above Grade – any second level or higher.
Below Grade – any floor below ground level, including basements or sunken living rooms.
What Type of Sub-Floor Do You Have?
If you plan to install over concrete, you will need to use an engineered product to ensure structural integrity. Solid wood flooring or Engineered flooring may be used over plywood, wood, or OSB sub-floors.
Will There Be Moisture in the Room?
If so, you'll want to select an engineered hardwood. The moisture resistance of an engineered hardwood makes it suitable for rooms where moisture is a possibility, such as bathrooms.
Janka Wood Hardness Rankings
The Janka Hardness Test measures the capacity of a wood to withhold pressure. This is done by measuring the amount of force required to insert a 11.28 millimeter (.444 inches) diameter steel ball half its diameter deep into the wood. Doing so creates a circular indention with an area of 100 square millimeters. These particular data are expressed in pounds-force (lbf), and are side hardness data. This means that the testing was done on the surface of a plank, with the force exerted perpendicular to the grain.
Please note this is just a partial list that contains some of the more popular choices of wood flooring as well as some of the more exotic species that Atlanta Flooring Design Centers carries.
Wood Flooring Species | Hardness |
Ipe / Brazilian Walnut / Lapacho | 3684 |
Cumaru / Brazilian Teak | 3540 |
Ebony | 3220 |
Brazilian Redwood / Paraju | 3190 |
Angelim Pedra | 3040 |
Bloodwood | 2900 |
Red Mahogany / Turpentine | 2697 |
Spotted Gum | 2473 |
Brazilian Cherry / Jatoba | 2350 |
Mesquite | 2345 |
Santos Mahogany / Bocote / Cabreuva | 2200 |
Pradoo | 2170 |
Brushbox | 2135 |
Karri | 2030 |
Sydney Blue Gum | 2023 |
Bubinga | 1980 |
Cameron | 1940 |
Tallowwood | 1933 |
Merbau | 1925 |
Amendoim | 1912 |
Jarrah | 1910 |
Purpleheart | 1860 |
Goncalo Alves / Tigerwood | 1850 |
Hickory / Pecan / Satinwood | 1820 |
Afzelia / Doussie | 1810 |
Bangkirai | 1798 |
Rosewood | 1780 |
African Padauk | 1725 |
Blackwood | 1720 |
Merbau | 1712 |
Kempas | 1710 |
Locust | 1700 |
Highland Beech | 1686 |
Wenge / Red Pine | 1630 |
Tualang | 1624 |
Zebrawood | 1575 |
True Pine / Timborana | 1570 |
Peroba | 1557 |
Kambala | 1540 |
Sapele / Sapelli | 1510 |
Curupixa | 1490 |
Sweet Birch | 1470 |
Hard Maple / Sugar Maple | 1450 |
Coffee Bean | 1390 |
Natural Bamboo (represents one species) | 1380 |
Australian Cypress | 1375 |
White Oak | 1360 |
Tasmanian Oak | 1350 |
Ribbon Gum | 1349 |
Ash (White) | 1320 |
American Beech | 1300 |
Red Oak (Northern) | 1290 |
Carribean Heart Pine | 1280 |
Yellow Birch | 1260 |
Movingui | 1230 |
Heart Pine | 1225 |
Carbonized Bamboo (represents one species) | 1180 |
Cocobolo | 1136 |
Brazilian Eucalyptus / Rose Gum | 1125 |
Makore | 1100 |
Boreal | 1023 |
Black Walnut | 1010 |
Teak | 1000 |
Sakura | 995 |
Black Cherry / Imbuia | 950 |
Boire | 940 |
Paper Birch | 910 |
Cedar | 900 |
Southern Yellow Pine (Longleaf) | 870 |
Lacewood / Leopardwood | 840 |
Parana | 780 |
Sycamore | 770 |
Shedua | 710 |
Southern Yellow Pine (Loblolly and Shortleaf) | 690 |
Douglas Fir | 660 |
Larch | 590 |
Chestnut | 540 |
Hemlock | 500 |
White Pine | 420 |
Basswood | 410 |
Eastern White Pine |