Acer Genus ORIGIN: The Acer genus (maple) family contains nearly 150 species. For the purpose of this feature, we will only focus on hard maple and soft maple. Hard maple includes sugar maple (Acer saccharum) and black maple (Acer nigrum). Soft maple includes silver maple (Acer saccharinum), boxelder (Acer negundo), and bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum)…. Read More
Fraxinus Genus ORIGIN: The Fraxinus genus (ash) family contains nearly 70 species. For this feature, we will focus only on white ash (Fraxinus Americana) and black ash (Fraxinus Nigra), two of the more-common ash species used in the flooring industry. White and black ash are found primarily in the eastern United States and into eastern… Read More
By Brett Miller, NWFA If there is one topic that seems to capture the attention of wood flooring professionals everywhere, it is moisture. Too much and wood floors can cup or even buckle. Too little and wood floors can gap or even split. The key to optimum long-term performance is to maintain moisture in just the right balance,… Read More
Humidification is a popular buzz word, especially this time of the year when we are in the height of the home heating season. Keeping a home properly humidified is critical for many reason, but especially to keep your new floor, whether laminate, engineered solid or wood solid, protected from damage associated with excessively dry conditions…. Read More
In 2000, the European Panel Industry set forward a series of standards regulating the amount of free formaldehyde an HDF, MDF or plywood panel can off-gas. In order to qualify for the standard, manufactures must submit samples of the panels they produce to independent laboratories. These laboratories put the panel samples in a chamber and… Read More
What is Formaldehyde? Formaldehyde is an organic chemical commonly used in many applications – from industrial disinfectants to certain kinds of fabric. Formaldehyde is also commonly found in the adhesives used to make engineered and laminate flooring. These adhesives will off- gas trace amounts of free formaldehyde into the air in decreasing concentrations over time…. Read More
Like most of you, we were surprised and disappointed to learn of the apparent deception employed by Volkswagen® of Germany. In an effort to pass US emissions tests, the automaker allegedly rigged the testing software to ensure that their automobiles registered lower pollution levels than what was actually the case. We wonder, if a major… Read More
Twelve Oaks is excited to present to you our new LooseLay Collection – an innovative line of Luxury Vinyl Planks (LVP). Compared to other vinyl flooring products on the market today, LooseLay floors boast superior dimensional stability, unparalleled sound absorption, and a soft comfortable underfoot –thanks to our advanced acoustic cushioning layer. Our products are… Read More
Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVP) and Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT) have made a significant entry within the hard surface flooring industry over the past few years. At Twelve Oaks, we are fortunate to have an excellent supplier of these products. Our supplier is new to the flooring industry and built a state-of-the-art plant in 2010. A… Read More
Moisture and humidity are archenemies of flooring, especially hardwood flooring. To learn how to properly advise our end-users, we’ve asked Drew Kern, a NWFA certified flooring inspector to share his views on this matter. Drew advised that many times after getting involved in a claim I hear that a dealer, installer or service rep has… Read More
