D03C - MATERIAL GUIDES - HARDWOOD FLOORING
D03C-1 Hardwood
D03C-2 Solid hardwood flooring
D03C-3 Engineered hardwood flooring
D03C-4 Laminate flooring
D03C-5 Hardwood sports flooring
D03C-6 Specialty hardwood flooring
D03C-7 Hardwood flooring edges
D03C-8 Hardwood flooring textures and patterns
D03C-9 Hardwood flooring molding, trims, and accessories
D03C-10 Hardwood stairs
D03C-11 Hardwood flooring underlayments
D03C-12 Hardwood flooring adhesives
D03C-13 Hardwood flooring fastenings
D03C-14 Special installation systems
D03C-15 Special installation requirements
D03C-16 Hardwood finishing
D03C-2 Solid hardwood flooring
D03C-3 Engineered hardwood flooring
D03C-4 Laminate flooring
D03C-5 Hardwood sports flooring
D03C-6 Specialty hardwood flooring
D03C-7 Hardwood flooring edges
D03C-8 Hardwood flooring textures and patterns
D03C-9 Hardwood flooring molding, trims, and accessories
D03C-10 Hardwood stairs
D03C-11 Hardwood flooring underlayments
D03C-12 Hardwood flooring adhesives
D03C-13 Hardwood flooring fastenings
D03C-14 Special installation systems
D03C-15 Special installation requirements
D03C-16 Hardwood finishing
Preface:
This study guide covers solid strip, plank, and parquet hardwood and engineered (or laminated) flooring and related materials. The information given is a guide only and cannot fully cover all aspects of such flooring and its installation. Specifiers and/or persons selecting such products should verify all facts relative to the particular project requirements.
This study guide does not cover laminate wood flooring which is included under Part E03C - Material Guide (Laminate Flooring).
To fully understand how to choose hardwood flooring for a residential, commercial, or an institutional installation, a thorough knowledge of hardwood species, grades, finishes, and related materials as well as types of installation systems and methods is essential. The following information is offered as a guide only and will hopefully assist all those who have to deal with this type of flooring (designers, suppliers, installers, Owners, etc.) in becoming more aware of the issues concerned in choosing an appropriate hardwood type, finish, and installation method required to suit a project's requirements.
This study guide covers solid strip, plank, and parquet hardwood and engineered (or laminated) flooring and related materials. The information given is a guide only and cannot fully cover all aspects of such flooring and its installation. Specifiers and/or persons selecting such products should verify all facts relative to the particular project requirements.
This study guide does not cover laminate wood flooring which is included under Part E03C - Material Guide (Laminate Flooring).
To fully understand how to choose hardwood flooring for a residential, commercial, or an institutional installation, a thorough knowledge of hardwood species, grades, finishes, and related materials as well as types of installation systems and methods is essential. The following information is offered as a guide only and will hopefully assist all those who have to deal with this type of flooring (designers, suppliers, installers, Owners, etc.) in becoming more aware of the issues concerned in choosing an appropriate hardwood type, finish, and installation method required to suit a project's requirements.
1 • HARDWOOD
.01 What is Hardwood:
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.02 Hardwood Species
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.03 Hardwood Grading:
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2 • SOLID HARDWOOD FLOORING
.01 Solid hardwood flooring is milled from hardwood or softwood into strip or plank form, or cut into fillet strips and assembled into tile form (parquet).
Solid hardwood strip and plank flooring is produced in various thicknesses and widths in random lengths from 300 mm (12") to 2135 mm (84") although longer lengths may be available in some species and grades. Solid parquet fillets are cut to appropriate sizes to suit tile requirements. This type of solid flooring material can be site or pre-finished and because of its thickness can be refinished or recoated several times during its lifetime. Note in regard to Availability: In all cases the thicknesses, widths, lengths, edge and top face details for both solid and engineered strip, plank, and parquet flooring as noted herein must be verified with the applicable grading association for the species and grade selected. Note in regard to Installation: "Solid" hardwood flooring is sensitive to moisture and the installation of it is not recommended on concrete substrate surfaces on or below grade levels. .02 Solid Strip Flooring: These are solid hardwood strips (material less than 75 mm (3") in nominal width) that are designed to be installed in parallel rows. Typically they are all of the same width but may also be combined with planks. |
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.03 Solid Plank Flooring: These are solid hardwood planks in nominal widths from 75 mm (3") to 200 mm (8") that are designed to be installed in parallel rows. Plank flooring can be combined with strip flooring and/or in alternate widths and/or random lengths.
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.04 Solid Parquet Flooring: This type of flooring consists of small wood slats or fillets of solid hardwood assembled in units or "tiles" that may consist of individual squares, or units with slats arranged in various patterns, or with slats of same or contrasting species.
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.05 Self-Adhesive Solid Parquet Flooring: This type of flooring consists of parquet flooring panels as noted above complete with a self-adhesive (peel and stick) backing. The design authority must verify all requirements (e.g., species, patterns, etc.) and availability of this type of parquet flooring with suppliers before use.
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3 • ENGINEERED HARDWOOD FLOORING
.01 Engineered flooring (also referred to as laminated not laminate flooring) consists of a décor or pattern layer of either sawn solid hardwood or a rotary peeled or flat cut slice of hardwood veneer bonded to a plywood core with plies at right angles to the grain of the top and bottom layer, a core layer of either plywood (with plies at right angles to grain of top and bottom layer), medium density fibreboard (MDF), or high density fibreboard (HDF), and a bottom balancing layer. This minimum three-layer assembly is adhesive bonded together in accordance with manufacturer's requirements using heat and pressure as applicable.
.02 Engineered wood flooring is manufactured in single strips or planks, multiple strip and/or plank panels, and in parquet form using a wide variety of domestic and exotic hardwood species. This type of flooring is either pre-finished (sawn or veneer slice décor layer types) or unfinished (sawn décor layer only) and may be installed as a floating assembly with friction fit ("locked" or "clicked") joints, or may be mechanically fastened (i.e., stapled or nailed), or glued to an approved substrate as recommended by the manufacturer. .03 The types of engineered wood flooring having a thin veneer layer can be screened (lightly sanded) and re-coated but usually cannot be sanded and refinished again once they become worn. Engineered wood flooring having a thicker layer of hardwood can be screened and recoated or re-sanded and refinished a number of times depending on the thickness of the top layer. In either case, screening and recoating or sanding and refinishing engineered flooring must be verified with the manufacturer before attempted. .04 Standards: Engineered flooring is manufactured in both North American and Europe and its fabrication is therefore governed by a variety of standards, including the following: |
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.05 Availability: In all cases, thickness, widths, lengths, edge and top face details for engineered strips, planks, panels, and parquet flooring as noted herein must be verified with the applicable manufacturer / supplier for the species and grade selected.
.06 Installation: Engineered hardwood flooring may be installed above, on, or below grade BUT verify with specific product manufacturer for installation requirements where moisture may be a problem (i.e. on concrete substrate surfaces on or below grade levels). .07 Engineered Strip and Plank Flooring: These are single or multiple strips or planks assembled in accordance with requirements noted above that are designed to be installed in parallel rows. |
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.08 Engineered Parquet Flooring: This type of flooring consists of small slats or fillets of sawn hardwood as noted herein assembled in units or "tiles" that may consist of individual squares, or units with slats arranged in various patterns, or with slats of same or contrasting species.
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.09 Self-Adhesive Engineered Parquet Flooring: This type of flooring consists of engineered parquet flooring as noted above complete with a self-adhesive (peel and stick) backing. The design authority must verify all requirements (e.g., species, patterns, etc.) and availability of this type of parquet flooring with suppliers before use.
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4 • LAMINATE FLOORING
.01 This type of flooring should not be confused with engineered or laminated flooring.
.02 Refer to Part E03C - Material Guide for a description of this type of flooring material. |
5 • HARDWOOD SPORTS FLOORING
.01 Flooring: This type of flooring consists of solid hardwood strips on a resilient floor system assembly suitable for gymnasiums, auditoriums, indoor tennis, basketball, handball, squash, and racquet ball courts, stages, and dance / ballet studios. The installation may be permanent or portable (i.e., fully removable).
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.02 Sport Flooring System Assemblies: There are a variety of engineered systems used as part of a hardwood sports flooring installation over a concrete of wood floor substrate. These are intended to suit a variety of activities such as court games (basketball, volleyball, badminton, etc.), aerobics, gymnastics, dancing, as well as assembly purposes such as theatre productions, gymnasiums, auditoriums, convention centres, etc. Such systems are designed to meet specific and measurable performance, safety, and comfort criteria such as shock absorption, ball bounce, vertical and area deflection, surface friction, and rolling loads (as well as other design loads for bleachers, backstops, etc.)
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The following should be considered for any sports floor installation
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Note: The Design Authority must contact the hardwood sports flooring manufacturer or supplier for types of systems available to meet the necessary performance requirements. Some of these "subfloor systems" include:
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.03 Sports Flooring System Components:
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6 • SPECIALTY HARDWOOD FLOORING
.01 Strip Block Flooring: This type of flooring consists of selected kiln-dried edge grain wood blocks that are precision machined on four sides, turned on end (to expose end grain), and assembled with soft aluminium wire splines into flexible strips. Tongue and groove construction is also an option with some manufacturers.
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.02 Acrylic Impregnated Wood Flooring:
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This "pre-finished" type of flooring consists of a hardwood species which has been subjected to an acrylic impregnation process that uniformly dyes and permanently infuses a "built-in" acrylic finish to the hardwood. This process forces an acrylic plastic (methyl-acrylate monomer) into the full cell structure of the wood utilizing a vacuum / pressure cycle. Fire retardant additives may also be included during this impregnation process in order to provide a flame spread rating where required. After the wood is impregnated, the composite is subjected to further treatment to produce high abrasion resistance and hardness.
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.03 Reclaimed Hardwood Flooring: This type of flooring consists of hardwood strips and planks that are milled from salvaged / reclaimed lumber (timbers and lumber) or are remanufactured / re-milled from existing hardwood plank flooring. Such flooring may be sanded and factory or site finished. Those producing such flooring should be contacted in regard to the species and sizes available.
.04 Recycled Hardwood Flooring: This type of flooring consists of existing hardwood strips and planks that have been salvaged (removed) form one location and reinstalled and refinished in a new location. |
7 • HARDWOOD FLOORING EDGES
.01 Solid and engineered hardwood flooring (primarily planks) is milled with square, eased, or bevelled edges. The latter (eased and bevelled edges) serve a purpose in that when such boards are installed over irregular substrate surfaces the edges aid in eliminating "overwood" or slightly raised adjacent surfaces between boards. In addition hardwood manufacturers can produce bevelled edge boards faster than square edge, which in turn lowers their production costs (achieving consistently square edged material in a production run is more difficult).
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.02 Square Edges
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.03 Eased Edges
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.04 Bevelled Edges
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8 • HARDWOOD FLOORING TEXTURES AND PATTERNS
.01 Solid and engineered hardwood flooring (primarily planks) can be "textured" by various means to achieve a desired (usually antique) look. This may be achieved by a variety of methods:
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a. Hit or Miss:
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b. Wire Brushing:
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c. Handscraping:
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.02 In addition to texturing other ways to achieve variations in design may be used. This may be done in a number of ways: |
a. Mixed Widths:
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b. Patterned Layouts:
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This decorative method is used primarily with short pieces of strip flooring and parquet tile flooring. Hardwood strips may be installed in various pattern arrangements some of which include Monticello, Haddon Hall, Herringbone, Saxony, Canterbury, Rhombs, Basket Weave, Italian & Domino, and Chaucer patterns. Parquet tile can be laid in a chequer board or basket weave patterns. Refer to Part DD3 - Parquet Patterns for patterns.
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c. Mixed Species:
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d. Borders and Inlays:
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This method (usually used in strip flooring) uses thin strips of different coloured hardwood flooring that are usually inserted around the perimeter of the flooring to "frame" or define the area or field and customize the installation. This decorative trim may be simple or intricate in design, particularly at the corners. An intricate border calls for a simple field, and vice versa. Care should be exercised in keeping the border's width in scale with the floor area (room). For example, a 300 mm (12") wide border would be out of proportion with a 1200 mm (48") wide hallway.
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e. Bordering Inserts:
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This methods uses prefabricated "custom" or "standard" hardwood elements set into the field of flooring for special purposes or decorative effects. These may be "medallions" and other inlays that are either pre-manufactured or custom-made at the job site, and should always be installed after the floor is installed to ensure a properly tight fit. A router should be used to cut out the area needed for the medallion.
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f. Mixed Media:
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g. Painted or Stenciled Flooring:
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9 • HARDWOOD FLOORING MOLDINGS, TRIMS, AND ACCESSORIES
.01 Various hardwood moldings and trims are used in conjunction with hardwood flooring: Such mouldings are used to neatly terminate the floor where cut end may otherwise show and to cover necessary expansion gaps.
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- 1. Flush fit Reducer: Flush Fit Reducers finish even with the surface of the wood flooring and are used to transition between floors of different heights such as hardwood to low pile carpet, vinyl or ceramic.

2. Overlap Reducer: Overlap reducers are used in floating floor installations where an expansion gap is required. The overlapping portion covers the expansion gap.

3. T- Moldings: T-Moldings are installed as field expansion joints for long runs of flooring, to facilitate changes in direction of flooring materials and to separate floors at doorways. T-Moldings are used between floors that are of the same height. T-Moldings overlap the flooring and are used to cover (hide) the necessary expansion gap.

4. End Cap (Baby Threshold): End caps are used to terminate the flooring, hide cut ends and covering necessary expansion gaps.

5. Base Board (Skirting Board): Baseboard can be made from different materials such as solid wood or MDF and is installed to protect walls and to cover expansion gaps left at the perimeter of the installation.

6. Base Shoe or Quarter Round: Base shoe and Quarter Round moldings are a general finishing detail often used against existing baseboard, door thresholds or at kitchen cabinet gable ends and kick plates to cover expansion gaps.

7. Overlap Stair Nosing: Overlap stair nosing are usually used to terminate a floor at the top (landing) of a stair case. The overlap design allow an expansion gap to be built into the floor at this termination point so that necessary expansion and contraction can still occur within the floor system.

8. Flush Fit Nosing: Flush fit nosings are used to terminate glue down or nail down hardwood floors at the top (landing) of a stair case.

9. Floor Vents and Grilles: fixed or adjustable louvre type for hot and cold air circulation. These can be installed into the floor as a flush fit finish or overlap style.
10 • HARDWOOD STAIRS
.01 When included and required to match adjacent hardwood flooring installations, hardwood stair landings, stair treads / nosings, risers, stringers, and companion trims shall be provided by the hardwood flooring manufacturer: Such items include:
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.02 Material Criteria: The following shall govern when stair components are provided by the hardwood flooring manufacturer:
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11 • HARDWOOD FLOORING UNDERLAYMENTS
.01 Materials: There are a variety of materials that may be included as underlayments in order to fulfil the above noted use requirements:
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Note: underlayments for sports flooring systems are part of the flooring system and shall be as specified by the hardwood sports flooring manufacturer. |
.02 Performance Criteria: Material used as underlayments must be evaluated and selected with the following criteria in mind where appropriate:
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12 • HARDWOOD FLOORING ADHESIVES
.01 Adhesives:
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.02 Application:
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13 • HARDWOOD FLOORING FASTENINGS
.01 Fasteners
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.02 Installation:
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14 • SPECIAL INSTALLATION SYSTEMS
.01 Mechanical Systems: These are proprietary "floating" or "clip attached" installation systems that are available from some hardwood flooring manufacturers. .02 Glue-Less Systems: These are "proprietary" engineered hardwood flooring installation systems that use a mechanical (friction fit or locking) connection between boards or panels only (i.e., no adhesive is used). Note: The design authority should contact the hardwood or engineered flooring manufacturer or supplier for details and availability of such systems. .03 Installation: Installation of flooring components using these types of systems must be done in strict accordance with flooring manufacturer's written recommendations and NFCA minimum requirements. Such installations are usually done over an acoustical underlayment for absorption of any airborne or impact noise. .04 Removal: Removal of mechanical and glue-less flooring components may be easy or difficult, and/or may damage the flooring. Where such flooring is expected to be removed for one reason or another or for repair, etc., the ease of removal should be verified with the manufacturer before it is installed and appropriate tools and maintenance materials should be provided. |
15 • SPECIAL INSTALLATION REQUIREMENTS
.01 Radiant Heated Flooring Systems:The use of solid hardwood flooring over radiant heated flooring is subject to the hardwood flooring manufacturer's recommendations. As a general rule most hardwood flooring manufacturers do not recommend or will not warrant the installation of solid hardwood flooring over radiant heated floors (due to excessive shrinkage) but will recommend and warrant engineered flooring over such heating. .02 If solid hardwood flooring is being contemplated for use over radiant heated floors the following factors must be considered: |
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16 • HARDWOOD FINISHING
.01 For an explanation of site and factory finishing refer to Part D04D – Installation Guide - Finishing.
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END OF PART DO3C