Shop For Hardwood Flooring In NJ

With Floors Direct you can conveniently shop for designer quality solid hardwood and engineered hardwood flooring from the comfort of your home or office or at our boutique showroom in Bedminster, NJ.

Hardwood floors add warmth and beauty and help increase your home’s value. Work with a professional consultant to select the style that you’ve been dreaming of. Our team of expert hardwood installers will exceed your expectations. We also provide professional sanding and refinishing of floors and stairs

Two Main Types- Which Type Do You Need?

It’s good to learn a little about the different types of hardwood flooring before you begin floor shopping. Aside from the many different species of wood that you can choose from, whether you want a gloss or matte finish, whether you want wide or varied board widths, and of course the color selection, there are two main types of hardwood flooring construction that you must understand, solid and engineered.

Solid Wood Flooring

In most cases, solid wood flooring will be 3/4″ thick. Depending on the species, the style, and the manufacturer, you will typically find solid hardwood flooring in various widths around 2 1/4″, 3 1/4, and 5″, give or take. Solid wood floors can be refinished multiple times.

Pre-finished solid wood flooring comes from the factory with multiple coats of proprietary high tech finishes. Some contain aluminum oxide, or titanium, and some are just Pure Genius (see video below). They should not wear through for a minimum of 25-35 years depending on the manufacturer and of course the wear and tear. With proper care and maintenance, they will last a lifetime.

Engineered Wood Flooring

If you want to install hardwood floors over a concrete slab or particle board subfloor, then you must use engineered wood flooring. Engineered wood floors are a great option even if you’re not on a slab. The general consensus among professionals is that they are as good as, or better than, solid wood.

They are typically constructed with a solid wood, multi-ply, or MDF core. A veneer of prefinished (real) hardwood is attached as the wear layer. This type of construction makes engineered wood more dimensionally stable than solid wood. Engineered hardwood floors do not expand and contract as much as solid wood floors. This allows for wider plank widths. It is not uncommon today to see styles that come in 7″ & 9″ widths.

Engineered floors range in total thickness from 3/8″ up to 9/16″ depending on the manufacturer and style. With this type of wood flooring construction you can also find styles that incorporate multiple species and multiple textures or treatments.

Engineered wood floors are generally installed by being glued down or floated over the existing subfloor. When floating a floor over concrete it is necessary to use an underlayment with a moisture barrier. Different underlayments may also have varying degrees of acoustic sound dampening properties that make the floating floor quieter when walked on.

Objection: Engineered wood floors can’t be sanded and refinished.

Answer: Most quality, engineered wood flooring, comes with around a 25 year finish warranty, the same as most pre-finished solid wood floors. You will probably want to change the style of your floor long before you would wear it out. In addition, if you bought a style that had a distressed look or hand scraped texture, sanding and refinishing would remove that look or texture.

Will there be moisture in the room?

If you are considering flooring for a bathroom where continuous moisture is expected, you will want to select a product other than hardwood. While the moisture resistance of an engineered hardwood makes it suitable for rooms below grade or ground level when installed with a moisture barrier, it is not advisable to install any hardwood flooring in a full bathroom. We recommend waterproof luxury vinyl plank for any wet areas.