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Showing posts from October, 2022

The History of Hardwood Flooring

In 2022, Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVP) may be king, but nothing exudes opulence and royalty like an early 17th century hardwood floor. The earliest and finest examples date back to the late 16th century. During this time, hardwood floors were afforded only by royalty. For example, just outside Paris at the Palace of Versailles, is perhaps one of the world’s most recognized and historic hardwood floors. The Parquet de Versailles pattern in Hall of Mirrors was designed for King Louis XIV. In the late 1670’s the King’s Grand Apartment was badly in need of renovation. The joists were rotting and the marble needed to be replaced. Creating this floor was a painstaking and arduous process, that took many years to complete. Made from hand-hewn timber, the master-craftsman spent time hand-forging nails and hand-scraping the floors. Large piles of sand were brought in, and the craftsman literally sanded the floors by hand. The floors were then finished and buffed with wax. Over two decades later in 1

ASTM F2170 (RH) “Concrete Moisture Testing”

ASTM F2170 (In-Situ) “Rh”  Concrete Moisture Testing  Is an industry standard in the floor covering world, yet so many choose to ignore it. We here it all the time, no, we do not do any moisture testing for Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVP). We just use plastic underneath. “That’s what they are telling us to do”…. This poses an ever greater problem. Great, lets just trap all the moisture in the slab and have a mushroom field underneath. That sounds great! Mold in the walls and baseboards, who cares, right? I hear it more often than you think.  After reading competitors installation instructions well into the night hours, I’ve come to this same conclusion over and over again. ASTM F2170 is required across all segments of the floor covering world, with the exception of residential carpet. Now, this is nothing new, and I’ve been saying all of this for years… It’s all about doing things right from the very beginning. So many problems could be avoided, if people would just “do the right thing”… Star