Toronto Hardwood Floors - Hardwood Flooring Services in Toronto

Proffessional Hardwood Flooring Services.

Toronto hardwood flooring, hardwood floor installation, hardwood floor repairs, hardwood flooring renovations. Serving Toronto GTA, Mississauga and the rest of Ontario

Hardwood Flooring Tips from the Professionals

Hardwood Flooring tips from the professionals.

Hardwood Flooring Tips

Hardwood Floor Installation, Repairs & Maintenance

About Wood Floors
How to Maintain a Wood Floor
Hazards in Hardwood Floor Installation and Refinishing

About Wood Floors

Wood is one of the most popular flooring materials due to its warmth, beauty and durability. Wood can add a feeling of permanence, quality, and liveliness to any room, and if properly installed it will last the lifetime of the house. With time it will only look better as it takes on the patina of age. If it is well protected and well cared for it will never have to be refinished.

The natural resilience of wood makes it comfortable to walk on. Wood also makes a great insulating material. When it comes to design, wood is flexible as well. Floors can be simply finished to show off the natural grain, or they can be stained, bleached, or painted to add pattern and character and enhance the beauty of the wood.

WOOD	DESCRIPTION	TEXTURE	COLOR	GRAIN
MAPLE	Durable and hard underfoot. Beautifull light color.	Fine texture	Light honey to near white	Fine and close
WHITE OAK	Darker in finish than red oak. Very hard. Similar to red oak in working and finishing charakteristics.	Medium density	Light to yellow	Straight to highly figured
RED OAK	Beautifull light red tone of natural finish. Most popular flooring wood. Can be stained in any color. Qualities: No.2, No.1, Select, Clear(the best).	Medium density	Tan to light pink	Highly figured
REDWOOD	Prone to splintering. Rich, deep color when sealed.	Low to medium density; gains patina of dents	Pink to rosy	Flat grain wavy and open; vertical grain very straight
TEAK	Contains natural moisture resistant oils. Best finished with oil base polyurethane.	Smooth texture; high density	Light to dark browns and reds	Generally straight and uniform; some species have wild grain
DOUGLAS FIR	Vertical grain stains uniformly. Flat grain takes stain unevenly.	Flat grain variable and uneven density; vertical grain smooth and even texture	Golden orange	Flat grain wavy and open; vertical grain very straight
PINE	Soft and easy to scratch. Best material for subfloors. Looks beautiful especially in wide planks.	Low to medium density; gains patina of dents	White to golden	Vertical or flat; open
PECAN	Hardest wood flooring. Spieces are interchangable.	Hard texture; high density	Honey brown to light pink	Character marked; open
WALNUT	Takes finish coats uniformly. Makes attractive borders and accent strips.	Hard texture; high density	Reddish or chocolate brown to light tan	Straight to highly figured; burly

How to Maintain a Wood Floor

Here are some tips on maintaining your wood floor:

Don't Damp Mob
Use only the manufacturer's recommended cleaning products on your hardwood floor. Water and wood floors don't mix!

Wipe spills immediately.
When accidents happen you should use a slightly damp white clothe, or paper towel to immediately clean up and dry the effected area. Ffollow the manufacturer's recommended cleaning procedures for more difficult cleaning.

Do not wax a Urethane Floor
Never use a wax on a polyurethane finish. The wax will cause a sticky film to build up on your floor, allowing any dirt tracked onto it to stick. Iit also makes the floor almost impossible to re-coat later with a fresh coat of polyurethane because polyurethane will not adhere to wax.

Use chair glides
Furniture legs can scratch and dent hardwood flooring and turning your new floor into an old worn floor. Use felt protectors or furniture coasters under all feet on any furniture that rest directly on the hardwood floor. For larger objects such as a piano, use rubber cups. In place of metal or hard plastic wheel or ball casters use barrel casters.

Vacuum Regularly
Vacuum using a soft bristle brush attachment. Small stones, mud, and dirt tracked in from outside can damage the wood floor finish. Have people to wipe their feet on a mat before entering to help combat this.

Hazards in Hardwood Floor Installation and Refinishing

Solvent-based products are often highly flammable and/or combustible and pose a significant risk of fire and explosion. When improperly handled they may cause health effects in workers. The hardwood floor installation and finishing process usually involves the use of three kinds of products:

An adhesive is used to apply wood flooring to concrete or other types of sub-floor.
A sanding sealer mixed with sawdust is applied to the sanded wood surface.
A varnish is applied as a top coat as soon as the sanding sealer has dried.

The following hazards may be presented with i mproper handling of these products:

Fire or Explosion

A significant build-up of vapours in poorly ventilated areas causes a fire hazard. Sparks or open flames can ignite the vapours, causing a fire or explosion.

Inhalation of Vapours

These products contain organic solvents and other substances. W orkers can be exposed to high levels of solvent or other vapours if the products are improperly handled. Prolonged and repeated exposure to high levels of these vapours may produce serious health effects.

Direct Skin Contact

Direct contact with these products can cause skin sensitization. Enough absorption through the skin could cause adverse systemic health effects.

Even though the installation or refinishing of a hardwood floor may be considered a simple do-it-yourself task, for the above reasons, we recommend you leave it to us professionals. At Zibbie Cimes Hardwood Flooring, we know how to deal with these products

Zibbie Cimes Hardwood Flooring Toronto services include: Hardwood floor installations, hardwood floor repairs, hardwood flooring and refinishing, hardwood floor renovation, parquet floor installation, stair repairs, Toronto GTA hardwood flooring, old hardwood floor removal and more. Zibbie Cimes Hardwood Flooring is located in Toronto, but serves the entire Greater Toronto Area, Mississauga, Brampton and as far as Newmarket. Distance is no matter, we will travel from Toronto to your location and refinish, install, sand or repair your hardwood floor or parquet.