Frequently Asked Questions

We do! We have a number of different choices for you that you won’t have to clean or maintain often. Hardwood flooring only needs to be swept and dry mopped on occasion. Then it only needs to be refinished every 6-10 years. Laminate, vinyl, and tile have similar properties. None of these flooring materials needs to be vacuumed or shampooed the way that carpet does. They also won’t soak up stains and smells the way carpet will.

Depending on your project, you have quite a few options for flooring. If you’re installing new flooring, you can choose between hardwood, laminate, vinyl, or tile. Those aren’t your only choices, though. If you opt for hardwood flooring, you’ll have the option to choose from unfinished, pre-finished, or engineered flooring. You can even go with a custom wood floor option. All of these options serve different purposes and have different advantages and disadvantages.

For example, if you’re putting in flooring in your basement, you’ll want to use laminate, vinyl, or engineered hardwood flooring. These options are more resistant to moisture than traditional hardwood flooring. If you’re choosing flooring for your kitchen, you’ll want to pick an option that can be more easily maintained and is more resistant to spills, stains, and scratches. Unfinished hardwood, laminate, and tile are all suitable for this kind of project.

Laminate is a type of layered synthetic flooring. It can be made to simulate wood, tile, or any number of other patterns. When we install laminate flooring, we install it in single strips or sheets. It provides an inexpensive alternative to hardwood flooring, though it can be more easily damaged than some other options.

Vinyl flooring is a flexible, plasticized vinyl chloride mixture that’s laid over sub-flooring in a single sheet or strip. Vinyl flooring can be made to imitate tile, wood, or any number of other materials. It’s very sturdy, and it’s nonporous. That means that it won’t soak up stains from spills. Vinyl is a great choice for kitchens, playrooms, and other rooms that get a lot of traffic and abuse.

Engineered hardwood flooring is designed to be used in high-moisture areas like basements and patios. It’s made of a layer of hardwood over several thin layers of other kinds of wood. The flooring is prepared, cut, and finished off-site. Because of this, you’ll need to make sure that the sub-flooring is even and free from irregularities.

Engineered flooring can only be sanded down and refinished so many times, so you’ll have to be careful about scratches and scuffmarks if you want to make sure that it stays attractive and looking new for years to come.

Unfinished hardwood flooring is installed and finished on-site. This means that you can completely customize your flooring. You’ll choose what type of wood you’d like, along with whether you’d like a light, medium, or dark shade and what kind of finish you’d like.

When you choose unfinished hardwood, not only are you able to customize your flooring to your taste, but you’re also choosing the longest lasting, most easily cared for type of hardwood flooring. You can have it sanded down and re-coated as many times as you need or want over the years.

Pre-finished hardwood flooring, like engineered flooring, is prepared and finished off-site. This kind of flooring is perfect for people who have allergies and sensitivities and cannot be around fumes from poly-coating as it dries. It’s also good for businesses that can’t afford to close their doors for the amount of time it takes to let layers of finish dry. Pre-finished flooring takes the least amount of time before you can go back to business as usual.

If you’re considering pre-finished hardwood flooring, you’ll need to make sure that there are no irregularities in the sub-floor, as we won’t be able to make up for any unevenness in the floor in the sanding and finishing process.

Yes, we do! You have several options when it comes to greener, more environmentally friendly flooring products from Ace Wood Flooring. If you’re looking to save on your flooring project, and you’re concerned with how many trees are cut down annually for human use, laminate flooring is a good choice.

For the look and feel of hardwood, you might want to consider bamboo or cork flooring. Both of these options are clean and green. Bamboo has a short life cycle that allows it to grow back quickly. It’s also hard and has a good reputation for longevity. You can have either of these materials treated and finished to be any light or dark shade you like.

If you’re set on actual hardwood, you’re in luck there too. American red oak is grown in managed forests, so harvesting it won’t contribute to deforestation. It’s one of the more environmentally friendly options that you can choose when you’re considering a new, beautiful floor.

This depends entirely on how you’ll be using the room or rooms that you’re flooring. Oak is traditionally used in the United States for hardwood floors. Red oak managed forests provide responsibly sourced materials for environmentally friendly hardwood flooring. Because it’s sourced in the United States, oak also tends to be less expensive than some of the more exotic woods. It’s less expensive to repair if it’s damaged, as well.

If you’re installing flooring in a playroom, family room, or kitchen, you’ll probably want to go with a more inexpensive option like American oak or bamboo. On the other hand, if you’re installing flooring for a personal library or other formal room, an exotic wood can give a rich, warm look to the whole room.

Red oak and white oak are very high-quality, beautiful choices for your flooring. White oak has a tan color, while red oak is a bit lighter, with a pinkish hue to it. This is important to know when you’re choosing materials because they have different densities. That means that they absorb dyes, stains, and finishes differently and won’t be the same color after they’ve been treated.

Almost all staircases in the US are made with red oak, and around 90% of all homes constructed since the 1950s have red oak hardwood flooring. White oak is often used for accents and borders. 

If you’re installing flooring in the basement, on a patio, or any other area that’s particularly susceptible to moisture, you’ll want to use engineered flooring. It’s specifically designed to be used in moisture-rich areas that would otherwise damage hardwood.

On the other hand if you’re installing flooring in a kitchen, dining room, or anywhere with high traffic and a higher chance of scuffing and scratches you’ll want to use unfinished hardwood. It can be sanded and refinished whenever needed to protect it against damage. Engineered flooring cannot be sanded down and refinished the same way that traditional hardwood flooring can.

Laminate may be less expensive than some hardwood installations, but it is also a lot easier to damage and tear laminate than it is to damage hardwood flooring. Replacing your flooring could get very expensive very quickly. When you call Ace, we’ll sit down with you and discuss all of your flooring options and what will be the most cost-effective installation for your needs.

It’s important to avoid using water or harsh chemicals on your hardwood floors. Too much moisture can warp and damage wood floors, resulting in expensive repairs and doing restoration a lot sooner than you’d like. Chemicals can strip away the finishing coat, leaving your floor looking old and dingy and leaving it open to damage.

Instead, we recommend dry mopping, using an electrostatic mop, and/or vacuuming your hardwood floors. You can use a damp cloth to wipe away stubborn spots and spills. Vinegar is known to help neutralize stains and spills without hurting the finish on the floor. When it dries, it leaves behind no residue or smell.

We recommend using vinegar and distilled water based products. Don’t use chemical-based products as they tend to be harsh and bad for your floor.

To avoid scratching and scuffing your hardwood floors we recommend that you use felt and/or rubber pads and gliders under chairs and tables. This keeps them from scraping against your floor and damaging the finish. If you protect your floor’s finish, it will be much longer before you have to have it refinished or repaired.

You can go anywhere from 6 to 10 years between using a hardwood floor refinishing service, longer if you’re especially careful about protecting your floors from damage.

Absolutely! Radiant heat works best with a floating flooring system instead of solid flooring, so we recommend choosing either engineered hardwood flooring or pre-finished flooring as both of these are floating systems. Radiant heat also works very well with tile flooring or carpeting. We’ll discuss the look you want and how to make it work with your preferred heating system.

Dents in your hardwood floor can be repaired by sanding and refinishing. In this case, the best medicine is really prevention. If you make sure that you and any guests you have over take your shoes off at the door, you won’t get any heel marks on the floor. If you put rubber or felt pads under the legs of your chairs, tables, and other furniture, you’ll avoid scratching and scuffing the floor. Doing this will prevent you from having to get your floor sanded and refinished sooner than you’d like.

Laminate flooring tends to be less expensive than vinyl flooring. Vinyl will not bubble or warp from moisture the way that laminate flooring will. Both of these types of flooring are installed in single strips or sheets and in most cases cannot be repaired if they are torn or scratched. Laminate tends to be more fragile than vinyl though for the price it works very well in less trafficked areas.

While beauty is in the eye of the beholder, we can help with suggestions on which materials are best for different purposes. If you’re considering carpeting or hardwood flooring in the bedroom, we’d ask what kind of look and feel you want for the room. Carpet can be very cozy and warm. If you’re trying to make the same choice for a family room or heavily trafficked area, you’ll probably want to go with hardwood, as it’s much easier to keep clean and free of stains and smells.

Both tile and vinyl flooring are great choices for your kitchen. They’re both spill and stain resistant and they’re both very durable. Vinyl is softer than tile, so glasses and other fragile items are less likely to break on contact. On the other hand, if a tile is damaged, it can be replaced with little trouble. If vinyl is damaged, it often can’t be repaired without replacing the entire strip or sheet.

Call Ace first. When we’re installing new flooring or carpeting, there’s a good chance that we’ll have to get very close up to – and probably bump up against – the baseboards and walls. When your painters come in, they’ll be able to tape down plastic sheets to avoid getting any paint on the new flooring. We wouldn’t want to put your other contractors’ work in danger by trying to install flooring in a room with wet walls.

While no sanding process can ever be completely dust-free, at Ace Wood Flooring we use the most state-of-the-art equipment with our hardwood floor refinishing service. Our expert staff is trained to be very meticulous. Our sanding process is as close to dust-free as you can get. You won’t find any dust mixed up in our finishing coats. You’ll just see beautiful, gleaming hardwood floors.

We’ll get as involved as you like in your project! If you have a specific idea of exactly what you want, we’ll work with you to make your vision a reality. If you just have an idea of what you might like and your budget, we can give you as much advice as you’d like about materials, colors, and applications.

Our experts can help you design any room in your house or business to be as beautiful and sleek as you want, including custom flooring designs like medallions or borders. We’re happy to share all of our resources with you to help you create and complete a flooring project that will give your home or business the atmosphere you want.

Every flooring project is different, so we can’t tell you exactly how much your particular room or rooms will cost to install flooring but we can guarantee that we offer the best products and services for the best prices in the business. To discuss your options and get an estimate, call us today!

We mean it when we say, “We answer the phone!” That means that we’d like to hear from you, answer all your questions, address your concerns, and fix any problems that you might have with your flooring even after we’ve completed the work and the bill’s been paid. We’re here for you, for your current project and any other flooring projects you might have in the future.

Most carpeting has a lifespan of about 10-12 years (with a quality pad). Signals you need a new carpet installed are usually when the carpet is threadbare, matted, and lacks the luster of a new carpet.