Premium Hardwood Flooring from Mirage, Torlys, Oak Ridge and Antique Impressions

The Natural Beauty of Hardwood...

Hardwoods are deciduous trees that have broad leaves, produce a fruit or nut and generally go dormant in the winter. North America's forests grow hundreds of varieties of hardwood trees that thrive in our temperate climate.  Gleaming with good taste and gorgeous color, hardwood flooring dazzle the senses and beautify any decor with subtle, mood-enhancing looks. Choose from a vibrant array of richly hued stains to create a look that will have all the neighbors talking! Hardwood is warm, enveloping, and totally natural. When you choose wood flooring, you are choosing a quality natural material that is both renewable and biodegradable. Other products, made from materials like plastic or aluminum, use natural resources whose reserves are low and that can never be replaced. Wood is the only renewable construction material.

Premium Hardwood Flooring from Best in Class Suppliers

Below are just a few of the premium suppliers whose lines of prefinished hardwood flooring we carry. Click their logo to learn more about their products.

In order to choose the type of flooring that’s right for you, it’s important to know your needs and preferences in terms of design, wood species, durability and maintenance.  Contact us and we'll help you make the best selection based on your personal needs.

Choosing your Hardwood

Wood flooring comes in a wide range of colors, species, and designs. It’s all a matter of taste, but a wood floor is for life. That’s why it’s so important to choose carefully. Talk to a number of experts for advice on the type of flooring that’s best for you.

Color

A stained floor gives a unique feel to each room. But be sure to select stains that will match different decors, since your wood floor will outlast any trend in home fashion. With prefinished hardwood floors, you can choose to install different colored boards to frame a room or accent a particular feature of your decor in a contrasting color.

Species

Each species of wood has its own grain, color, and veining. Your choice of species depends on your personal preferences and the effect you want to achieve. The most popular species are oak and maple, followed by birch, ash, beech, cherry, and walnut. Exotic, deluxe woods are also available, such as Brazilian cherry, mahogany, sapele and tigerwood, which are very warm in color and extremely hard.

For home use, the hardness factor is not really a serious issue. It is also important not to choose a species from pictures — ask to see a sample.

Gloss

There are three main glosses on the market:

  • High gloss: A very bright, smooth finish that tends to highlight scratches or marks of any kind and makes dirt and dust more visible.
  • Semi-gloss: This medium-bright finish is the standard for prefinished hardwood floors.
  • Low gloss: More and more popular, low gloss finish minimizes the appearance of scratches and marks. It stays looking new longer than glossy finishes.

Grade

Grading is a means of rating boards according to variations in the wood’s natural color. For example, “select & better” grade woods are more uniform in color than “exclusive” or “traditional” grade, which presents greater, more pronounced natural color variation. To understand the grading system, compare two samples of the same species with different grades. Also ask to compare a number of boards from the same box to check the grading and manufacturing. For some manufacturers, products graded in the third category are not guaranteed and may have manufacturing and finishing defects.

Positioning

Your wood flooring should ideally be installed in opposite direction of your subfloor joists. But you should also consider the shape and size of the room. For example, installing the boards lengthwise may make a long room look even longer, and it may be more flattering to lay the boards diagonally. If you like an original look but still have more traditional tastes, try a “herringbone” design.

Width

Boards are generally available in standard widths of 2-1/4", 2-1/2", and 3-1/4". Wider widths are becoming more and more popular, some up to 5" in width. Your choice will depend on the effect you want to create. Narrower boards make a room look longer, while wider boards make it appear shorter. Remember, however, that a tight grained wood like maple expands more with humidity, which may make narrower boards preferable for some uses.

Accessories

Installing a hardwood floor usually requires much more than just prefinished hardwood boards. You’ll surely need edgings, stair nosings, and moldings to join with the walls. Make sure you can get these basic accessories in the same stain and gloss as your flooring. Ask retailers if they have all the accessories needed for the complete installation of a prefinished hardwood floor.