Uncategorized Archives - Auten Wideplank Flooring

Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative

Oxana Kiseleva — Fri, 14 Apr 2023 14:57:18 +0000

We sometimes recommend genuine solid hardwood flooring over engineered flooring because of the beauty and naturalness of the wood. Authentic, solid hardwood comes directly from the tree, which provides a chemical free option for your home or business. However, since it comes directly from the tree, using solid hardwood results in the harvesting of more trees. We know that trees are vital to healthy living for everyone and everything, so sustainable harvesting is important to us.

Sustainable harvesting simply means that when a tree is harvested, more are planted in its place. This assures the future of that tree species and prevents the depletion of that natural resource. Of course, there is more involved than just planting trees to replace any that have been cut down. There are organizations like the Forest Stewardship Council who are concerned with the soil and water quality of what is referred to as tree plantations. They also monitor animal life to make sure these forests are sustainable and support life. If you want to read more about these tree plantations, take a look at our blog Environmentally Friendly Hardwood Flooring.

We commend organizations that take steps to make sure forests are taken care of and renewed when resources are harvested. An organization that does this well is the Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative. One of their main goals is to restore land that has been destroyed by coal mining.

In an article by Burt Bollinger in the Hardwood Floors Magazine, Michael French, Co-Chair of the Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative, says, “ARRI promotes reforestation practices that lead to forest development for future timber crops, water quality, air quality, and all of the benefits that forests provide to modern society.”

What many people do not know is that when a coal mine is built, the land is often cleared and blasted so they can get to the coal buried deep underground. Once they are finished mining, in an effort to help restore the surrounding land, they will put back the rock and soil that was removed. This is a step in the right direction, for sure. However, it often leaves the land barren with little to no foliage. This can result in landslides and erosion, especially after hard rains.

What the Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative does is go to these areas and plant trees that can be sustainably harvested in the future. Often they are indigenous species like oak and hickory, which are two of the most popular species used in hardwood flooring in the United States. If you want to learn more about the pros and cons of each of these species, check out our blog posts on White Oak and Hickory.

While the planting of these particular trees interests us the most because it assures the future of the hardwood flooring industry, it is also important to point out that the Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative also plants other fruit-bearing shrubs to attract animals. This helps to support the local ecosystem as well as encourages faster growth of the new forest. Interested in learning more? Check out the article from the September 2020 edition of the Hardwood Floors Magazine.

Resource: Hardwood Floors Magazine https://ad.wpcappserve.com/appcms/webview/362499/32/170/#page5

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Custom Concrete Grinder

Oxana Kiseleva — Fri, 11 Feb 2022 19:14:14 +0000

Custom Concrete Grinder

This blog post is a little different because it’s not a “how-to” or a highlight on a particular species of hardwood flooring. Instead, it is something we have discovered recently that helped us be more efficient and save some money. We hope that it does the same for you!

In the hardwood flooring industry, you work with different kinds of machines. The machine you probably use most often, apart from various saws, is your sander. If you are installing hardwood over a concrete subfloor, then you are also using a grinder. Generally speaking, you will have one machine for each task, and let’s face it, those machines are not cheap!

But what if I told you that you could use one machine both for sanding wood and for grinding concrete? Well, that’s exactly what we were able to do with a bit of ingenuity and customization. First, let’s talk about why you might want to do this.

So what are the benefits of using a sander to grind concrete?

One benefit comes down to the weight of the machine. Concrete grinders can be extremely heavy, especially those used for flooring projects. This makes sense because you need to exert a certain amount of pressure on the floor so that the heads cut the concrete appropriately. For commercial projects, most people usually do not have an issue with using such a heavy machine, especially if there is elevator access to different floors. However, when you are lugging around a heavy machine up and down stairs on a residential project, you might wish you had a lighter machine.

Another benefit, as mentioned before, is the cost. You are looking at spending at least a couple thousand dollars on a decent concrete grinder, especially on one that can handle larger jobs. If you don’t do a lot of hardwood installation over concrete, even renting a concrete floor grinder can get pretty pricey.

Both of these considerations prompted us to look into repurposing our sander so it could also be used as a grinder.

How did we do this?

First, we knew we needed to find a company that could build custom diamond grinding disc heads for our sander. We talked to Sase who worked with us to retrofit our sander with the custom heads that they created. The second step was to add a little more weight to the machine to have the correct amount of pressure for concrete grinding. While there are probably many ways you can do this, we found success in just securing a bag of concrete to the top of the machine for that extra weight. By doing these two things, we turned our sander into a concrete grinder and successfully prepped the concrete subfloor for a large project. What’s even better is after the grinding, all we had to do was switch the heads back to the sanding ones and remove the extra weight to then be able to use the same machine to sand the hardwood floor.

Playlist

2 Videos

Custom Concrete Grinder

1:19

Installing Concrete Grinding Discs

0:11

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Milled Naturals

Oxana Kiseleva — Wed, 29 Dec 2021 19:11:22 +0000

Milled Naturals

As the year comes to an end, it is exciting to look back on some of the trends that will likely continue into 2022. A few months ago, we wrote about the Hardwood Stain and Color Trends for 2021, and the number one trend was that of “Natural Color.” This describes the color of the floor itself, but what about the rest of the room? Well, in April of 2021, Hardwood Floors Magazine announced that the color family of the year was Milled Naturals. This was certainly evident in the color and stain choices of hardwood floors, but it goes even further, including wall paint and decorations.

What does “Milled Natural” mean?

First, milled natural is not a color in and of itself. Rather, it is a collection of colors that seamlessly fit together, creating a warm and natural palette. Some of these colors include various shades of brown, beige, nude, caramel, and off-white. These are colors that tend to give off an earthy vibe and create a sense of comfort and home.

Check out this collage we put together to give you an idea of what the milled natural color family looks like:

As you can see, the milled naturals color family brings to mind fresh baked bread, a warm cup of coffee, soft leather, oats, and a nice glass of milk. It elicits relaxation and a sense of gentle warmth all the way around.

With this earthy and homelike base color palette, some of the best corresponding accent colors also come from nature. Consider adding a splash of hunter green, dandelion yellow, or orange. Maybe even consider incorporating Sherwin-Williams Color of the Year for 2022 “Evergreen Fog.” They describe it as a “versatile and calming hue, a chameleon color of gorgeous green-meets-gray, with just a bit of blue. It’s a simple but sophisticated wash of beautiful, organic color for spaces that crave subtle yet stunning statement shade.” They have also listed colors that pair well with this muted green, and guess what, those colors are in the milled naturals color family!

Here’s a short video of the Sherwin Williams color of the year:

So what hardwood flooring goes best with the above colors? We suggest a wide plank white oak floor with a natural oil finish. Using natural oil maintains the light, fresh cut look of white oak while providing excellent protection. You can also add a slight white tint to the finish to create an even lighter toned floor.

If you want to read more about the Milled Naturals color family and more decorating tips, Interior Designer Emily Morrow Finkell wrote a fantastic article in Hardwood Floors Magazine that we highly recommend you take a look at. You can check it out here: The Color Family of the Year: Milled Naturals.

She discusses some of the psychological and emotional benefits of using this color palette, saying, “As we continue to search for support, comfort, trust, and interactive touch, the universal warmth of the warm natural color family fills the emotional needs and gives us new ways to express ourselves.”

References:

Emily Morrow Finkell, “The Color Family of the Year: Milled Naturals,” Hardwood Floors, April 1, 2021, https://hardwoodfloorsmag.com/2021/04/01/the-color-family-of-the-year-milled-naturals.
“2022 Color of the Year, Evergreen Fog SW 9130: Sherwin-Williams,” Sherwin Williams, accessed December 29, 2021, https://www.sherwin-williams.com/color-of-the-year-2022.

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Live Sawn Hardwood Flooring

Oxana Kiseleva — Fri, 18 Jun 2021 19:35:11 +0000

What Does "Live Sawn" Mean?

If you have been following us on social media, you have probably seen posts that include the world “live sawn.” Unless you are in the industry or have done your own research before buying flooring, you might not know what that means. We thought we would take a few minutes to explain what it means as it pertains to hardwood flooring and how it compares to other methods like “plain sawn,” “rift sawn,” and “quarter sawn.”

First of all, everyone knows that hardwood floors come from trees. The type of tree depends on the particular look and feel you want for your floor, the level of hardness you need (think Janka scale rating), environmental factors, and cost. No matter what kind of tree you use, it has to be harvested. This involves cutting down the tree and removing the branches. Then it ends up on a truck and taken to a lumber mill where it is processed and cut accordingly. What people do not realize is that how the tree is sawn makes a huge difference in the look and stability of the wood, especially when it comes to flooring.

There are four basic ways hardwood flooring is cut, each with pros and cons. These include live sawn, plain sawn, quarter sawn, and rift sawn.

Let’s break each type down:

Live Sawn

This is one of the oldest ways to cut a log, dating back to early shipbuilding techniques! It is also the most efficient way. With live sawn, the logs are cut directly through without turning (as opposed to the other types), creating the least amount of waste. By cutting straight through the log, the planks can have a full range of grain variation. It also provides for planks to include both the heartwood and the sapwood, creating a stunning contrast within the board itself.

Plain Sawn

Using slightly more waste than live sawn, this method of cutting a log is one of the most common. The log is cut so that there is usually no more than 35 degrees within the angle of the growth ring. This produces the cathedral style grain pattern that is common and aesthetically pleasing in hardwood flooring.

Quarter Sawn

This type of cut produces more waste and is more expensive than plain sawn. It is generally used in furniture and thinner planked wood floors. The process consists of quartering the log lengthwise, produces wedges that are set at right angles to the center of the log. Planks cut with this method usually have a straighter grain and are generally more water resistant.

Rift Sawn

Flooring that is cut using this method is generally the most expensive and produces the most waste. Because it is so expensive, it is the least common. Rift sawn is similar to quarter sawn, but the boards are taken from further outside the log. Because of this, the boards are usually thinner and the grain is very straight and tight. This type of grain makes the wood more stable, minimizing the expansion and contraction common in hardwood flooring.

Out of all the different methods, we prefer live sawn, especially for wide plank white oak installations. Live sawn white oak has a true rustic charm, yet can also complement a more modern style. It provides a unique look and feel to your home or business that you are sure to enjoy for years to come.

Take a look at some of these live sawn wide plank white oak floors we have recently installed – you can certainly see the appeal!

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The Yule Log

Oxana Kiseleva — Tue, 15 Dec 2020 15:10:30 +0000

The Yule Log

Gather ‘round the Yule Log and listen to a story…

To answer this question, we have to go back hundreds of years – before Christmas and Christianity.

This would have been something many of our European ancestors would have heard. Even today, we hear the term “Yule Log” in Christmas songs. There is even a specific channel on Netflix that features a crackling yule log with Christmas music.

Many may ask – what is a Yule Log?

It is no secret that many Christmas traditions were adapted from pagan traditions, usually based on or around the Winter Solstice (the shortest day – and longest night – of the year). The tradition of the Yule Log is no exception.

While the exact origin of the tradition is unclear, most agree that it started somewhere in Northern Europe. Most likely it was a Norse tradition, but some think it could be Anglo-Saxon or German.

In that part of the hemisphere, the Winter Solstice would have been very dark and very cold. Without central heating, every home would have depended on burning wood in their fireplaces to provide heat and light.

Legend says that the first yule logs consisted of a massive log or maybe even an entire tree. The trunk of the tree would be placed in the fire to give off lots of light and heat for twelve days. These twelve days were known as Yuletide.

Over the years, this tradition spread throughout Europe, resulting in different beliefs and uses. Some believed the yule log would prevent lightning strikes and fires in the home (ironically). Others thought the ashes from the yule log would bring about a good harvest next year.

Later, the tradition changed from burning an entire tree in the home to cutting the tree into chunks and burning a log each night for 12 nights. Then, with the coming of Christianity, the lighting of the log would be on Christmas Eve and only allowed to go out on Christmas Day. It was then meant to symbolize the light that guided the Magi to Jesus.

Different nations prefer different tree species for the yule log. The English use oak, the French prefer cherry, and the Scottish generally use birch.

What happened to this tradition?

While we hear references to the yule log around Christmas time, most people no longer celebrate this tradition. If they do, it is very different. Some will still burn a single log on Christmas Eve, whether in a fireplace or outside, but most don’t.

The loss of the yule log tradition is thanks to the invention of central heating. Most people no longer need to burn wood for heat or light during the shortest days of the year. Therefore, a tradition that proved useful in the past was no longer useful, so it faded.

Today, most of the yule logs you’ll see are ones you can eat! In France, Switzerland, and Belgium, they make cakes for Christmas that look like yule logs.

How about you? Does your family celebrate Christmas with a yule log or a yule log cake? Let us know in the comments below!

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