Table of Contents

1. Why should you choose a wood floor?

2. Aren't wood floors hard to keep beautiful?

3. Are there some cautions I should observe?

4. What happens if you do get in trouble

5. Who is Classic Floors, Inc. 

1.  Wood Floors don’t depreciate.
Real wood floors are good for a home’s resale value and last the life of the home.  People walk on wood floors as old as our nation every day; for example, the floors Washington’s Mount Vernon.  Carpet is replaced three  to six times before most solid wood floors need repair.  Wood floors cost less  in the long term and add value to your home.

 2.  Wood is a natural product in a diverse range of colors and grain patterns.
Wood floors offer unmatched natural beauty, warmth and design appeal that allow your new or existing house truly to become your family’s home.  Who hasn’t marveled at the beauty of a fine wood floor?  There is more diversity in wood floors now than ever before... a wood floor for every taste.

 3.  Wood is the easiest floor to maintain and requires fewer chemicals to clean.
Whenever someone says, “I think tile or carpet might be easier to clean,” I point to my wood floor cleaning tools.  With only a swivel mop and sometimes a non-aerosol spray, I can clean my wood floor in less than half the time it takes to vacuum, scrub or shampoo other floor coverings.  They don’t trap dust and fumes in the fibers or grow mold in the grout.  Unlike carpet or tile cleaning, cleaning a  wood floor requires few chemicals.                  

 4.  It’s the best choice for the environment.
Wood manufacturing is much cleaner than the manufacture of other building materials.  Steel results in up to 40 times more pollutants than the manufacture of wood; concrete, six times more; and brick, four times more.  Steel releases three times more carbon dioxide, and concrete releases even more.  Wood sends less solid waste to the landfill than manufacturing the same product in either steel or concrete.  Finally, wood is more energy-efficient.  The cellular structure of wood traps air, giving it superior insulating properties.  It takes 15 inches of concrete to equal the insulation qualities of just 1 inch of wood.

5.  You can redecorate your wood floor entirely with stain, faux finishes and inlays.
You can change the entire look of a wood floor with stain, paints and inlays without replacing any materials.

6.  Finishes can be repaired or reapplied easily (as long as maintenance procedures are followed).
Wood floors can be recoated or touched up instead of adding to the landfill, as happens with some other floor coverings.  Our industry helps preserve what’s already there ... the finest form of recycling.  A properly maintained wood floor never should need to be completely resanded.

7.  Wood floors give a little and are better for your joints.
Don’t be surprised is your doctor recommends a wood floor for your spine and joints.  Wood gives slightly, making it easier on your legs and feet.  Have you ever noticed that your feet get tired faster if you are standing on stone or tile than if you are standing on wood?

 8.  Wood is an ideal choice for people with allergies.
Wood does not trap dust or fumes, and will not harbor dust mites or mold.  We spend 90 percent of our time indoors.  Some researchers believe the dust mites could be responsible for increasing asthma occurrence.  Wood floors in your   bedroom and other main living areas can improve air quality, according to the American Lung Association.

9.         Wood Floor sales support good forest management.
Wood floors are a high-end use for forest products and can involve better margins, thereby ensuring the perpetuation of the forest.  Many developing countries today rely on timber for export earning, yet the greatest threat to primary forest in these countries is conversion to other forms of land use.  Using exotic species for wood floors is a good way to give a high value to the wood and encourage reforestation for continued income production.

10.       Wood is our greatest renewable resource.
North America has more than 70 percent of the forest cover that was here in the 1600’s and many exotic floods come from certified sustainable forest.  North America produced more wood than any other place on the planet!  According to a World Resources Institute report, North America was unusual in that it increased tree cover in the 1990’s.  In other words, we grow more than we cut.  North America also is becoming known as a “carbon sink.”  Scientist have shown that young trees use more carbon dioxide than older trees, much like younger animals need more food.

Note:  This information is from the National Wood Flooring Association 12/02

Other points of interest

• Natural Beauty - A product of nature, wood floors have all the inherent qualities of non-synthetic products - infinite variety of grain, texture and color that is warm and honest and perfectly adapted to today's decorating trends.  Whether left exposed or used with area and, in particular, Oriental rugs, they provide the perfect background for your cherished furniture, be it antique or ultra-contemporary.

• Styles And Colors To Suit Any Decor - Today's wood floors come in a great variety of styles and wood species.  Red strip oak is still the most popular.  You can choose plank in varying widths.  A myriad of colors, both traditional and contemporary and hundreds of species.  Create your own personality in your floor with custom designs from simplistic to the very exotic.

• Lifetime Durability - Unlike carpets and vinyl or other synthetic floors that must be replaced every few years, wood floors will last for the life of your home.  All but the very thinnest of materials can have abuse marks removed by sanding the surface.  That process exposes the "new" wood which can then be finished in the color of you choice.  So, unlike floor coverings, you can change the decor without replacing the floor.

• Insulating Value - All wood is a natural insulator, because if is composed of microscopic hollow cells and the air spaces in these cells produce high insulating values.  It would take 15 inches of concrete to equal the insulating qualities of just one inch of wood, so your house stays warmer in winter, doesn't let cooling escape in summer.

• Low Cost - Today's wood floors are competitive in original cost with the better grades of carpet and other floor coverings.  But since they'll last a lifetime without replacement the life cycle cost is much lower.  Our company will be glad to give you a free estimate so that you can compare wood floors with other products.

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Aren't Wood Floors Hard To Keep Beautiful?

• Not At All! - You may have a memory of a parent of grandparent down on his/her knees laboriously applying wax and then polishing a wood floor.  New finishing materials have been developed that minimize the maintenance chore.  Most of today's finishing manufacturers don't even recommend the use of wax.  Some other products have a finish, including wax, applied at the factory before the flooring is installed.

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Are There Some Cautions I Should Observe?

• Of Course! - No product is perfect or immune from abuse, so we ask that you observe these simple rules to help maintain the beauty of your wood floors.

  1. You can use a damp wet mop to clean your urethane or an epoxy finished wood floor, but do not flood your floor with water.  Use only a "dry damp mop."  Wood absorbs water - that's what makes trees grow - and when a tree is harvested it has a high moisture content.  The flooring manufacturer goes to great lengths to eliminate that moisture.  If you introduce moisture through cleaning or other means the board may expand and cause ridges or buckling.  You don't want that.  Don't use a wet mop or water based cleaners on a waxed finish wood floor.
     
     Basements and crawl spaces are other sources of moisture that can affect you wood flooring, causing it to cup up or take on a washboard appearance.  Both should be well ventilated in the summer and a polyethylene film moisture barrier can be used in the crawl space to contain ground moisture.  In a basement, use of a dehumidifier may help.
     
     Conversely, in areas of the country where extremes of temperatures are common, hairline cracks may appear during the heating season.  Using a humidifier to add moisture to the atmosphere might be the solution.  If the problem persists, call us.  We can probably help you.

  2. Don't buy furniture that has narrow metal rollers.  Wood is resilient - that's what makes it so comfortable to walk on - and such casters will cause unsightly indentations, just as they will on synthetic and other flooring types.  Put protective cups or pads under the legs of your non-stationary furniture.

  3. Ladies don't let you spiked or stiletto shoe heels go unprotected.  Such shoes have a steel supporting spike equivalent to a blunt 10-penny nail.  If the leather or plastic tab wears through that spike can project, or the nail heads protrude, and wreck havoc with any kind of floor, including carpets.  And that's not the fault of the flooring, regardless of what kind it is, but of the shoe.  It's been calculated that, because of the tiny exposed surface, about 1/20th of a square inch, a 125 pound woman, taking a normal step, exerts over 2000 pounds per square inch pressure on the floor!  Because of the weight distribution, that's more than a two-ton car or an African elephant.

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 What Happens If You Do Get In Trouble

• Call Us! - If you really abuse your wood floors - for example, let the kids roller skate on them - they can probably be saved.  We'll come in and, with skilled workers and professional machines, sand off the surface wood blemishes.  Then we'll apply a new finish, perhaps something more durable than you had originally and in a color of your choosing, so that you'll have a "new" floor, good for many more years of enjoyment.

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Who We Are

Classic Floors Inc.

Fort Wayne's Only Custom Hardwood Flooring Showroom.

• We are specialists in floor installations of all types, for homes and business firms, with well trained, professional installation and finishing crews and the equipment to do the right job.  We have the knowledge and the experience to make sound recommendations for your particular job.
  
  While we may represent several manufactures' products, we have the capability for providing you with full freedom of choice in the style of floor you select.  Our professionals attend regular seminars to keep their skills honed to current techniques and assure customer satisfaction.
  
  

• Warehouse with many styles and species for installation

• Well trained, professional installation and finishing specialists.  Only "In House" Employees:  No Subcontractors

• Guaranteed Quality Craftsmanship

• Graduates of Hardwood Flooring Installation School

• Maintenance programs available

• Serving this area dependably for many years

• Member of the National Wood Flooring Association

Choosing who will install and finish your floor is as important as the products you select.  When you choose our firm, you know you have made a quality choice.