Videos

These are some of the videos we put up on Dawn's channel:

First thing first: the channel

Marketingwithdawn

uploaded you tube videos
we are actively pursuing showing customers what good tools are all about. and also we sell these amazing cabinets

Staples or nails

It has been a long discussion for a long time..Staples or nails?
Most installers prefer staples to nails. I do too. Nails only offer one anchor point, while staples offer two. But more than that, staples have a unique ability to twist as they enter the wood, creating a locking feature between the two legs..try removing a board that was stapled, and you will see it is not that easy. And this brings me to my next point.. You really need a solid subfloor for the fastener to grab, and hold the floor in place without any squeek or movement.

Maple Domestic Exotic Hardwood

Maple 

comes primarily form the northern  United states and Canada.

Maple flooring has numerous benefits for homeowners looking for a new floor – not least its sturdiness and aesthetic appeal. The maple tree comes in many different types with varying wood grain patterns and is perhaps best known for being the source of that Canadian favourite, maple syrup.

However, it is the maple wood itself that tends to attract attention from those looking to update their homes. Maple is usually relatively light in colour, but its markings can be significantly darker – making for a particularly striking appearance. The wood is also very strong, meaning that homeowners can be confident they are investing in flooring that will last for years to come.

Janka Hardness scale

 As you can see in this chart Sugar Maple also called Hard Maple or Rock Maple has a Janka hardness rating of 1450. By comparison Red Oak has a hardness rating of 1290, making Maple  13% harder than Oak….That means a more durable and dent resistant type of floor. A true domestic exotic. It is this quality along with the clear light color that makes Maple flooring a favorite of contractors for gymnasiums, bowling alleys and dance floors.

Appearance

Maple wood flooring also has a wonderful appearance. Due to the fact that Maple is nonporous it takes very good to the finishing process, giving it a glistening appearance. Other Hardwoods by contrast sometime show a bit of a rough look due to the fact they are a lot more porous. 

Grades

The way Maple looks, and therefore it’s grading are primarily related to the zone of the United States where the material comes from. Check out this informative video from Carlisle floors, and see them explain how it’s all about location, location, location!! Yes the northern grown species are preferred to the southern grown species.

What is the Janka Hardness

Janka Hardness Scale

In order to help customers navigate their way securely thru the many options available to them when they choose their floor coverings or hardwood flooring like in this case, one of the many metrics used today is a measure form called Janka Hardness Rating, or scale.

What is it?

from Wikipedia

The Janka hardness test measures the resistance of a type of wood to withstand denting and wear. It measures the force required to embed an 11.28 mm (0.444 in) steel ball into wood to half the ball's diameter. This method leaves an indentation. A common use of Janka hardness ratings is to determine whether a species is suitable for use as flooring. As so aptly described here by wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janka_hardness_test . If me and You were engineers, (we are not), we would measure that force required, and than determine which Hardwood Flooring is harder.

For that purpose we commonly use this Rating - Scale - Chart.

Here is some charts I took from the web, some are more descriptive than others...Some are more colorful than others. In this chart you see Higher Ratings toward the bottom...a bit counter intuitive if you ask me..  Red oak is considered the standard and it gives us a result of  1,290 on the Janka scale, and is considered to be the standard. White oak is a little harder coming in at 1,360. Bamboo is also harder at 1,380 and Maple shows a rating of 1,450.

  Here is another interesting picture, and it tells the story very effectively: In this particular chart you see that harder woods are set up at the top of the chart. Did you notice? Most if not all of the hardest woods in the world come from South America. The popular Brazilian Cherry is 2,350 - almost twice as hard as red oak. And, Brazilian walnut  also named Ipe, comes in at 3,684 - nearly triple the hardness of red oak.