Services

Custom Floors By Rees Powell offers a wide range of services and expert advice. Here are just a few of the many services we offer:

• Wood Floor Refinishing
• Floor Installation
• Laminate Flooring
• Dust Containment System

In addition, we can customize any project to meet your specifications. We guarantee to get the job done right the first time and will work hard to make sure you are completely satisfied.

Call us today and let us show you the Custom Floors By Rees Powell difference.

General Flooring Tips

Wood floors, properly finished, are the easiest floor surfaces to keep clean and new looking. Unlike carpeted or resilient floors that show age regardless of care, wood floors can be kept looking like new, year after year, with minimum care.

What Kind of Wood floors?
Both open-grain and close-grain woods are used in flooring. Heading the list of hard open-grain woods is durable, beautifully patterned oak, used for an estimated 95% of all wood floors. Other hardwood include northern walnut, pecan ash, elm and chestnut. Among the close-grain woods are maple, birch, beech, Douglas fir, and yellow pine. Since the overwhelming majority of wood floors are of hardwood, this care guide applies specifically to this type of flooring.

What is Minimum Care?
A good rule of thumb is to vacuum or dust mop weekly. A damp mop can be used for spills and general cleanup on floors which have non-waxed polyurethane or Swedish finish. If the floor is waxed, occasional buffing helps remove scuff marks that may appear in the wax coating. A waxed floor need only be re-waxed once or twice a year – or as often as needed in heavy traveled lanes – using a liquid buffing wax/cleaner combination.

Wood and Water Don’t Mix.
No matter what finish your wood floor has, or what claims the manufacturer makes for his finish, never intentionally pour water into the floor. While a damp mop is fine for non-waxed polyurethane and Swedish finishes in good condition excessive amounts of water may find a way to seep between the boards causing them to warp or stain. Wax coated finishes should never be cleaned with water, nor even a damp mop.

Wood Flooring Expansion and Contraction.
Unlike many floor coverings can last the lifetime of the building in which they are installed. Home owners who want them to last that long, however, should note the number one enemy of a hardwood floor: moisture. Wood floors naturally expand when moisture is present and shrink when it is not. Whether the reactions are a problem or not depends on the severity of the situation. Following are some of the common results when water and wood floors combine.

Cupping.- As with cracks between boards, both cupping and crowning are natural reactions to moisture and should not be a concern of they occur only to a minor extent. More severe cases, however, indicate a serious moisture problem.  Cupping describes a condition in which the edges of a board are high and its center is lower. Humidity is usually the culprit, although cupping also can happen after water has been spilled onto the floor and absorbed into wood. The moisture causes the wood to swell, crushing the boards together and deforming them at the edges. In order to repair the floor, the cause of the moisture must be identified. Most often, indoor humidity will have to be controlled. Other causes could include situations such as a plumbing leak in the basement, which can allow moisture to migrate up into the sub-floor and the wood flooring. Once the cause of the moisture is controlled, cupping can be reversed. Often the floor may naturally dry out and improve over time. Fans may be necessary to recoat the floor with finish, or to sand and refinish the floor.

Crowning.- “Crowning” is the opposite of cupping: The middle of the board is higher than the edges of the board. This can occur when the surface of the floor encounters moisture. More often, it results when a floor has been sanded too soon after it has cupped. When this happens, the top edges of the board are sanded off, and thus are lower than the rest of the board when it returns to a normal moisture content.

Buckling.- Buckling is one of the most extreme reactions to moisture that can occur with a hardwood floor. It happens when the floor literally pulls away from the sub-floor, up to heights as high as several inches. Fortunately, bucking is an uncommon occurrence, usually happening only after a floor has been flooded. Even in such cases, it is possible that a floor can be repaired instead of being totally replaced.

Preventing Moisture Problems
Controlling humidity is the most important factor in preventing problems with moisture and your wood floor. The correct maintenance also will go a long way in avoiding problems. Among key points:

• Clean your wood with a cloth lightly dampened by a recommended cleaning product, using the manufacturer’s directions for use. It is best to buy a “floor care kit” recommended by your installer or retailer.
• Do not clean your wood floors with water or water-based products on a regular schedule – clean only the soiled areas.
• Dry dust moping and vacuuming may be done daily or weekly. Occasional damp moping (twice/monthly), with vinegar diluted with water followed by a dry towel can be used.
• Never let a spill dry on the floor.

Cracks Between Boards
Almost every wood floor endures some expansion and contraction as seasons and humidity levels change. When homes are heated, humidity levels plummet, boards shrink and spaces appear between the boards. In dry months, cracks can easily develop to the thickness of a dime on a typical solid 2 ¼ inch oak floor, with light-colored woods making the cracks appear larger.  Plank floors also will show cracks more. These spaces are to be expected and usually closed up as the seasons change and moisture returns to the air. To reduce the degree of change, home owners can add moisture to the air during the dry months, ideally by installing a humidifier in the furnace.