Personalize Your Décor with Exotic Wood Floors

The characteristics of hardwood floor make it a popular floor covering choice. In fact, hardwood is the most sought-after flooring and adds considerable value to property value. Once upon a time, hardwood floors were typically one or two species of wood – oak and maple. Older homes almost exclusively offered these flooring choices in homes, but new home builds typically install laminate hard floor coverings. While this offers a lower price point, laminate flooring has also been able to offer a selection of more exotic looking wood styles. Now more than ever, it is possible to have the real deal installed in your home. Exotic woods like Brazilian cherry, Australian cypress, mahogany, acacia, and others are taking their place among the top hardwood selections and are easy to maintain with proper care and exotic wood refinishing.

• Red in colour, Brazilian cherry is found in certain parts of Peru, Brazil, and Mexico. Offering little grain, the smooth look of this type of exotic flooring is rich. The price point of this wood species has dropped and is among the most affordable exotic hardwoods.

• Tigerwood is as striking and dramatic as its name suggests. Opposite of the Brazilian cherry, strong markings and colour variations make this exotic hardwood the focal point of your house.

• For a more rustic and country look, choose Australian cypress. With swirling patterns showing off the wood’s exotic beauty, this hardwood is among the softer – so take care. This wood will scratch more easily than the red oaks and maples of the world.

• Mahogany exudes luxury like no other hardwood does. It is deep and rich in colour, making a striking first impression. When people want the best, they choose mahogany.

• Acacia creates a unique beauty with its modular patterns and drastic colour variations. Native to Asia and Africa, this wood offers a modern look, certain to turn heads. 

Exotic woods are indigenous to locations outside of North America. Once expensive to install, with the global community growing it is easier and, at times, cheaper to install exotic hardwoods in your home rather than domestic. Exotic hardwood boasts all the benefits of domestic hardwood. Natural and beautiful, thick and warmer under the feet than ceramic, laminate or vinyl. Easy to maintain and better for allergy sufferers versus carpet. With diligent cleaning schedules using the right products, installing exotic hardwood floors and stairs is a wonderful choice and offers homeowners a unique way to decorate their home.

Exotic Wood Refinishing Maintains Beauty for Years

Maintaining exotic hardwood is just as important, if not more, than domestic hardwoods. Often, exotics are chosen for their colour variations and grain patterns. Over time without proper care, these floors can lose that stunning effect to fading, especially if the room is exposed to natural light. Exotic wood refinishing is one way to protect and maintain your investment. Using a buff and coat treatment is a way to refinish your floors without the pesky nuisance of sanding. Typical refinishing treatments are invasive and leave months of dust behind no matter what you do. With a buff and coat treatment, any scratches or scuffs are erased using a fine scratch pad. This pad is less aggressive than the finest sandpaper. It is put on a buffing machine and it textures the surface of the exotic hardwood. Then, a layer of urethane or polyurethane is applied, followed by a buffing and polishing treatment. All of this complete within 24 hours without the mess.

Homeowners shouldn’t wait until marks and scratches show up in hardwood floors before considering refinishing. This buff and coat process offers the ability to lengthen the life of your floor so that drastic refinishing is not needed. Think of the buff and coat as an oil change for your floor, extending the life and function of the floor so you can enjoy its natural beauty for decades.

Proper Care Supports Exotic Hardwood Finishing

Ignoring proper cleaning regiment for your exotic hardwood will not suit the buff and coat treatment. Certain floor cleaners and refreshers will impede your ability to have this treatment done. Oil soaps and wood polish use a vegetable oil base and often leaves a residue on the surface of the floor. When the buff and coat scratches the top of the floor as part of the process, it often cannot penetrate the oils, and the new urethane or polyurethane will not adhere to the wood. This goes for using general purpose flooring cleaners or cleaners made for laminate and vinyl floors. These products have ammonia in them and will cause the floor to fade or damage. Again, the scratching process will not work and the coating will not stick to the floor. The only option for removing marks and scuffs on exotic wood is to do a more invasive refinishing, in which the top layer of flooring is sanded away. With this process, a new colour can be chosen to stain the wood, and with untreated wood exposed, coatings will adhere to the wood.

Use products specifically designed for hardwood floors. Research the specific species of exotic hardwood floor you have chosen for your home and follow recommendations by reputable companies. Partnering with highly rated contractors and companies will also give you specific information about how to care for your exotic floors.

Exotic Wood Flooring Refinishing Specialists Know!

It’s hard to find a contractor who deals with domestic hardwood, let alone understands the quirks of exotic hardwood. And when you do find a contractor who will work with the product you installed in your home, dealing with them can be a nightmare. Calls go unreturned, questions go unanswered and often times contractors have double-booked themselves and end up rescheduling. Frustrating! Especially in a society who puts high value in excellent customer service.

Imagine then working with a company that understands a miss in the industry for high-level service, combining a team of customer-focused agents who field calls and answer questions about exotic wood floor refinishing. They schedule and facilitate appointments and more importantly work with you to pick out the perfect contractor who provides high-quality workmanship.

This new model is working for one GTA company who focuses on the service piece so the contractor can focus on providing excellent workmanship. Choose a company like this one, highly rated on HomeStar and Houzz, to care for your exotic wood floor refinishing project as if it was their own floor.