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Oak Wood Buyer's Easy Guide
04/28/2008, 04:43 | Wood ShuttersIn addition to looking beautiful and lush, wood floors are also unquestionably good for the environment. The flooring is, in a sense, insulation between your home and the elements. This insulation is said to be sixteen times as powerful as steel and four hundred fifteen times more productive than steel. Most solid wood flooring is made in America and therefore must adhere to the nation?s strict environmental codes and ordinances.
What grain of wood you select will determine the overall character of your floor. Nothing exudes dependability like oak solid wood flooring. Within each plank you see the life of the tree: the knots and burrs. Another benefit to choosing solid oak flooring is that it does not scratch easily. With proper care, the warmth of the color will last a very long time.
Engineered oak wood flooring is a less expensive option. You get the same look and character, but the installation is much easier. In most cases nails or screws are not necessary, all that you need is a foam underlay. Since most of the engineered oak wood flooring is made in China some may argue that the quality is lower.
While some of the heartiness of solid oak wood flooring may be lost, and the value of your home or business may not increase as much, the appearance is not sacrificed and most people rarely can detect the difference. The greatest difference is in the cost and the installation. A professional with elaborate and specialized tools must install solid oak wood flooring.
A benefit for choosing engineered oak wood flooring is that you have the option of putting in the floor yourself. With the do it yourself craze at full tilt many new and established homeowners are getting excited about improvement projects that can be accomplished within a weekend.
Most major chain home improvement centers not only offer a large variety of engineered oak wood flooring, but they are now offering workshops that will guide you through the step by step process. An added bonus to doing it yourself is that now under floor heating is becoming mainstream. In the same workshop where you learn about wood flooring you can learn about the under floor heat process and how energy efficient a row of heating coils can be.
Choosing to upgrade your home or business flooring is simple, and in most cases, affordable. Going with solid oak flooring or engineered oak wood flooring is up to your taste and your wallet.
Natalie Aranda writes on home improvement. Hardwood floors are part of an established home?s heritage. The look of the wood is what draws a guest in and what adds warmth even on the coldest of days. When you decide to install solid wood flooring in your home or office you are not only going for that old familiar aesthetic, but you are also acknowledging that wood flooring is extremely sensible. What grain of wood you select will determine the overall character of your floor. Nothing exudes dependability like oak solid wood flooring.
Popular Woodworking Welcomes 'The Wood Whisperer'
04/22/2008, 16:06 | Popular Woodworking 
Managing Editor Megan Fitzpatrick grabbed our magazine's digital camera and told Marc "The Wood Whisperer" Spagnuolo to hold still for a photograph.
"I need to take a headshot," she announced.
"So do I," replied Marc, as he lifted up his video camera and pointed it at Megan.
For a few short moments they stood there with their cameras pointed at one another. Then I told them to "take this outside." They did.
On Monday morning, Marc and his wife/business partner/camera operator, Nicole, visited the Popular Woodworking's editorial offices to shoot video footage of us working in the shop and plowing through more than a dozen doughnuts, which Senior Editor Glen Huey brought in.
Marc is the host of the very popular web site thewoodwhisperer.com, which offers scads of free instructional woodworking videos, shop tours, audio programs about woodworking and links to other like-minded woodworking sites.
He's also our newest contributor. Starting in the August 2008 issue, Marc will be writing a column in every issue on a woodworking technique, which we have cleverly titled "The Wood Whisperer." In addition to the written column, Marc will be posting a video on our site at popularwoodworking.com/video that will show that technique in action.
During Marc and Nicole's visit, we forced them to sit through our Monday morning staff meeting (which is really a doughnut-eating contest in disguise), then we headed into the shop to shoot video. After a quick tour of the shop, they interviewed Bob about the project he's working on for the August issue, and they chatted with Glen about his woodworking. Both video pieces should appear on his site in the future (assuming they can get some of the profanity bleeped out).
Glen also shot some video of Marc and Nicole, then we went to my house and shop, where I gave them a tour of some of my personal work and my small workshop.
Most of all, the day was a great excuse to get to know more about Marc and Nicole, who represent the vanguard of where woodworking instruction is headed this century.
Marc, 31, is from Trenton, N.J., and studied biotech in college. After graduation, he headed out to San Diego for work and met Nicole when she answered an advertisement for a roommate to share an apartment. They've been together ever since.
When they moved out to Temecula, Calif., they bought their first house and it needed some work. One table saw and a flooring project later, Marc become hooked on the craft. Well, obsessed might be a better word ? that's the word he uses.
His interest in the craft deepened when he encountered David Mark's cable program "Wood Works." Marc eventually studied with Marks in his Santa Rosa, Calif., studio and then opened his own custom woodworking shop in Phoenix, Ariz.
From there, it was short hop to take everything Marc learned ? and his enthusiasm for teaching it ? to the Internet, where he launched thewoodwhisperer.com.
If you don't know Marc yet, I encourage you to scoot over to his site and take a look at some of the excellent content there. Watch a few videos (they are well done and Marc's a funny guy) and listen to one of his broadcasts of Wood Talk Online with buddy Matt Vanderlist. Or just browse through his blog.
And watch this space for more on The Wood Whisperer. Once we get some of our video edited, we'll post that on our video player.
? Christopher Schwarz
Welcome to the Wood Shop
02/01/2007, 19:44 | The Wood Shop| |
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Mesquite HardWood Flooring
02/01/2007, 15:49 | The Wood ShopA beautiful floor Starts with premium custom-milled Mesquite HardWood flooring from Arizona Desert Mesquite.
Photo Courtesy of Murdock Floors
Mesquite HardWood Flooring is the most stable solid surface you can put under your feet. Custom milled tongue & groove planks made to your order insure the width and length you need. Matching BaseBoards can also be milled to your specifications. A wide plank Custom milled HardWood floor with Matching wide-tall base boards is a truly stunning SouthWest statement about you and your home.
Photo Courtesy of The Nelson Family
Photo courtesy of Wilkinson Flooring
Mesquite HardWood Flooring is an excellent choice for high traffic areas.
The Lumber Yard
11/12/2006, 14:59 | The Wood Shop
A large consistent supply of high quality Mesquite HardWood Lumber and fast professional on-line service is why Arizona Desert Mesquite is fast becomming the leader in Mesquite Lumber Distribution. Whether you're looking for 8/quarter, 6 quarter , 4 /quarter , or 3/4" blanks for HardWood Flooring , Arizona Desert Mesquite has a large supply to accomodate your needs.
Wood Flooring
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Wood FlooringMake an Impression with Your Flooring
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Wood Flooring
(ARA) – Most people think the first impression of their home is made by the color on the walls or furniture in a room; but in reality, it’s made by what’s under your feet – the flooring. If the carpet is dirty and worn, tiles are chipped, or the wood floor is warping, it’s time for a change.
So what’s holding you back? A lot of people are hesitant to jump into a home improvement project involving flooring because of all the work involved. First you have to remove and dispose of the old material, then invest the time and effort necessary to get the base surface ready for the new material before finally putting it in.
“Do-it-yourselfers are overwhelmed when they learn how much work is involved in redoing a floor. But it doesn’t have to be that way,” says Scott Day of Forbo Flooring. Forbo recently introduced a new product that’s turning a lot of heads in the remodeling industry.
Marmoleum Click is perhaps the easiest flooring surface there is to install. No adhesives or fasteners are necessary. The panels simply lock into place with a tongue and groove system. “If you have an existing resilient floor, no need to remove it. The planks and squares can be installed right on top of the old surface. If you have carpet or tile, you just need to remove and dispose of the old materials and start clicking the Marmoleum tiles together right over the subfloor,” says Day.
Marmoleum Click comes in 18 different colors and is available in two different sizes: panels that are 12 inches wide and 36 inches long, and 12-inch by 12-inch squares.
The panels and squares can be mixed and matched to create a wide variety of patterns and color combinations.
“It’s really cool. You can mix and match colors to create a space that is uniquely your own,” says Day.
In addition to being decorative and easy to install, Marmoleum Click is made from natural materials consisting of flaxseed oil, pine rosin, limestone and jute. It also has anti-static and bactericidal properties, meaning it’s easily kept dirt and dust free, and is resistant to such micro-organisms as Staphylococcus. These qualities make it especially popular in bathrooms and kitchens – and in places young children play.
“Marmoleum Click is the ideal do-it-yourselfer’s surface,” says Scott Day of Forbo. “We’ve received a lot of feedback from customers that it’s the easiest material they’ve ever worked with, and they’ve had a lot of fun with it.”
For design ideas, or to find a retailer near you, log on to www.themarmoleumstore.com.
Courtesy of ARA Content
Visit A1 Wood Flooring for more on wood flooring and laminate flooring.
Run-on blog entry
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Sauer & Steiner
When I was in grade school, I was often reprimanded for my amazing run-on sentences. In that spirit - here is a blog entry to clean up some loose ends before the holidays. These photos were taken over the last few weeks.
We are in the middle of a rather humongous snow storm right now. Riley has been tobogganing off the back deck most of the day - he is the snow lover in this house! The photo above is taken from our kitchen window looking at the studio.
Speaking of kitchen windows... we finally have some trim. If you begin to sense a theme that starts with "the shoemakers kids..." you are right - it runs pretty rampant over here. This was a great weekend distraction to finally get this (mostly) done. Mostly because I still need to make the 2" thick eyebrow that goes on the top - but at least we aren't looking at yellow foam anymore!
And yes I know - where are the doors and drawers? Keep reading...
The walnut floor is now installed in our sunroom - we are thrilled with the results. A local sawmill made the flooring for us and my friend Steve helped me install it - thanks again Steve. Once the finish is cured (about a week), we will cover it up with a layer of brown paper and 1/2" thick foam mats so I can start working on the trim and built-in cabinets.
And speaking of the sunroom cabinets... I just picked up the 100 Bd/ft for all the window trim and face frames for the built-ins. This is local cherry I picked up from an Old Order Mennonite saw mill. I have been working with Leonard for several years now and his service and disposition are amazing. The MC is down to 9% and in a few weeks I should be able to start dressing it.
We have a new addition to the Sauer family - Smokey. Riley has been asking for a cat (or dog) for several years now and we finally caved. When we went to pick out a kitten, this little one marched over to Riley and crawled into his lap. It was a pretty easy decision. The second positive sign was he used his litter box within the first 20 minutes.
And finally... 2 years later than expected... I have just finished the first prototype kitchen drawer. We wanted traditional looking drawers but with the modern convenience of drawer glides. Welcome to tandum Plus drawer slides from Blum! As soon as we saw these - we were sold. They are some of the finest drawer glides available and were very easy and straightforward to install (once the drawer was built). The only concession was the 3/8" step in the sides - but other than that - they look like traditional drawers... well... until you open one! They are silky smooth, full extension and have a self closing mechanism for the last 1-1/2".
It has been a while since I have hand cut dovetails. I was reminded of 2 things. How much I love my Imai chisels - and how much I love woodworking. I should also mention that the drawer is just dry fit (not glued) and there is no finish on it. The front is walnut and the sides and back are hard maple. The bottom is 1/4" baltic birch plywood. The pull is a spare from the shaker style bench (the one with the Emmert). I will be making Ebony or African Blackwood pulls for the doors and drawers.
Here is an under the hood shot. The orange bits are actually quick release levers - when you squeeze them, the drawer lifts off the hardware.
That about wraps it up. Thanks to everyone who has stopped in or added a few comments. I may live to regret this - but if there are any subjects you would like to hear about just let me know.
Merry Christmas everyone - and a Happy New Year.
Konrad, Jill, Riley + Lucas