Justin Crimmins knows his hardwood flooring. Founder of Crimmins Hardwood Flooring, which opened in October of 2003, he services residential clients, as well as high profile clients such as Harvard University, Bagel Works, Home Depot, and GAP. One reason for the company’s success is that Crimmins and his crew don’t shy away from perfection. “We strongly believe, and it has been proven true, that one job completed to perfection always gets you a second job through referral,” Crimmins explains.

One critical step toward perfect hardwood floors is finish. I recently interviewed Crimmins on this important step, to help homeowners determine which type of finish to choose. Here, Crimmins talks about factors such as pricing, drying and accuracy of the two primary finishing options.

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It seems there’s hardly a situation where an underlayment beneath could be considered a bad idea. An underlay really can only help your flooring by reducing sound transmission, prolonging its life, and keeping the floor level. The more apt question might be: Which type of underlay do I need?

In general, flooring underlay is added on top of the subfloor to provide a nice, even surface for the finish flooring. But there are several other benefits to using an underlay. Underlay reduces floor-to-ceiling sound transmission. It literally acts as a sound barrier against that clickety-clack of shoes tramping up and down the hallway or in and out of the kitchen.

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In a word association exercise, most people, upon hearing Cork, would burst out with words like wine bottle, coaster, or bulletin board. But here’s a new one: My new kitchen floor!

Cork floors are rapidly gaining in popularity. Perhaps the biggest reason for that is the eco-friendly nature of cork products. Cork trees are prominent in Spain, Portugal, and Tunisia and can live up to 800 years. Cork comes from the bark of the tree only. The bark is harvested about every nine years and then grows back, doing no harm to the tree itself.

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