Installing the White Oak Flooring

Clip Summary

Bob and Tim Colgan (from Kahrs) discuss the white oak flooring being installed in the bedroom. Earlier in the week, the carpenters put down the oriented strand board (OSB) underlayment with construction adhesive over the old boards.

A week later, the flooring installers put down their proprietary padding made of Airolin foam beads in between two layers of plastic. The padding provides sound and moisture resistance, and additional comfort. There are no nails or glue involved in the installation. The end seams are put together first.

Once the board is laid in, it's topped with a heavy plastic block. There is no need to hammer. The secret to the tightness of the installation is in the interlocking joint-- it's completely mechanical. However, some play is built in to accommodate environmental changes. The backside of the product is spruce and the inner core is finger-jointed pine with quarter sawn vertical graining. Because of this, all the expansion will be vertical and won't affect the wear layer of the floor.

As for durability, Kahrs guarantees two full professional sands of the product. The finish is an acrylic urethane, which is actually harder than polyurethane, and non-yellowing.

80% of the Kahrs line is natural colors, not stained, which eliminates the problem of the lighter natural color of a dark-stained wood showing through with scratches and wear.