Bruce. Comparing it with Smartcore Ultra, it did great except with the dent test. It’s a type of rigid core flooring called WPC (wood plastic composite) with a middle layer that keeps it stable and not prone to excessive expansion or contraction. It’s also better suited for DIY installations as aluminum oxide isn’t something you’ll want to try yourself. The main cause of poor finish results and rigid core flooring problems are due to bad subfloor preparation. About Us | Advertise | Contact Us | Website Terms of Use, SmartCore Flooring | 2020 Flooring Reviews. You can say the same for Santos Mahogany and the popular Tigerwood, also known as Brazilian Koa. IAQ is something you may run across, and it stands for Indoor Air Quality. Hydropel Bruce. They also have some beautiful Maple-based planks along with Red and White Oak. Very informative! They only carry Oak and Pine, however, so their hardwood selection is limited compared to other brands. The SmartCore Pro collection is designed to withstand tougher traffic conditions – suitable for commercial environments or very busy households. They are responsible for Pergo, Karastan, and a half-dozen other brands including their water-resistant RevWood flooring. SmartCore Ultra planks are 6” x 48”, and the tiles are 12” x 24”. Your email address will not be published. WARRANTY: 50 Year Residential Finish Warranty, 10 Year Commercial Finish Warranty, Lifetime Structural Warranty Engineered Hardwood Flooring – Whenever you see a product labeled as engineered, think of the layers on a cake. good value product, retails at under $4 per square foot, four different collections to suit particular needs, SmartCore Naturals offers actual hardwood veneer, good visuals, wood look and stone look options available, can be installed in all levels of the home, including basements, can be installed in bathrooms, kitchen and laundry rooms, not usually necessary to acclimate before installation, SmartCore Naturals appears to dent more easily than other collections, using area rugs, and doormats in high traffic areas to avoid tracking dirt and grit through your home (ensure the rug backing is non-staining), adding felt pads or coasters to the bottom of tables, chairs and other moveable furniture, moving heavy furniture items carefully, not dragging them over your floor. You also won’t have to move out for a few days while the odor dies down although you can’t fix any scratches or dings from the installation process as the boards are already sealed. Standard SmartCore retails at $2.00 – $2.90 per square foot; SmartCore Ultra retails at $3.30 – $ 3.40 per square foot; SmartCore Pro retails at $3.50 – $3.70 per square foot; and SmartCore Naturals retails at $3.50 – $3.80 per square foot. Floors & Stairs Repair; Read More. In a nutshell, when you buy unfinished hardwood flooring, you’ll have to “finish” it yourself unless you hire a pro. There are more stone look designs in the Ultra collection than in the standard collection, with a nice breadth of looks including warm tan travertine, dark gray slate and creamy sandstone options. A: It depends on how thick it is. What is more significant is the rather more delightful range of styles in the SmartCore Pro collection; there are both wood look and stone look designs, with some great contemporary and on-trend options. Toothpaste? But these guys are so used it and some don’t recognize what makes a better product. Most of the companies we’ve touched on carry “Green” products, but you may have to dig to find them, and some definitely do not live up to the hype. While Mohawk has over 100 shades of solid hardwood flooring, the majority of it is Oak. But it dents and scratches VERY easily! Bruce Hardwood Flooring Good collection of wood flooring (Value series) is the least expensive wood flooring Bruce wood floors makes and is for applications where real budgets are in mind. Design-wise, there are currently twelve SmartCore Natural designs; all of them feature a wood veneer – with oak, hickory, maple and bamboo options; colors are generally natural to medium dark brown, with one gray stained oak option. Care needs to be taken to ensure that moisture and pH levels of the subfloor are in the specified range – any excess moisture in the subfloor can lead to mold and mildew growth, and will void your warranty. In our experience, this is not always true, and so we strongly advise that you start with a very well prepared and very level subfloor for best results. Before you can begin to think about stains or top coats, you have to consider if you want to pick up your boards unfinished or prefinished from the factory. You can choose products with a high, medium or low gloss level. Their engineered selection covers the same species, and the usual finishes and sizes are available. It’s not as easy to do as it looks in the installation video on the SmartCore website, and you definitely need two people!” – Ruth, “We tested samples of SmartCore Naturals and Ultra including leaving in water, using chemicals to clean, and using a hammer. With the former, you can choose from solid Hickory hardwood with Autumn Apple or Bark Brown if you want something durable. Styles and optional designs. All SmartCore flooring has an integrated padded bottom layer that acts like underlayment. This wood polymer core layer is made from mixing wood fiber, plastic polymers and foaming agents, which gives the flooring a 100% waterproof core and a solid feel, but not so solid as to be completely inflexible like ceramic tile. A: According to the Janka scale, the hardest solid hardwood flooring is IPE with a rating of 3600 or Brazilian Cherry at 2300, although both depend are expensive and can be challenging to obtain or install. They aren’t quite as durable, however, and the selection is somewhat limited compared to important products. Looking for the best flooring? With exotics, French Oak is an interesting choice and not too hard to find. Bruce Stain + Scratch-Resistant Luxury Planks. They have hard to find exotics like Bellawood’s solid plank Purple Heart flooring or Hevea, otherwise known as Rubberwood. We’re not talking about the layer of protection that keeps your wood safe, but how that wood is “finished” before the top coat is applied. 1 best-selling, most-recognized hardwood flooring brand in the world. The wood representations are oak, maple, walnut, hickory and pine, and there are both classic and contemporary looks available including some quite dramatic multi-toned looks. We recommend you use drapes and blinds in very sunny rooms. Read our Terms of Use and Disclosures page for more information. Many of their floors are broken down by collection, and you’ll have a wide variety of sizes and finishes at your disposal as well. All of the SmartCore floors are designed to be waterproof – but that does not mean you can flood a room or leave water standing in puddles for hours on end. In that case, most homeowners just cover it up instead of removing it. 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