A1DesignerFlooring

Thinking of installing beech or maple flooring ? According to some reports, wood flooring is gaining popularity for the aesthetics and health benefits. Wood is a natural product, unlike other materials which may contain potentially harmful chemicals ...

And lighter coloured woods like maple are becoming preferred. Maple is strong, hard, is resistant to wear, and is very durable. Hard maple has the rare ability to withstand pointed loads, and it is relatively easy to give attractive finishes to maple flooring.

You might want to know a few of the characteristics about maple floors, and the care to be taken to maintain the beauty of these floors.

Maple floors - the types of wood that may be used

First Grade MFMA Hard Maple - This is the highest grade of maple flooring available, and is extremely durable. The floors are practically defect free, and are particularly suitable for gymnasiums, racquetball courts, dance floors are more.

Second & Better Grade MFMA Hard Maple - Slight imperfections may exist in these floors. But even then they are extremely resilient and are suitable for gymnasiums, cafeterias, offices, industrial plants and more.

Third Grade MFMA Hard Maple - This is very suitable for gymnasiums, factories, and other uses where good wear resistance is required with appearance at lower costs.

How to care for maple floors

Maple floors, like all other wooden floors, react to the amount of humidity in the atmosphere. They expand with increase in the levels of humidity and shrink when the conditions become drier. And when they shrink, gaps may develop either between individual strips of flooring or between groups of tiles. Any means of maintaining constant levels of humidity may be able to remedy this to a certain extent.

Bleaching and staining - MFMA does not recommend bleaching or staining northern hard maple floors. Bleaching or staining uniformly may not be possible and attempts to bleach or stain a maple floor may result in a blotchy appearance.