Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about our floors, services, and process.

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FAQ

Frequently
Asked Question

Everything you need to know about our
floors, services, and process.

In-stock material: 1–2 weeks.

Custom color on stock platforms: 2–3 weeks.

Custom production: typically 8–12 weeks.

You'll get a real date with your quote, and if a timeline is tight we'll tell you before you commit.
Engineered, most of the time. Most Manhattan condos and co-ops sit on concrete slabs, and engineered boards glue down directly without a plywood buildup. They also handle the swing from steam-heated winters to humid summers better than solid wood. Solid 3/4" flooring still makes sense in townhouses and brownstones with wood subfloors, and we carry both.
With engineered boards, 3" to 14" widths and 2'–16' are realistic. However, solid wood gets riskier past 5" because of temperature and humidity fluctuations, and wide solid boards can gap and cup more. If you want the wide look, engineered is the way to get it.
They describe how the log was cut, and the cut changes how the grain reads. Plain sawn gives you the familiar cathedral grain. Rift sawn produces straight, linear grain. Quartered shows ray fleck, a shimmer across the board. Live sawn cuts straight through the log and mixes all of it.

Rift and quartered cost more because each log yields less of them, and they're also the most dimensionally stable cuts.
Grade describes how much natural marking shows, not quality. Select is clean and uniform with minimal knots. Character allows knots, mineral streaks, and color variation. Rustic leans into all of it.
Oil soaks into the wood and leaves a matte, natural surface you can repair in place: sand the scratch, re-oil that spot, done. The trade-off is periodic maintenance oiling.

Polyurethane sits on top as a harder film with more water resistance and less upkeep, but repairs usually mean recoating a larger area. Busy households often land on oil for the repairability. We'll show you both on real samples.
Matte and low satin dominate high-end work right now because they read natural and hide micro-scratches. Gloss shows everything: dust, footprints, wear paths.

Unless you're after a specific formal look, we usually steer clients matte to satin.
Herringbone uses rectangular boards that interlock in a staggered zigzag. Chevron boards are cut on an angle so the rows meet in a continuous point, like arrows.

Chevron reads a little more tailored, herringbone a little more classic, and chevron usually costs more because of the angled cuts.
Yes. Much of our European oak comes from managed forests, and FSC-certified options are available when a project requires documentation, which comes up often on LEED jobs. Tell us the requirement and we'll match product to it.
Yes, and you should. Look at them in your actual lighting, morning and evening, next to your cabinetry and stone. Showroom lighting and apartment lighting can be very different.
Yes, on request. Reclaimed material and unusual species run longer on lead time, and pricing varies by lot, so start that conversation early in your project.
Whatever you have: floor plans, square footage, photos of the space, inspiration images, a cabinet door or stone sample if finishes are decided.

None of it is required. People walk in with nothing but an address, and we can work with that.

Your subfloor decides. Concrete slab (most condos and newer buildings): glue-down engineered. Wood subfloor (townhouses, many prewar buildings): nail-down works for solid or engineered.

We rarely recommend floating floors for high-end work because they can feel hollow underfoot. We confirm the method during the site visit, before anything is ordered.
In most condo and co-op buildings, yes. Boards commonly require the finished floor assembly to meet a sound rating, usually written as an IIC number, which measures how much footstep noise transfers to the unit below.

We install acoustic underlayment systems that meet these requirements and can provide the product data your board asks for.
A typical straight-lay apartment runs 10 days per ~1,000 sq ft, plus time for demo, subfloor prep, and acclimation. Patterns and site finishing add time.
Usually, yes. The material sits in the space with the HVAC running at normal living conditions before install, and we check moisture in both the wood and the subfloor before a single board goes down.

Skipping this step is where most flooring problems are born. We don't skip it.
Often. Prewar buildings come with their own personalities: sleepers and cinder fill under old floors, out-of-level slabs and framing.
Yes, same day in most cases. A COI (certificate of insurance) is the document your management company requires before any contractor works in the building. It names the building and managing agent as additional insured.

Send us your building's sample requirements and we handle the rest.
Sometimes, though we usually advise against it. Height buildup creates problems at doors and transitions, and you inherit whatever is wrong underneath.

We'll assess it honestly on the site visit, and if going over the top is the right call for your situation, we'll say so.
Yes, with the right product. Engineered construction only, installed within the heating manufacturer's surface temperature limits.

We've done plenty of radiant jobs and will confirm compatibility on the specific floor before you order.
Yes. Much of our European oak comes from managed forests, and FSC-certified options are available when a project requires documentation, which comes up often on LEED jobs. Tell us the requirement and we'll match product to it.

Dry dust mop or vacuum on the hard-floor setting for daily care, and a barely damp mop with the cleaner made for your finish when needed.

No steam mops, ever, and no wet mopping. We'll tell you the exact product for your floor at handoff.
Depends on the finish. Oil-finished floors can often be repaired in place: light sand, re-oil the spot, blend it in.

Polyurethane scratches can sometimes be buffed or touched up, while deeper damage means recoating the area. Felt pads under furniture prevent most of it in the first place.
Dogs and wood floors coexist fine with the right choices: harder species, character grade (the markings camouflage wear), matte finishes, and trimmed nails.

Avoid gloss and very dark, clean floors if you have a big dog, since both show every mark. We'll point you to the floors in the showroom that handle pet life best.
A maintenance oil refresh every [1 to 2 years in busy areas; confirm your recommendation], which revives the surface without sanding.

It's an afternoon of work, and it's the reason an oil floor in its tenth year can look better than a poly floor in its fifth.
Depends on the wear layer. The 4mm to 6mm wear layers we favor take two to three full sandings, and with matte oil finishes you may never need a full sand at all, just maintenance coats.

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