Seasons Hardwood Flooring, Canadian Made!

My name is Kevin Owen owner of Owen Flooring in Chatham-Kent Ontario. I started out as a hardwood flooring installer in 2004 working with a local home builder in the area. I have installed the absolute best hardwood flooring products as well as some of the worst quality products on the market over the last 10 years. When my wife Stephanie and I opened our store in 2012, we decided at that time  that we would only install the absolute best quality products that we know and trust. I met Kerry Watson the representative of Seasons Flooring in the spring of 2012 after installing his flooring for a client in London On.

Seasons NorthPlank Nat. Birch

Kerry introduced me to three lines of Seasons Flooring all with the very durable Husky Coat Plus finish patented by Seasons Flooring. Husky Coat Plus has a 35 year residential warranty, in fact this finish is so strong that even scrubbing it with a 000 steel wool will not scratch it and is 10 times more durable than a polyurethane applied finish. This finish also has an exclusive stain guard incorporated into the top layer of finish, in fact this layer is so stain resistant, it will even resist stains from an indelible marker and iodine. This Husky Coat Finish also offers a much higher UV resistance than most competitive brands. Husky Coat is also resistant to bacteria which might breed and grow in competitive flooring brands.


The first line that was introduced to me was called NorthPlank. NorthPlank is a 3/4 inch solid wood line that is available at value price of $3.99sf-$6.29sf depending on species and board width. NorthPlank is available in Red Oak, Maple & Birch and board width of 2.25, 3.25, 4 & 5 inch and is available in 5 different colours on every species. With NorthPlank you might see board lengths up to 7.25 feet long and I might add this is tremendously long for a solid wood product! To me NorthPlank is the true look of wood with lots of variation showing all the true grain and mineral marks that wood has to offer.

Seasons S&B Maple colour Linen

The next line introduced was the Seasons Select and Better Line. The select and Better Line is still finished with the high quality Husky Coat Finish Plus. This line has the same long board lengths as NorthPlank as well as the same three species available with Oak, Maple & Birch, however is available in many more colours including custom colours if requested. The Select and Better line has less variation for a more uniformed looking floor and retails for aprox $5.50 sf- $6.75 sf.

The third line introduced to me was the Winery Collection of Birch and Oak, this line is without a doubt my favourite line that Seasons has to offer and in fact could very well be my favourite line on the market today. This is a custom ordered floor, meaning your floor is your floor and there will not be another one like it, no matter how far you travel across the World. With eight colours on Birch and four colours on Oak and three different sizes available and even the option of mixing widths, if you are looking for a rustic floor, this might just be the one for you! The Winery Collection has the same Husky Coat Finish, however the people at

Seasons Winery Collection Chateau Lachute

seasons have lowered the gloss level, this simulates an oil rubbed finish with none of the disadvantages and it is called Oil FX. The Seasons Winery Collection is the most expensive line of hardwood flooring available from Seasons ranging from aprox $6.15 sf- $8.55 sf, however this is not unreasonable for the amount of work that goes into each and every custom flooring board.

Seasons International Display with
Winery in the background at
the  Owen Flooring showroom

Over the past three years with Seasons Flooring much has changed! In fact Seasons has released an engineered hardwood floor. The new engineered hardwood line is available with any of the oak and maple Seasons products and is always a special order, however it is still available and a very good product!  Seasons have also just released a Wire-brushed Oak product that is really a beauty, available in traditional wire-brushed look or the new International lines look with a black or white under coat. This product is difficult for me to describe because of just how unique is, however if this product line interests you, please contact me, because I would love to show it to you!

Like I said earlier in this post, I have seen high quality hardwood flooring products and I have seen low quality hardwood flooring products. Seasons Flooring is certainly a higher quality Canadian hardwood manufacturer that manages to sell their quality products at a very good price point. I would not hesitate to install this beautiful product in my home, in fact you might be seeing the Winery Collection on the floor at Owen Flooring very soon.

Ceramic Tile Problems? Choose the right Subfloor!!!

Ceramic, porcilan and stone tile certainly have its problems, or is the problem the subfloor that is under these tiles that is the problem?

Cracking, Buckling, Broken, Grout issues, Cold on the feet, and damp are all issues I have heard about when talking to customers about tile. What if I told you these problems are not related to the tile, and in most cases they are a direct result of the subfloor that is installed below the tile.

The truth is at first I agreed with the common norm, there is and can be many problems associated with tile, however it is so strange to me that all these homes built from the 1970's to now have had tons of issues with their tile, meanwhile humans have been laying tile for thousands of years and today thousands of years later, some of that tile is still in good condition. Therefor I have to ask the question Why?

Well as humans we have gone through 2 major methods of Installing tile subfloor, the historic but quality method called the Uncoupling method and the more modern method called the Direct Bond Method.

Direct Bond Method or more formally known as the Thin-set method is exactly how it sounds, the tiles are installed directly on a subfloor or concrete using a thin-set mortar as an adhesive, shown in Figure B. Cracking, Buckling, Broken and Grout issues become present when the subfloor, floor joist, even cement moves or shifts below the tiles.

Ancient Uncoupling Method This method has been present for thousands of years and has proven to be a much more stable installation method than the Direct Bond Method, however the steps involved are far too extensive to do in todays construction. Thousands of years ago installers would lay an ultra thick layer of sand over top of the sub-floor and the tile would get adhered over the sand, so if the subfloor were to move or shift in anyway the sand was able to move under the tile without causing the same issues as the Direct Bond method.

The Answer? Well obviosly we are not going to come into your home with pounds of sand, so the answer is Schluter Ditra, Ditra XL, & Ditra Heat!



Why? Because these three Schluter Ditra products are uncoupling products designed to work the very same way as the Ancient uncoupling method, with a much lighter and more basic installation method.

How Does Ditra Work? Ditra products provide uncoupling through its open rib structure, which allows for in-plane movement that effectively neutralizes the differential movement stresses between the substrate and the tile, thus eliminating the major causes of tiles to crack, buckle, break and have grout issues.

What About the Tile Being Cold & Damp? Good question! Ditra Heat is a subfloor with heat option built in, although a bit more expensive than the traditional Ditra, well worth it for people that do not like the cold. Also you should know that Ditra, Ditra XL & Ditra Heat are all made with polyethylene composition making it a vapour barrier from dampness from below. Many people that install Dirtra/Ditra XL under their tile believe their tile is warmer because of it, when in reality the Ditra is just stopping the vapours from below, removing the damp feel of the tile floor.

What Is The Most Durable Hardwood Flooring For Pets?

Mirage Imagine Old Hickory Barn wood

Many Canadians are dog owners and dog lovers and if you are like me your dog is part of the family! Does this mean you cant have a hardwood floor? Well... not necessarily, although I do not recommend hardwood flooring to most dog owners, there are some hardwood floors that will scratch less than others, along with other hardwood looking options.

Type of Finish & Finish Lustre 
This is the most important part of this blog post, although others might start by recommending a rock hard type of wood, this is not as important as the quality of the finish, as in most cases it is the finish that scratches not the wood itself. I generally recommend the Mirage Nanolinx HD  because it has proven to be 5 times more resilient than the nearest competition. I would also recommend that you pick a low luster finish like the Cashmere or DuraMatt option from Mirage or Oil FX that Seasons Flooring offers. All of these options are low luster finishes that are designed to look like an oiled finished floor without the maintenance and other disadvantages of oil and is the most practical wood finish for families with children and pets. I personally love the Mirage cashmere finish on a nice wire-brushed product.

Style

Mirage Imagine Collection Old Hickory Seashell 

The Style of a hardwood floor is also a very important decision, personally with pets I always recommend a wire-brushed or distressed product like Mirage Imagine Old Hickory Seashell. Wire-brushing and distressing a floor will actually give you a floor that has been marked, nicked, and well... wire-brushed, this means that if and when your loving dog scratches your floor, the scratch will be less visible because your floor will already be marked up. There are also many other  quality distressed lines available like the Mirage Imagine Collection, Kentwood Floors,  Seasons Winery Collection, Wickham Mountain Home or one of my personal favorites the Vintage Hand-scraped.


Type Of Wood
Yellow Birch, Red Oak, White Oak, Maple & Hickory are all very good hardwoods to use as a flooring product with animals, they are all very hard types of wood. My preference is actually yellow birch & red oak, although they are the softest of the five woods, yellow birch & red oak seems to be the best wood species for flooring because of its combination of hardness and elasticity.

Brands
You will notice that I suggest the Canadian made Mirage hardwood throughout this blog post, if you are wondering why, it is because Mirage is the best hardwood flooring manufacturer in the World and if you read What Hardwood Flooring Brand Should I Choose? Blog I am confident you will see why. I also mention Canadian manufacturers like Wickham Flooring, Seasons Flooring and Vintage Flooring, I do this because these companies are also wonderful Canadian made products that are built to last and are generally more affordable than the #1 Floor in the World, Mirage. If you want more information about Seasons Flooring, check out this blog post Seasons Canadian Made Hardwood.

What Hardwood Flooring Brand Should I Choose?

 After years of research, several in house flooring mill tours as well as working with pretty well every major manufacturer of hardwood flooring over the last 15 years I can answer this question with confidence and I will tell you Mirage every time. Mirage is dedicated to quality without compromise!


 Anyone can tell you that a product or the product they sell is the best, however this blog is being written to explain exactly why we at Owen Flooring will all tell you Mirage is the best. 


So lets start with what most consumers feel the most important part of a wood floor is THE FINISH.

Thanks to this cutting edge technology, Mirage Nanolinx finish is made up of the smallest particles possible, nine times smaller than a hair, each particle moulds perfectly to the shape of the hardwood floor, creating the clearest and most flexible finish in the industry.  The Nanolinx finish is also highly resistant to scratches, marks and nicks. Actually the Mirage Nanolinx finish is by far the most resistant I have seen in my eight years installing hardwood flooring, however for those more technical people out

there, Mirage has done their own testing to ensure their finish exceeds the common norm, and is much better and more resistant than all of their competition. In fact Mirage maintains an in house active researchand development department which conducts many thorough tests on all products including the competitions products. As you can see in the chart above the Nanolinx finish is %50 more wear resistant than most other finishes.

Mirage Hardwood is available in three different approaches Solid, Engineered and Lock. All three approaches have their own Reducers, T-mouldings and Stair-nosing made and finished in the same Canadian manufacturing facility as the flooring products themselves to ensure a perfect colour match.


The Solid approach has a very exclusive manufacturing process to ensure the wood stays at the proper moisture level of %7. This level is very important because if the product is milled higher or lower than %7 there is a higher chance of cupping and bowing after the product has been installed in the home. Board widths in the Solid approach are available in 2-1/2, 3-1/4 and 4-1/4 inch thicknesses and can be sanded 3-5 times. 

The Engineered approach is real hardwood flooring over a plywood base, keeping it structurally sound to resist against moisture problems associated with wider planked solid hardwood and is my personal favourite. Mirage has one of the largest wear layers in the industry that can also be sanded down 3-5 times. The wear layer from Mirage is Dry Sawn unlike most of the Chinese competition is a Rotary peal. A Dry sawn approach is the absolute best way to create a wear layer because you will get less grain repetition than that of a rotary pealed product giving you the same look as the solid  wood approach with the availability to go to a wider board without the risk of cupping and bowing. Mirage Engineered can be glued over concrete as well as radiant heat, or it can be nailed or stapled over wood subfloor. Mirage Engineered is available in various widths 2-9/16, 3-5/16, 5 & 6-1/2 inches. In my opinion the biggest advantage to Mirage Engineered over their competitions engineered is the core they use. The core is a baltic birch marine grade plywood made by Wisa plywood a company from Finland that is considered the best plywood manufacturer in the World. Wisa plywood does not contain urea-formaldihyde because urea-formaldihyde does not stand up to water whereas Phenol-Formaldehyde which is what is used in the Wisa/Mirage product does stand up to water making it marine grade and superior to the competitions products. We did our own testing at Owen Flooring on Mirage engineered hardwood vs. The HGTV competition product, we put both in a bucket filled with water for over 24 hrs. The water did not effect the Mirage Engineered product at all the finish was still perfect and the product did not expand while it was wet or contract when it dried. Unlike the HGTV product that would no longer tongue and groove together because it had expanded so much and the water completely destroyed its finish. Although your flooring is highly unlikely to sit in water for 24 hrs. it is nice to have the peace of mind to know that this product is made to stand up to life's challenges.


The Mirage Lock approach is real hardwood boards with a High Density Fiber Core or HDF.  This product is designed to be installed using the float method. A float method is great for basement floors or homes that were built on slab, at the same time it can also be installed on wood subfloors making it a great option for any level on your home. This is also your Greenest approach because the HDF is made of recycled saw dust and the production uses the least amount of new wood product. The boards are available in a 4-5/16 inch wide. The lock system is great because it allows you to have a fast, easy and installation with no nails or glue, while still taking advantage of the Mirage quality. 

Mirage has one of if not the best Warranties in the industry and they actually stand behind their warranty. The warranty is a Lifetime limited structural warranty, warranting that the wood will not delaminate for life . A 25 year warranty on finish wear through for residential applications as well as 3 year for commercial. 

Ok, so now lets talk about Mirage and our environment, Mirage is FSC certified, meaning the product comes from certified producers committed to meeting healthy forestry management standards. Mirage also recycles %100 of the wood waste generated in the manufacture of their floors. All Mirage products are packaged in recyclable cartons made of %100 recycled materials. None of the finishes contain VOCs or Volatile Organic Compound. Top quality Mirage products qualify for LEED. If only all the flooring mills cared this much about the future of not only our industry but the World as a whole.

So above has pretty well summed up why myself and my associates at Owen Flooring feel Mirage is the absolute best product on the market and if you are still uncertain about what brand to choose, read below as I copied this directly from the Mirage website.

Mirage stands as a symbol of the quest for balance and a better quality of life. Mirage is synonymous with comfort, beauty, and durability. It epitomizes attention to detail and the desire to create a product in perfect harmony with its environment.

Twenty-three times recognized for outstanding quality*, Mirage is indisputably the # 1 hardwood flooring brand in North America. Retailers and other industry professionals have rated Mirage 1^st for quality 23 times in the last decade on surveys conducted by the following magazines:

• Ranked 1^st in quality by Floor Focus magazine in 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013 and 2014
• Ranked 1^st in quality by Floor Covering Weekly in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013
• Received the Floor Covering News Award of Excellence in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2014
• Boa-Franc, manufacturer of Mirage floors has also received the highest honor at the Grands Prix québécois de la qualité awards in 2012. This award is on par with the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in the United States.
• Boa-Franc, manufacturer of Mirage floors has also received the prestigious Gold Trophy Award at the 2013 Canada Awards for Excellence

I think in a nutshell by now I have proven my point and I am sure I have left several key aspects of this company out of this blog. So if you think there are any other companies out there that you feel even come close to meeting the standards set by Mirage please contact me because I would love to see it! 

 



   
  

Why Choose Owen Flooring?

Owen Flooring is the next generation of flooring stores setting the standard for quality products and service in Chatham-Kent. We have been a retail store in Chatham-Kent for three years now. Over the last three years Owen Flooring has proven itself to be among the best of the best in the flooring industry accepting the Chatham Daily News Best Flooring/Carpet Store in Chatham-Kent runner-up award for 2014 and 2015. Considering Owen Flooring does little to no advertisement with the Chatham Daily News and given Owen Flooring is a relatively new business in the area this is a great accomplishment and says a lot about where this business is headed.

The vision of Owen Flooring is to sell and install the best possible flooring products for the best possible price all the while treating our customers as they we would like to be treated and our customer’s home as if it were our own home. Owen Flooring is also dedicated to CHANGE, People need change in their life, either in their floor coverings, paint, or maybe just with whats for dinner tonight, having this said it is just as important for business’s to change very similar to the way people do. At Owen Flooring we do things differently which is a change that most of our customers enjoy and appreciate. Mainly keeping an open mind for change during a flooring project or renovation is key because the definition of renovate is “to make changes”.  At Owen Flooring we “Embrace Change” not only from a renovation aspect but also in the way we do our day to day work. To be a business dedicated to change means that as a customer you are sure to see or hear something that perhaps you have never seen or heard before and because people need change, you will probably like it! We also take the time to ask our customers questions about how they live in their home, so we can better understand what product will suit their needs and wants. 

Owen Flooring takes pride in “One on one Project Management.” At Owen Flooring we have made things easy for you, from the time you walk in our doors and we introduce ourselves to the time we install your beautiful flooring product, you will be talking with your own personal flooring project manager. Meaning the person selling you the floor will manage, look after and observe your entire flooring project. We find this system to work great and our customers seem to really enjoy the relationship we have with them. Customer service is Owen Flooring’s focal point, we are well aware of who our customer is and we do everything we can do to impress them. After purchasing a floor and having an installation done, we want our customers to be so impressed with us that they tell their friends not only what a nice job that was done but also how clean and neat we left their home. 

This brings us to our expert flooring installation service, at Owen Flooring we settle nothing less then the best. This is why we hire our own in-house installation teams and are RenoMark Certified. What is RenoMark? RenoMark is a renovators mark of excellence all RenoMark renovators must be a member in good standing of The Ontario Home Builders Association, abide by the OHBA code of ethics, provide a detailed contract or quote for all work, carry a minimum of $2 million liability insurance, have WSIB coverage, carry all applicable licenses and permits, maintain a professional level of knowledge on building codes etc., maintain a safe and organized work site and return phone calls within two business days. We wouldn’t want an under qualified installer working at our own home, therefor we won’t send one to yours! 

It is not only our expert installers and our management team that makes us a change from most other flooring stores, it is also our products and the partnerships we have created with our manufacturers and suppliers. Owen Flooring has partnered up with some of the best flooring and carpet manufacturers in the world, known for not only their premium quality but also their design style and service. These exclusive partnerships include include Mirage Flooring, Wickham Hardwood Flooring, Masland Carpet & Dixie Home Carpet.

At Owen Flooring we are very proud to cary the absolute best quality flooring products in Chatham-Kent and look forward to installing them in your home.

Extra Long & Ultra Wide Hardwood Flooring

Gord displaying two new Ultra long
products from 12 Oaks

Over the past thirty five years a lot has changed in hardwood flooring trends, going from 1.25” wide strip flooring in the 1970’s to 2.25” wide strip in the early 90’s to more of a 3.25” wider plank in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. 
That is when everything changed… All of the sudden there were more and more 5” wide planks with distressing, hand-scraping and even wire brushing. Unfortunately there were many moisture related problems with these floors, as wider wood cups and bows far more than a more narrow strip flooring does. At this point flooring manufacturers and retailers began re educating customers on the importance of engineered hardwood. 
Engineered hardwood is nothing new and was nothing new in the year 2000. Engineered hardwood was originally designed in the 1970’s when building on slab concrete was more prevalent. Engineered hardwood provided people building on slab the convenience of a hardwood floor. 
Today flooring trends say the longer, the wider, the better and without an engineered product hitting the market place in a big way, these new styles and trends would not be available in 2015.  At Owen Flooring we have products that are 7.5” wide 6.25ft. long and products that are 7” wide and 6ft long. When you read it, it doesn't really seem that long or that wide, however most solid hardwood flooring has an average length of 3ft and width of 3 inches making these ultra long and extra wide engineered hardwood products big time head turners!

Kevin displaying the new products
that are as tall as he is

Owen Flooring is currently working with two new Ultra long and extra wide product lines from one of their favoured flooring manufacturers Twelve Oaks Forest Products. Twelve Oaks released the two new engineered product lines early 2015 to select dealers and both lines have proven to be a beautiful, quality floor with a great price point.

Lake Huron Collection was the first to arrive. This product line is 6" to 6.5" wide and 6ft long and is available in Hickory, Black Walnut & White Oak. This product includes tongue and grove construction, making it available to be installed by using the nail down, float, or glue down method. This product also includes a Smooth Authentic PPG Alluminum Oxide Reinforced Finish, and it has a 35 year wear layer warranty. This product also comes E1 certified, meaning it has low emissions and is environmentally responsible. This product line is not only a stunning extra long, ultra wide quality flooring product, it comes with a remarkable price tag of only $6.29 sf for White Oak & Hickory & $6.99 sf for Black walnut.

New Master Artisan Line 

Owen Flooring is also displaying the brand new product line from Twelve Oaks called Master Artisan Collection. This heavy character engineered wood flooring product line features a board length of over 6ft and a board width of 7.5inch on a rustic White Oak species. Like the Lake Huron Collection This product includes tongue and grove construction, making it available to be installed by using the nail down, float, or glue down method. This product also includes a Smooth Authentic PPG Alluminum Oxide Reinforced Finish, allowing it to have a 35 year wear layer warranty. This product also comes E1 certified, meaning it has low emissions and is environmentally responsible. This product also has an aggressive price point of only $6.75 sf.

Owen Flooring is also an exclusive dealer in Chatham-Kent to the worlds finest hardwood flooring, Mirage. We are very excited to continue selling our quality products however adding the absolute best in the world is something to be thrilled about. Why do I say Mirage is the best? Well there are so many reasons it is difficult to go over in this blog, so click here "WHY MIRAGE" to find out.

Thanks for checking out our Extra Long & Ultra Wide flooring Blog post! Remember be very careful with wide plank hardwood, we urge our customers to purchase engineered hardwood to reduce the risk of future problems.

The Beauty of Hardwood Flooring & The Comfort of an Area Rug

There is not a doubt in my mind that Hardwood Flooring or Engineered Hardwood Flooring is the most desirable type of flooring available to North Americans today. There is something about a hardwood floor that screams out luxury and elegance. To me hardwood and engineered hardwood is so luxurious because a floor will be made up of hundreds or thousands of boards and every board has its own unique look, meaning there are not two boards the same throughout the entire room, which makes for a very stunning look.

My family at 6:00 am ready for playtime

Although hardwood flooring is very luxurious and rich looking, after starting a family my wife and I have come to the conclusion that an area rug not only adds warmth to the luxurious hardwood as well as the room, it also provides a great spot for kids to play and crawl around. We have two dogs and a beautiful 4 month old girl named Evelyn Grace, our home has hard surface in the living-room, kitchen and hall with carpet in the bedrooms for comfort. We love the hardwood look! However we don't want our little baby playing on the hard surface, not only because of comfort but also because we don't want our flooring destroyed!An area rug was perfect solution to our problem because we wanted our home to look luxurious but at the same time we are very practical. We put an area rug in the living room for our girl to play on and she loves it! We also like the feel of it on our feet while watching TV as well as the warmth it adds to our room. At first we thought it would be hard to keep clean, however it is really no harder to clean than a hardwood floor and according to the CRI (Carpet & Rug Institute) a carpet will actually provide a home with a better air quality over a hard surface floor.

Sometimes it is difficult to find the perfect colour, size, shape or pattern in a stock area rug. At Owen Flooring we custom cut and bind any one of our carpets to the size, shape, style and colour of our customers wants or needs. There are many pattern and colour options available as well with Masland Carpets, Dixie Home, STAINMASTER as well as Phenix Flooring. If your family is anything like mine, once you find that perfect area rug made for your home or room, you will certainly become a big fan of the comfort and style it brings with it!