This is where the certification of wood flooring comes in.

This process of evaluating wood products and their origins can date back to the early nineties, when choosy homeowners wanted to be sure that they were choosing wood products created by ecologically reputable companies. It was difficult to discern a high-grade product from a wood product created by Bob’s Discount Lumber. Today, if you go to any reputable lumber yard, you will see planks of wood with the stamp “FSC Certified,” which tells you that this product meets the highest standards for eco-friendly wood.

FSC is an acronym for Forest Stewardship Council and is the most recognized of the three major certification program sponsors (the others being the Sustainable Forest Initiative [SFI], and the Canadian Standards Association).

The Forest Stewardship Council developed first out of the three sponsors, and has received the most support from worldwide recognized environmental organizations; these include The World Wildlife Fund and Sierra Club. The FSC upholds its reputation by contracting with third-party auditors to get independent examinations and evaluations. These third-party organizations include Smartwood and Scientific Certification Systems.

The Sustainable Forest Initiative was created in 1994 from the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA); this organization oversees the standards in the paper industry.

Finally, the Canadian Standards Association works in Canada and provides certification and stringent standards to follow for wood products from all over the world. The Canadian Standards Association is also responsible for the National Standard for Sustainable Forest Management of Canada.

If you are looking for ways to help the environment, seek out wood products that were created with the environment in mind — look for certified wood flooring products. When you purchase certified wood flooring products, you are not only getting a beautiful floor, but you are being eco-conscious as well. They may cost a little more, but you are helping to ensure that the expansive and marvelous forests will be around for years to come.

To speak with one of our design consultants, please call us at 1-800-764-1633.

If you envision a truly old-world, vintage look for your new room in your home or office, than Bois Chamois is a perfect match for your vision. This company specializes in providing top-quality French white oak hardwood flooring, and they do it in a rich, traditional style that will make your new floor a centerpiece of conversation, and will certainly be unlike the “standard” hardwood flooring seen in homes and offices around your community.

What makes Bois Chamois unique and so brilliant is the classic, traditional methods and treatments used on their hardwood flooring selections. The planks are distressed, which creates a well-used, rustic worn appearance that so many people are after today. Unlike manufactured boards, the scarring and surface marks you see are produced without repetition, and the boards’ edges are irregular as well, which accentuates the distressed look. Bois Chamois’ hardwood flooring takes your room back in time, but because of their technical expertise and precision milling, the flooring has perfect tongue and groove fit, making installation and maintenance easy.

Bois Chamois offers their hardwoods with a variety of parameters. All of their hardwood planking is kiln dried, and if color is ordered, then the boards are “fumed” with color, which allows the color to permeate the thickness of each board with their rich, natural, handcrafted colors. So the first detail to decide on is color. Bois Chamois provides a palette of colors to choose from, which includes dark, red tones with choices such as “New America Rosso,” midtone browns and tans with “Antique Metal Brass,” all the way to what they call “Stonewashed ” or “Shabby White.” You can even select natural oak with no color or finish. There’s certainly a color that will set the tone for your look.

Once you’ve decided on color, you can then decide on formatting of the hardwood flooring planks. Bois Chamois can provide custom widths up to seven inches. The boards can also be finished with oil or wax. A wax finish is easy to maintain. After the initial waxing and buffing, you just need to annually (more or less often depending on traffic) and buff to a shine. The oil finish is a bit more involved at installation, but is maintained by cleaning with a simple soap mixture. Both methods help to permeate and protect color if it has been applied as well as works as a barrier to moisture.

Bois Chamois is the standard in vintage, traditional hardwood flooring.

This customer-centric philosophy brings a quality and dedication to the entire process at Plantation. Their factory in California has state-of-the-art machinery to create the basic forms of the hardwood planking, but the things that make Plantation’s finished product so special are the artisans who meticulously apply finishing touches such as detailed handscraping, which gives the floor that old-world, rustic appearance so popular in today’s designs. But because the details are not done by machine, you’re certain to get a truly unique product for your new home or office.

And if green, eco-friendly practices are of primary importance to you, then Plantation Hardwood Floors is a company you can trust in. First, they make certain that the companies from which they receive their raw materials are in compliance with regulations and employ eco-friendly practices. They recycle their scrap and wood “waste” from their manufacturing process by making interesting and unusual flooring alternatives and samples for customers. Also the company only uses stains and finishes that are either water-based or emit no volatile organic compounds into the air. And because the factory is in California, that reduces overseas transportation emissions, and also helps create and keep jobs in the U.S.

Plantation offers a huge selection of colors, styles, and of course offers unique, custom finishing that is only limited by your imagination. They have several collections, including limited edition lines, in addition to their bases for custom orders. They also have a parquet floor offering that can be custom-made for your personal style and tastes. Plantation hardwoods truly are unique and have a striking appearance, from red oaks available in traditional, classic grains, dark chocolate or red/rust tones to striking walnuts in varying levels of the distressed look to smooth, luxurious gloss.

So definitely take a closer look at what Plantation Hardwood Floors has to offer. You won’t find another company that gives its customers such superior quality in custom looks.

To learn more about Plantation Hardwood, please contact one of our design consultants at 1-800-764-1633.