Solid hardwood flooring gives a home character and beauty that is unsurpassed by other types of flooring. What if we told you that you could convert your everyday hardwood flooring into an exotic masterpiece – without spending the kitchen sink? When you select exotic hardwood flooring from the experts at the Hardwood Flooring Stores. We’ve negotiated with some of the top manufacturers for the world’s most beautiful, stunning hardwood species, bringing you a exceptional, Canadian approach to modern hardwood flooring.

Hardwood floors add to the value of your home wherever they are installed. Their return on investment is one of the best in the flooring industry. They truly are an investment in a home, not just an expense. The appeal to homeowners is that hardwood floors function well in traditional homes and contemporary homes alike, with flooring options to fit any design style. Widths as narrow as 2 ¼” and wider than 7” are available in the finish and colour of your choice.

Quality and Safety first

We source only Canadian and US manufactured products for our customers. There’s a huge quantity of hardwood flooring that is manufactured from illegally sourced lumber in the Siberian and Malaysian forests. The New Yorker did a full expose about the illegally sourced logs that are shipped by massive trains or ships to China where it is used in the manufacturing of hardwood flooring. In many cases these products are packaged with deceptive wording making it look like it is made in Canada or the U.S.A.

You can’t put a package of bubble gum on a shelf in Shopper’s Drug mart without the ingredients and health information listed in French and English but you can get away with bringing products from China and label the cartons in a deceptive way to make people think that it is made in Canada.

 Why is Canadian manufactured hardwood flooring important?

 1.    Strict health and safety issues for the factory workers making the flooring.

2.    Strict regulations on the chemicals used in the adhesives and finishes.

3.    Living wages paid to the workers

4.    Flooring made in our market is for our climatic conditions.

5.    Certified selective harvesting of lumber in our sustainable forests.

6.    Local manufacturers with real warranties

7.    All revenue from manufacturing and distribution stays in our country

8.    Canadian pride in manufacturing leading to the very best quality in the world.

What is Exotic Flooring?

While there is no official definition of “exotic wood,” the term generally refers to species that are not found in North America. They are imported from tropical, faraway places like Africa, Australia, the Far East, and Brazil.

So, what makes exotic hardwoods so desirable to so many people, especially for their homes?

Their appeal lies in their unusual and striking appearance, which differs by species and even from tree to tree of the same species. Exotic hardwood floors are known and loved for their distinctive color tones, textures, and grains.

At Hardwood Flooring Store we have selected the four finest exotic hardwoods to create a stunning array of floors that are Lacey Act compliant, to ensure legally sourced timber.

African Sapele

Looking for a dramatically elegant floor? Consider crimson–chestnut Sapele, with its crisscrossed and streaked or honeycomb grain and its rippling, banded, or speckled patterns. Sapele is not an endangered species—it is abundant in Africa.

Brazilian Cherry

Grown in the forests of Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, South America, and French Guinea, this stunning hardwood features earthy browns with soft burgundy undertones. Gorgeous Brazilian Cherry adds flair without overwhelming your space.

Black Walnut

Few wood species have the deep, dark character and warmth of Black Walnut. Grown in the central and eastern USA, its rich chocolate tones and straight, open grain bring timeless elegance to your design scheme.

Santos Mahogany

This stunning exotic species is found in southern Mexico, Central America, and as far away as Argentina. Incredibly hard and dense, the Santos Mahogany‘s dark brown hue with lustrous red undertones and streaked grain add sophisticated elegance to any décor. Our sources harvest this wood responsibly.

At Hardwood Flooring Store you will find most of our exotic looking hardwood floors in our International Series which features our exclusive Pure Genius^® air-purifying technology.

Talk to the experts
 

Of course, with so many options and points to consider you may want some assistance and sound advice to aide you with your decision making. When it comes to advice make sure you speak to experts that know what they are talking about and will offer you the best opinions based on experience. Contact us at the Hardwood Flooring Store and we can help you get the floors of your dreams. We have incredible discounts available at our liquidation store, so floors that were once $5.49 now discounted to $0.75. We also showcase only the best high-end floors on our premium website that are available at our main hardwood flooring store showroom in Markham Ontario just north of Toronto.

We have a highly skilled team at the hardwood flooring store, so anyone you speak to will be able to help. For this blog I would like to feature Richard Barclay, he just recently celebrated 15 years working at our Markham location.

The future of hardwood flooring is sustainable. In this way the industry has been leading in this domain for a long time now. Long gone are the days where companies and consumers were willing to put up with illegal and non-sustainable practices. If companies want to stick around, then they have to show that they are practicing and not just preaching the sale of environmentally safe and sustainable products if they want to continue as a successful flooring business for decades to come.

The flooring industry relies on a natural resource that is renewable but that unfortunately to renew needs somewhere in the ballpark of about 75 to 100 years to grow to maturity. In order to maintain the public appetite for hardwood and ensure there is enough supply to meet the need, companies in not just the flooring industry but others like furniture and paper realized that the old business model would not work.

Change is hard however. Some companies saw that in order to ensure their business would be sustainable for years to come on a global scale they would need to change the way they operated. This meant more time and money to be spent on infrastructure, shipping, etc. — something companies in search of profits for their shareholders did not want to take part in. In North America, companies were given little choice to change their business practices as governments put in place measures to ensure the protection and sustainability of their forests. These protections meant companies had less access to lumber and therefore rising costs for consumers.

In order to get around this some companies turned to the global forest and lumber industries where laws were less strict or not enforced at all. Countries like China and Russia opened their boarders to lumber producers and sold them all kinds of wood products at rock bottom prices. This meant North American markets became flooded with cheap goods from China and Russia. While that was great for consumer’s pockets, the quality and safety of those products was extremely poor.

When purchasing hardwood flooring products sourced in Canada customers are guaranteed that companies have met National Standards when it comes to quality and safety of their products. With the products sourced from China and Russia, the quality of the product was less and, in many cases, put the health of the end customer in real serious danger.

In order to make a cheaper and more affordable product and to increase their profits, these companies were caught using toxic formaldehyde at levels that were way above Canadian and American standards.

Those companies, while they increased their profits short term were eventually called out for their practices and have since lost market share to the companies that have been building sustainable fair-trade businesses that provide high quality product to their customers.

More and more companies are jumping on this responsible corporation bandwagon. Recently the top CEO’s from companies like Apple, Google, JP Morgan Chase and others have said the future of business is to ensure they are meeting the needs of their employees, listening to the needs of their customers and ensuring they are practicing a sustainable business for future generations. This is an incredible shift in thinking from the worlds most powerful CEOs and should not be taken lightly. No longer is the all mighty power of the shareholder the sole reason to exist for a corporation.

Hardwood flooring is a purchase that should not be done lightly. Finding the cheapest flooring might save you money upfront but those floors will not last long and end up costing you more in terms of replacement and potential health risks as well.

When looking into hardwood flooring quality is always best. You want a product that is not only safe but that will last in your home for generations. This trend in sustainable practice is something that is growing fast and spreading to other sectors. The consumer of tomorrow will not make his or her decision based solely on price, but rather on product sustainability and the actual sustainable practices of the maker. The next economy will grow in their concern for how and where the product was manufactured and if that place is socially responsible.

Hardwood floors are built for the future. While it is not an industry that will have late breaking technology developments, with hardwoods floors integrated with Bluetooth; the flooring industry is looking ahead long term.

The Hardwood Flooring Store  is a proud supplier of quality sustainable products that are certified and of the highest quality. We carry only the best brands available on the market and that are ensured to last in your home for decades. Visit The Hardwood Flooring Store and one of our knowledgeable associates will gladly work with you to help figure out the right Hardwood Flooring Product for your home.

Home renovation season is never out of demand, and you can finally make the changes you’ve been thinking about all summer to transform your home. After the tireless effort of finding the perfect floor to match your new decore, you probably realized in the process that your flooring style could give you that extra punch in every room.

This blog will help you make the right choice when choosing a hardwood floor for your home or condo.

The texture of a hardwood floor can add a lot to a décor, as you saw in one of our previous blog post where we presented some great options, and its style can considerably influence your interior as well. Nowadays, a variety of hardwood flooring styles and looks are available on the market.

Let’s take a look at the top 10 best hardwood flooring styles.

The Classic Look

The classic look has a smooth texture and is timeless and versatile, and still one of the most purchased hardwood flooring in most homes today. At The Hardwood Flooring Store this look is paired with either a smooth texture or an open grain texture and is available in a variety of colours and finishes.

We carry an extensive line of flooring from Lauzon’s extensive hardwood flooring selection feature in this timeless style.

The Shaded Look

The Hardwood Flooring Store carries a number of products that carry this look. It has a beautiful interplay between light and dark patterns in the wood that really stand out. The manufacturers intuitively use color to bring out all the character of the wood species giving it a more dynamic look and feel. It is definitely a look that stands out from a more classic look and feel.

Customers appreciate this attractive style, you can take a closer look at one of our suppliers at Lauzon and Preverco that supply us with amazing deals that we can pass on to you.

The Antique Look

A lot of home owners in the GTA have the privilege of owning some really beautiful, but older homes. Sometimes a really nice modern floor just doesn’t match the feel of the home. The antique look is the perfect flooring option for home owners that are looking to preserve that historic look. There are a lot of choices that will accomplish this, so you definitely want to come and visit our showroom to see how we can really help you find that perfect floor that matches your home.

The Floor with Character

Looking for flooring that truly gives you a stand-out look and complements wood’s innate character and beauty, this style accentuates the color contrasts in the grain. Paired with our wire-brushed texture, it masks the effects of daily traffic. Give your space real personality with this beautiful hardwood flooring style whose flaws make it flawless.

Looking for flooring that has character can be a little harder than your standard flooring options. Spend the time to look for the right pattern, texture, finish and colour. The choice might be harder but getting it right can really make your home stand out!

The Linear Flooring Option

One of our suppliers is Lauzon, they push the boundaries of floor design with our own exclusive techniques. Inspired by the natural motifs found in mineral stratification and featuring a gray color palette, our linear look is ultramodern and urban.

Come and Visit Us!

The best way to experience your new floors is to see and touch your new floors. We have very experienced staff that have been working with the Hardwood Flooring Store for decades. That experience will get you the best floor at the best price. We have a hardwood flooring liquidation room for the buyer that is looking for really high-end flooring for smaller or really specific jobs. Some of these great floors are discounted over 50%. We also have an exclusive line of high-end flooring options at our premium hardwood flooring website. Visit our main website at www.hardwoodflooringstore.com and come and see what we have to offer.

“You can’t put a package of bubble gum on a shelf in Shopper’s Drug mart without the ingredients and health information listed in French and English but you can get away with bringing products from China and label the cartons in a deceptive way to make people think that it is made in Canada. Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken. “

— Ron Ander.

I want to bring up a subject that is very disturbing.

In the last few years about 8 hardwood flooring manufacturing plants have closed in the G.T.A. leading to about 1,000 people losing their union jobs.

All of this is happening while hardwood flooring is gaining in popularity. How often do you have customers asking for wall to wall broadloom?

Here’s the cause of hardwood flooring manufacturers disappearing in our market:

There’s a huge quantity of hardwood flooring that is manufactured from illegally sourced lumber in the Siberian and Malaysian forests. The New Yorker did a full expose about the illegally sourced logs that are shipped by massive trains or ships to China where it is used in the manufacturing of hardwood flooring. In many cases these products are packaged with deceptive wording making it look like it is made in Canada or the U.S.A.

They use product names that are Canadian and American sounding. The consumers of these products think that they are buying from Canadian or American manufactures where the standards for production and chemicals used in the process of making the floors are high. Unfortunately, the health standards are not yet at the north American level.

How the retailers get away with lying

Many of the companies selling these products lie to their clients. One of the biggest lies I’ve heard repeated many times over the years is that the flooring product was from B.C. There is an element of truth as the ships from China can’t sail past the Rocky Mountains. Often Chinese flooring comes over and is labeled with maple leaf stickers and the products are given Canadian sounding names.

I heard that from a lady this week who was looking for a few cartons of an engineered hardwood floor that she recently bought from one of those pop-up hardwood flooring retailers. The company disappeared and she desperately needed a few cartons to finish her job because she had so many defective pieces of flooring in her original order. She went to the dealer of the flooring product but they were no longer in business. When she told me the name of the brand I told her that we don’t sell any products manufactured in China and can’t help her. I also told her that the manufacturer’s outlet that is very close to my office on Victoria Park Avenue is in receivership. She was told that I’m mistaken because she was told that the flooring was made in B.C.

You can’t put a package of bubble gum on a shelf in Shopper’s Drug mart without the ingredients and health information listed in French and English but you can get away with bringing products from China and label the cartons in a deceptive way to make people think that it is made in Canada.

Why is Canadian manufactured hardwood flooring important?

1.    Strict health and safety issues for the factory workers making the flooring.

2.    Strict regulations on the chemicals used in the adhesives and finishes.

3.    Living wages paid to the workers

4.    Flooring made in our market is for our climatic conditions.

5.    Certified selective harvesting of lumber in our sustainable forests.

6.    Local manufacturers with real warranties

7.    All revenue from manufacturing and distribution stays in our country

8.    Canadian pride in manufacturing leading to the very best quality in the world.

I have been told that when you don’t have something nice to say about someone don’t say it so I will say that we have a prime minister with great hair. What we don’t have is a leader who will stop the illegal, immoral, and damaging activity that is destroying Canadian jobs in the manufacturing of hardwood flooring and for that matter many other industries.

Another think that the environmentalists and politicians should get really upset about is the fake certificates issued by offshore companies, often from the Amazon.

We had a supplier several years ago talking to us about getting high quality Brazil and Peruvian Jatoba and Santos Mahogany shipped here for us to get finished by our suppliers. I asked about making sure that the products were from certified forests. He told me that for a few thousand dollars he will get government certificates for the shipment, but the product was still the same. In other words, for a fee I could bring in illegally logged lumber from the Amazon where half of the world’s oxygen in generated and reassure our clients that it has been governmentally certified as being from responsible sustainable sources.

The Hardwood Flooring Stores locations are on Victoria Park Avenue, 2 blocks north of Steeles Avenue, on the N.E. corner of Victoria Park Avenue and a small street called Telson. The reason that I stress that we are two blocks north of Steeles Avenue is that we are surrounded by pop up hardwood flooring companies. I stress this because our so-called competition have used every possible method to distract our customers from coming to us. One company used to hire people to stand on our driveway stopping our customers to direct them to their location next door.

We’ve been in the same building for almost 40 years and are well known in the industry for finding really good deals on hardwood flooring but more importantly selling mostly top-quality hardwood flooring made right here in Canada.

Our Burlington location is on Corporate Drive, 1 mile north of the Q.E.W. west off Appleby Line. For easy reference we are right next door to the Shop Vac building and across the street from The Re-Store from Habitat for Humanity.

I have been running this company for over 41 years and I love finding really good deals for our about 8,000 customers a year. My suppliers, mostly Canadian love the way we do business with them. To the detriment of our so-called competitors, with the exception of the odd vacation and the odd long distance sailboat race, I’m not planning on going anywhere in the near future.

The government is doing very little to protect the honest companies in the hardwood flooring business from the millions of dollars in under the table business that doesn’t help contribute to finance our society.

Come and Visit Us!

The best way to experience your new floors is to see and touch your new floors. We have very experienced staff that have been working with the Hardwood Flooring Store for decades. That experience will get you the best floor at the best price. We have a hardwood flooring liquidation room for the buyer that is looking for really high-end flooring for smaller or really specific jobs. Some of these great floors are discounted over 50%. We also have an exclusive line of high-end flooring options at our premium hardwood flooring website. Visit our main website at www.hardwoodflooringstore.com and come and see what we have to offer.