National Flooring Products hickory floor....good, or look elsewhere?

3 years ago

Mates,

I'm looking to hear from anyone with first-hand experience with National Flooring Products please.

We'd like to install a pre-engineered floor that is at least 1/2" thick (minimum 2mm wear layer), which is wide plank (5" +), hickory, in a medium brownish stain with little-to-moderate variation, and that is wire brushed or hand-scraped. One of the best samples and specifications we've seen is National Flooring Products, Montana Collection, #304 HS-E (see photo).

So we're wondering what your experience is with this company.....good quality, color largely matches the sample, good customer service, etc. ???? Or.....do you have a better recommendation?

For reference, we live in Montana (dry climate), and this floor is going on a wood sub-floor in most of the house.

Thanks for your feedback!

Featured Answer

SJ McCarthy

3 years ago

Hickory is dynamic. In other words it likes to shrink and expand more than white or red oak. The dryness of the environment can cause problems with engineered hardwood. I know. Everyone says they are 'more stable'. But you need to understand they are more stable then the same product in a solid hardwood. And a 5+ wide Hickory plank has lots of movement.

The top wear layer is going to have the same want to move as the solid hardwood. Now imagine the hickory moves MORE than the wood it is sitting on. The glue is then put under stress. If it has expansion/contraction cycles that are too much or too often (a house that has uncontrolled humidity) the wear layer can rip itself away from the bottom layers = delamination.

The way to get around this? Stick with narrow plank (3") with a stable wood species (like oak).

Before you get going with your wide plank hickory (that is dynamic and likes to move more than other hardwoods) you will want to upgrade your HVAC system if it does not have whole home humidity control (humidifier and/or dehymidifier). Please read the installation instructions AND check your humidity levels in your home. Your home must fall inside the humidity range required by the manufacturer to ensure you maintain warranty. Too dry and you lose warranty. Too high and lose warranty. That's why you need pin-point-control (as in a touch pad that allows you to increase/decrease humidity at any time - day or night) humidistat.

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Comments (6)

Wade Lawrence
Original Author
3 years ago
SJ McCarthy, thanks very much for your input - it really wasn't my question (still looking for input on this particular brand from anyone ????), but I appreciate your perspective.

I know Hickory is a little more "unstable" than oak, but I'm wondering if it's really a significant difference? The link below has a good chart that shows numerically the different stabilities of wood, with White Oak and Hickory being fairly close to each other.

I'm also wondering about how the different cores of pre-engineered flooring affects the stability.....i.e. 7-layer plywood vs. fiberboard vs. OSB vs. other proprietary solid cores? It seems that some of the newer engineered cores of pre-engineered flooring might help with any stability or delamination issues?

BTW, we are having a humidifier installed in our HVAC system with this new house build.

Thanks again - Wade
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Wade Lawrence
Original Author
3 years ago
Ooops, forgot to include the link above that shows the website with the different wood stability numbers:

https://woodwright.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Stability-Wood-Flooring-Chart.pdf
SJ McCarthy
3 years ago
The link is great in general but doesn't help with your choice. These numbers are great when working with SOLID hardood...but it doesn't do much for engineered hardoods.

The info I could find on the product you are looking at is limited. Which means there is no way to make a specific statement on the product you are looking at....because there is no information on it. Just some nice looking 'brochures' that say very little.

As for the cores, the top wear layer should be as close to the same 'movement' as the layer it is attached to. This prevents the adhesive from being torn apart due to the shear forces placed on it by the top layer moving and the lower layers not moving (yah...you would think it would be a good thing...but you want the two to work in harmony). And a 'good' engineered hardwood has a bottom layer that is equal in thickness and wood species as the top layer. That is to say if you have a wear layer of 2mm hickory you want to see a 'balancing layer' at the bottom of 2mm hickory. That is often MISSING on the cheapo products.

The issues I have with hardwood sitting on some of the cores you mention::

HDF (High Density Fibreboard) = HDF is VERY dynamic in all 6 directions vs. hardwood being more dynamic across the grain (depending on the cut). HDF does VERY well with cork because cork moves in all 6 directions as well...very much in tandem step with HDF. Other wood species do NOT move in that same way.

Stone-cores: Wood moves...stone cores (SPC or WPC) do not. Again, the wood is MORE dynamic than the thing it is sitting on therefore putting strain on the adhesive = possibility of delamination.

Soft-wood plies: can work very well but can be horribly unstable. It depends on the QUALITY of these plies from the manufacturer. Many of the soft wood plies come from Russia (in violation of International treaties). These soft woods are sourced from Tiger habitat and are sold en masse to China through back-door deals through a leaky boarder system (again they are horribly illegal which makes them SOOOO very lucrative for the foresters AND the Chinese companies purchasing them). These plies have a tendency to have LARGE voids in them. Either there is wood missing OR there is ADHESIVE missing...and often BOTH are missing.

There is nothing worse than spending money (not much...but some) on a hardwood floor only to have it show BIG dents simply because the lower layers collapse because of these voids.

I would get more information on the product with only 2mm wear layer on it. I would want to see the 2mm bottom 'balancing' layer come up as 2mm Hickory. That's your "Red Flag". If it is there then you can feel confident the product is OK. If it is missing then you know this one can be kicked to the curb.
HU-424756928
last year
Hey Wade,

I've been considering using NFPs as well but not much online to go upon. Did you end up using them and how it turn out?
Trinity Graham
4 months ago
Hi! I work at a flooring store in southern cali. I have sold plenty of National Flooring Products during my time working here, and have never had a complaint from a customer. Their laminate particularly looks and performs beautifly!

National Flooring Products hickory floor....good, or look elsewhere?

SJ McCarthy

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Wade Lawrence
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National Flooring Products hickory floor....good, or look elsewhere?

SJ McCarthy

Comments (6)

Wade LawrenceOriginal Author

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Wade LawrenceOriginal Author

SJ McCarthy

HU-424756928

Trinity Graham

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BUSINESS SERVICES

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Wade Lawrence
Original Author

Wade Lawrence
Original Author