The Highest Quality Wood Flooring from Around the World
Wood flooring from Nova is sourced from the highest quality manufacturers. Our wood floor line consists of exotic
and domestic species including Oak, Maple, Birch, Acacia, Brazilian Cherry, TigerWood, Ipe, Cumaru and many others.
Quality Wood Flooring: It All Start with Proper Kiln Drying
Careful kiln drying is one of the most important factors in producing the best possible wood flooring products.
By selecting only the highest quality producers, Nova can guarantee our wood flooring products are kiln
dried to the highest standards - we require that all our products are not just dry but equalized and conditioned
during the drying process.
Our rough lumber blanks are generally air dried for a minimum of three months prior to kiln drying -
this process slowly removes moisture from the wood without
shocking the material when it enters the kiln. Proper air drying will bring the lumber moisture content down close to fiber saturation point, typically around 25% moisture content.
Ideally, when lumber enters the kilns the individual pieces are at approximately the same starting moisture content. The pre-drying or air drying process helps to achieve this ideal.
Exceptional Kiln Drying Techniques Minimize Movement, Shrinkage, Expansion, and Gapping
At all phases of the manufacturing process after kiln drying, our material is kept in a humidity controlled environment.
We pride ourselves in producing a product with a consistent and uniform final
moisture content; our high quality kiln drying permits the minimum amount of equalization time on the final job site. We still recommend a minimum of
two weeks of equalization on the job site prior to installation.
Because solid hardwood will always move with changes in moisture content, many problems related to wood flooring are caused by variations in humidity or moisture content.
These changes in the moisture content of the wood can cause movement, shrinkage, expansion, gapping between boards, cracking and checking.
Extreme changes in moisture can lift the factory finish right off the wood itself.
State of the art Milling Quality of Hardwoods
Our milling quality is the very best in the industry. This means our product will fit together perfectly, not too tight and not too loose.
This will save time during the installation and help to prevent squeeks and pops during the life of your floor.
We use only the finest moulders imported from Germany and Italy to mill our flooring. These moulders use the latest in computer aided set up including electronic grinding of knives for a precision
"jointed" finish - jointing is the process of equalizing all cutting knives in the moulder head so each knife cuts an equal amount. This creates the smoothest possible finish with a minimum of
knife marks and eliminates the typical chatter and tear out found in many hardwood flooring products. Having the highest tolerances possible
allows for a higher quality factory finish, and a more consistent fit for quicker installation.
Aluminum Oxide Finish with 25 year Factory Warranty
Factory finished floors offer some unique advantages over a sand and finish on-site floor.
Although our sand and finish on site products are milled to the same exacting tolerances, with our
factory finished or prefinished flooring products we can offer an aluminum oxide
finish which is one of the hardest and most durable flooring finishes available. The
aluminum oxide is an additive used during coats 3 through 6 out of 8 coats total which
gives the floor its finish hardness. As part of our quality control process, we regularly
test our prefinished flooring using the Tabor method to ensure that finish quality is as expected.
Installation Advice for Solid Prefinished Wood Floors
It is critical that installation conditions are correct prior to beginning the installation of solid wood flooring.
The moisture content of the wood sub-floor or concrete slab should be tested upon delivery of the material to the jobsite, especially in new construction.
We recommend that the moisture conditions are noted on the delivery paperwork. Material should always be acclimated to the jobsite prior to installation;
we recommend a minimum of 10 days, but areas with high humidity or low humidity will require longer equalization times. The jobsite should also be held at
a consistent humidity and temperature during acclimation and installation. Never install hardwood flooring prior to installing a fully functional HVAC system
and sealing up the building. Wood flooring will move very slightly with variations in temperature and this will often cause popping or cracking sounds.
