Mention hardwood floors and watch a homebuyer’s eyes light up. What makes wood floors so desirable? Hardwood floors are unmatched for their beauty, durability, and ease of maintenance, so it’s no surprise that the demand for hardwood has always been strong. In recent years that demand has been fueled by the availability of more types of wood, including exotic species such as Brazilian cherry, as well as engineered woods. This professional-level resource covers every aspect of installing residential wood flooring – from estimating and preparing the job site, through sanding and finishing, to repairs and maintenance. Hardwood floor expert Charles Peterson covers it all in this indispensable guide to the most popular flooring choice around.
I have been obsessed with wood floors since 1978. Although I also spent two decades in engineering my mind has always remained preoccupied with one question about the wood flooring industry.
In engineering every answer was always at my finger tips. The opposite is true with trying to obtain wood flooring information. Most information is difficult to obtain or contradictory. It has been my quest to take some of the frustration out of searching for wood flooring answers.
Wood Flooring by Charles Peterson represents over three decades of research. My rough drafts totaled well over one million words. I of course could not fit all five thousand pages of information in my allotted 330 pages of the book.
The book represents 12,382 hours of writing. Although I had to compromise on the amount and depth of content, the book is still the most comprehensive publication ever produced on wood floors. Taunton Press has done a commendable job at investing all their resources to make this book the finest of its type.
This professional-level resource covers every aspect of wood flooring from installing and finishing simple oak flooring to designing and hand cutting palace floors. It answers all your questions and solves wood flooring problems. I share all my simplified techniques to help beginners and advanced craftsmen reach a whole new level of expertise. I have tried to simplify the techniques to the level that my young sons could reproduce any wood floor in the world.
Finally the definitive reference on wood flooring has been published after thirty years of research. It is an invaluable resource for home owners, interior designers, architects, historic preservationist, builders, craftsmen, inspectors and even faux painters.
About the Author
I have combined my graduate work in engineering and wood science with my passion for the art of wood flooring to become an internationally recognized wood specialist. I donate my time and knowledge teaching and helping to raise the quality of the industry. I also am a degreed master craftsman and a certified National Wood Floor Inspector, as well as a technical contributor to national technical manuals, Graphic Standards, National certification programs and a number of magazines, including /Fine Homebuilding/. My hand cut floors have won first place in international competitions.
