Best Possible Pricing and No Middleman:

ElmWood does not go through any middleman to get our products. Unlike other wood flooring companies, ElmWood has exclusive relationships with America’s top mills and manufacturers. We work directly with them to provide our clients the best possible products at the best possible prices – and we pass that savings on to you.

Award Winning:

A+ ratings, ElmWood Flooring is Illinois’s most recognized wood flooring company for all types of installation, craftsmanship and product selection. With over 39+ years in business Since 1976 we have what it takes to get the job done the right way the first time and been recognized as the leader in the Mid-west for building a great company that cares for how your home or business look after we have installed your flooring.

ElmWood’s Customer Satisfaction:

ElmWood Flooring delivers the industry’s highest customer satisfactions guarantee and stands behind all new projects. ElmWood stands behind all new product and installation service with our complete exclusive 100% Customer Satisfaction Guarantee, we are not happy until you the customer are completely happy. Ask us for details about any of our guarantees or warranty that we have when talking to one of our sales professionals.

ElmWood does not have any Sub-contractors. Unlike Luna and Empire Today, you will find both Sales and installation of products are provided by independent contractors:

ElmWood prides itself in employing qualified, skilled, and knowledgeable craftsmen who understand all types of construction and flooring on every level. When you purchase your product and service from ElmWood, you get the satisfaction of knowing that the employees working in your home or business are people that consists entirely of ElmWood employees, NO independent contractors here! Our workers are certified and have passed all our training classes at the highest levels in-order to make sure your project will get done the right the first time, and with quality that you will be able to see in the end.

What will ElmWood Flooring do for me?

We understand that a lot of our customers have never had any work done on their floors and don’t know what installing a new floor or refurbishing old wood flooring entails. We want you to be fully informed before making a decision, so below, please find a general write-up of what are the steps and processes involved in getting work done on your hardwood floors.

What is the process of refurbishing old hardwood floors?

1) Removal of furniture – first step is of course removal of any furniture and carpeting from the room that needs flooring work done. Please note: ElmWood and it’s employees are not responsible for moving furniture, this is the responsibility of the home or business owner. Unless you cannot move an item, because of age or not having anyone around to help you, we will have our workers move an item for a small labor fee.

2) Vacuuming – before we start the actual work, we will first vacuum your floor to make sure it is clean and there are no debris that could get in the way during the process of refinishing your floor.

3) Sanding – here is where the real work starts. We will use endless belt Hummel 220 sanders for most of your hardwood floor’s surface and an orbit sander for edges, as well as regular sandpaper (non power tool) for corners to ensure that the sanding process is done thoroughly. Depending on the type of your floor and extent of wear and tear or any other possible damage done to it, we will select the right grit, starting from a lower grit – that is a deeper cut – and increase it in next stage of sanding. The available cut of the sandpaper is 20′ grit (deepest cut), then 40′, 60′, 80′, and finally 100 – 120 unless needing or wanting the floors stained a color. A grit of 120′-150′ buff would be consider buffing and (the final finish), which is the next step, before sealing the floors with oil (poly) base 3 coats or  Eco-friendly Water base  4 coats or Acid, Alcohol products.

4) Buffing – after sanding down your floor, we will smooth it out using a buffer.

5) Sweeping and vacuuming – after your floor has been sanded, we will sweep and vacuum it to make sure it is free of any debris and dust.

6) Tack ragging – some flooring professionals consider this stage optional but we do not skip it, since it ensures that the floor is free of even the finest dust and debris (as well as moisture or any possible contaminating agents) and we can safely move on to staining. Some floors need to be water popped! before staining the floors, this opens up the wood so that the stain will take better and look even throughout the floor.

7) Staining – if client chooses to – we will apply sealcoating before applying polyurethane (often referred to as poly for short). If water based is used, we will apply 4 coats or 2 to 3 if alcohol or oil based coat is used. After each coat, we will buff the entire floor before applying the next coat. Depending on selection of the coat, a different look will be achieved. Our flooring professional will advise you of the difference beforehand and explain our 10 year warranty that applies regardless of which option is chosen.

8) Drying – Your floor will need to dry for 8 hours after oil-base (poly) coat or 2-3 hours after water-based is put down, which means we can apply 2 coats in one day depending on humidity levels – higher humidity means longer drying time. Once the floor are dry, you can walk on it and put lighter objects, such as area rugs back in its place. For any heavier objects, such as furniture, we ask that you allow additional 48 hours before putting them on your newly refurbished wood floor, it may be dry enough to walk on but the heavy items will leave a mark in the finish if put back too soon.

How long does it take to refurbish a hardwood floor?

The total time depends on the damage to the floor and area that needs to be refinished but with the steps outlined above refurbishing of a floor in a good sized room would take 3 days at leas, maximum 4-6 days plus the extra 24-48 hours of drying time, so typically when we start on Monday, we would be done by Friday and you would have the weekend for the additional drying time.

What is the process of installing new hardwood floors (including pergo and laminate)?

1) Once again, we start by removing furniture and clearing out the room – if necessary.

2) Floor prep – preparing your floor for installation, that is removal of carpeting or tile or any old flooring, as well as leveling and checking grade of the floor leveled.

3) Putting down subfloor – either sheetrock (for tiles), plywood (for wood floors), or none of the above for a floating floor.

4) Actual installation – laying down of the floor: starting at one end of the room working to the other, we would either cut-and-fit, straight-lining (finding angle of the room and finding the right angle), putting down floor by gluing, nailing, floating floor, click-together or using interlockable sheets (male-female). If pre-finished floor or engineered flooring has been used – that’s it, your new flooring installation has been completed!

If unfinished floor has been used, we need to do some more work:

5) Staining – as it was the case with refurbishing old floor after sanding, buffing, and cleaning, if the client chooses to – we will apply a seal coat prior to applying the poly (polyurethane) – 4 coats for water-based or 2-3 for oil or alcohol. Once again, buffing after each coat.

6) Once finished, we clean the floor with mineral spirits, so they look like they were never touched. if deemed necessary, tack ragging may be used as well.

Finally, the last step is to educate the customer on maintenance of the floor (ex: don’t use Murphy’s Oil for cleaning of hardwood floors) and answer any questions about the job and what to expect from the floor and how to care about it.