Fine Floor Coverings Since 1921
Hardwood and Laminate Flooring
Paulson's Floor Coverings offers a large selection of hardwood and laminate flooring for all your decorating needs. Drop by one of our three Portland area showrooms to take a look at the differences between the various styles and options.
Hardwood flooring is available in many species and construction methods. Solid 3/4" wood strip flooring is what most people think about when hardwood flooring is mentioned, but much of new hardwood flooring is engineered, with only the top portion being the beautiful grained wood that you look at and walk on. A structural core is added to lend strength and dimensional stability and to prevent some of the shrinking, cracking and gapping that can occur over time with solid wood strips. Shaw Industries has a product called Epic™ Hardwood which is an engineered hardwood using a core made from recycled wood byproducts, using up to 67% less newly forested wood.
All of the hardwood flooring available at Paulson's is pre-finished with up to ten coats of finish and is pre-cured allowing for immediate usage. Pre-finished floors can be walked on soon after installation whereas sand-and-finish floors require several days to cure and dry before accepting foot traffic.
Some styles use beveled edges to give a look of distinctive separation of the boards or strips while others have very smooth, blocked edges, providing a seamless look. Others use a hand-scraped texture to give an old-fashioned craftsman look or a more casual style.
Alternative green flooring products made from bamboo or cork are becoming increasingly popular, both because of their renewable sources in nature as well as their stylish looks.
Laminate flooring is often used as an alternative to hardwood flooring and is available in a number of designs, including realistic wood grain and stone tile looks. Laminates use a photographic process to display the pattern on a durable, dent resistant surface with a snap-together structural core for easier installation. There are both glue-together and glueless varieties for the do-it-yourself inclined to consider. Of course, Paulson's is happy to provide professional installation of all of the products we carry. Laminate floors are usually "floated" over the existing sub floor and can be installed over existing vinyl or solid floor surfaces as well.
Paulson's proudly carries hardwood, laminate and alternative flooring products from Shaw Industries, Kährs, Armstrong, Taragren, Wicanders, Quick-Step, Faus, Bella Cera, Kent-Wood, Lauzon, Wilsonart and more.