Every week Glenn Haege talks to more people about home improvement than any other person in the United States. As host of the nationally syndicated, "Ask the Handyman" with Glenn Haege radio show, Glenn is heard in all 50 states and Canada. Glenn has talked about Fair-Way Tile and Carpet and our products many times over the years on the air as well as in his newspaper column. With the Masterhandyman's permission,we've reprinted a few of his articles here.

When people ask me about flooring, they are usually asking about laminates or other man-made materials. When I’ve answered their question, I often ask a question of my own: "Have you considered wood?"

I get the following responses: "Too expensive." "I want something that’s very durable." "I want something that’s easy to care for." "I want something really unique."

The truth is that you can get wood flooring in a wide price range. Certainly it is more expensive than vinyl or very inexpensive carpeting, but prices are very competitive to high-end carpeting or laminates.

When it comes to durability, nothing but stone can outlast wood. Like stone and ceramic tile, a wood floor is rated as being for the life of the structure. Vinyl, carpeting and laminates are not.

A hardwood floor should usually be refinished every 20 years. Many go 30 or 40 years before refinishing. A professional usually takes 1/16th of an inch or less off the surface when he refinishes a floor. A factory finished wood floor has enough surface wood so that it can be refinished twice. Solid wood flooring could easily be refinished four or five times.

Many of our historic buildings from the Revolutionary War period still have their original wood floors. That’s durability.

Caring for wood is so simple, all you really need is a decent vacuums cleaner, a bottle of vinegar and water, and a sponge mop. My wife, Barbara has refined the process. She uses a bottle of non-ammoniated window cleaner and a damp mop or a damp Swifter.

Unless you have a flood that leaves buckets of mud, you never need to get out a pail and scrub a wood floor. Wood is like most cats. It does not like water, but always stays looking good.

"Some people used to choose laminate over wood because of the durability of the silicone carbide protective coating. Now you can get that same very durable coating on some of the pre-finished woods, like Armstrong’s Robbins Premium Hardwood Flooring, (800) 733-3309."

Many people who want something unique are going into the exotic hardwoods, such as Doussie, Padouk and Sapele, Walters said. These particular African woods are milled in Greece by Shelman Swiss Hellenic, (732) 576-8988. Other exotic woods come from Brazil.

American woods like oak are beautiful when coated, but are naturally quite pale. African and South American woods are very dense and oily. Brazilian Cherry, by contrast, is naturally so dark and lustrous most people think that it has been stained or coated.

American wood is the most color stable in the world. This color stability is caused by North America’s short growing season and long winters, which give the color time to set. By contrast, the Brazilian and African woods grow all year long, and since the color has never been locked in, it changes over time. Indoors, Brazilian and African hardwoods actually become darker.

This means that the color you see in the showroom or when the floor has just been laid is not the color you will have in 60 days. Five years later, you will have a different color still. So when you have an exotic hardwood floor, you adapt to the wood, the wood does not adapt to you.

Reclaimed wood is another item for the wood lover. Timbers are being reclaimed from large buildings like warehouses that are being demolished. With reclaimed wood, each piece has a beauty and a history all its own. If the wood came from a Chicago speak-easy, the chances are you’ll know it and be able to name drop it to friends.

The last new innovation in hardwoods is laser cutting of decorative accents by companies like Historic Floors of Oshkosh, (920) 582-9977.

"Decorative inlays are magnificent pieces of art and have always added great beauty to hardwood floors," Walters said. "Unfortunately the time consuming hand cutting of the individual woods made the work so expensive, only the very wealthy could afford it.

"Laser cutting technology has made beautiful medallions, borders and parquetry very affordable," Walters says. Each piece is laser cut from different woods, then meticulously put into a border like a giant jig saw puzzle."

There is something about the look and feel of wood you can’t get from any other surface. When Barb and I had our home built, we demanded hardwood. We weren’t disappointed.