The factory is located in Chelsea, Michigan and is a fully climate controlled facility. Our operations are completely integrated at a single location. This feature allows you and your installation contractor our assurance that our plank floors have not been manufactured in one location, then transferred to and stored in a damp or humid climate before being shipped to you. Our industry recognizes that wide plank solid hardwood flooring requires that extra attention and caution be exercised when storing, delivering, acclimating, and installing solid hardwood plank. Our distributors experience an extremely low rate of complaints or installation assistance requests with Chelsea Plank Flooring. As the original producer of factory finished ¾" solid plank flooring, we urge our dealers to represent our product as an extremely high quality product offering the following benefits to your sales staff, installers and retail customers:

1) All products originate from Northern Forest regions of Michigan, Ontario, Wisconsin, Northern Indiana, and Minnesota. Raw material from these regions is known for bright color, consistent color, consistent kiln dried moisture content and fine grain texture. Since our climate is much colder, the "growing season" for trees is shorter. This produces a finer "furniture grain" and much harder structure than wood from warmer climates. 2) All of our products are made in the USA. We have over 50 years of combined experience in milling and finishing wood flooring for homes in the USA and Canada. Product origin, storage, milling and finishing are all considered in our process and warranties. Your customers benefit from our long experience in production of quality flooring and strong family values in service and integrity. 3) Our material is "fresh". We don't store material for months or ship material that was produced last year in a foreign country. The material delivered to your store or job site by your distributor has been milled, finished, and delivered to you within a 2 month period. 4) Each plank of flooring material that you receive has been hand inspected by 3 different inspectors, in the production areas, that are aware of the different quality issues that are important to dealers, installers, and your customers; a. Free of cracks and splits. b. Moisture content has been checked to insure proper moisture content c. Correct visual classification for product being installed. d. Tongue and groove are properly milled snug fit on all 4 sides - Flat and straight. e. Perfect finish. f. Color matched.

Solid hardwood flooring may have some minor seasonal movement associated with extremely humid or extremely dry conditions, but solid wood flooring has the ability to "dry" back out, swell back to original size, return to dimension, can be refinished, and will last for hundreds of years with predictable wear and resilience.

The huge growth of engineered (layers or "plies") flooring in the US market is not based on installed appearance of a traditional floor, but is a manufacturing process designed to produce huge quantities of low cost flooring. Extremely close tolerances, single panel size and fragile wear-cycle make engineered hardwood a floor covering that offers limited durability. Quick-lock joints are susceptible to movement as well as chipping over a short period. Floors offering hardwood veneers are bland and repetitive. The cores of engineered flooring can be made from products that are unstable under humid or high moisture conditions. Laminate floors are layers of polymers with thin photo-reproductions of real wood flooring added. ¾" solid hardwood offers well-documented value to quality conscious consumers.

Wide planks have always been more esthetically pleasing to designers, architects, and homeowners. Wide plank represents a higher value. They are a permanent part of a home rather than a floor covering.

Specialty mills, like Frame Hardwoods, Inc., purchase true Northern hardwood lumber that is produced from log and timber stock that would normally be selected for fine furniture. Our Northern Hardwood lumber is more consistent in color and has a brighter appearance than lumber from southern areas. Most northern hardwood timber is harvested during the winter months when the tree is dormant and the sap is in the root system. Flooring produced in the Central and Southern USA has both wild growth patterns and inconsistent grain that occurs with rapid growth. The lumber is also dull in color from constant presence of sap, ground water, and year round damage from insects, mildew and decay found in damper, warmer climates.

When timber was originally harvested for use in the 1700-1800's, flooring was made from the rough planks as they were cut from the tree. Since trees are "round" and not consistent in diameter, the floors were laid using a totally random width product. Those floors can still be seen today in historic homes and old storefronts. At Frame Hardwoods, we utilize random width hardwood planks for raw material. Rather than rip these wide, high value planks to fixed widths, we utilize digital visioning systems and software to sort and process each plank into the very best width for a finished product. The result is 3", 4", 5", and 6" finished planks. We package the finished planks into boxes of single width planks. We also place the same lineal footage in each box of each size. This allows your floor to be uniformly installed in a pattern. Your flooring designer may elect to change up the pattern from room to room, but still utilize 2, 3 or even 4 different widths in your home. This exciting and unique appearance also provides security and longevity in your floor. Wide plank hardwood can "move" when subjected to humidity extremes for periods longer then 4-5 days. Hardwood is "hygroscopic". That term means that it will take on moisture if conditions are damp and give off moisture when conditions dry out. When a plank absorbs more moisture than it was "kiln dried" at, it will begin to swell and expand in dimension (width). The change in dimension will cause the floor to "raise up" on the edges as it is forced together. This condition is caused during conditions where the humidity is higher than 65% for extended periods.

When our floors are installed as a pattern using a mixture of widths, the narrower planks have a much lower amount of expansion. This means the floor will show as a flat floor during periods of higher than normal humidity. Mixing wider widths with narrow planks gives your client all the benefits and beauty of a wide plank with both historic and timeless beauty.

We work with "yield" from large volumes of totally random lumber. "Yield" means: How much straight, flat, well-milled flooring can we produce from a forest resource made up from natural variation. We have to be concerned with how available a particular natural raw material is. Our product line consists of about 27 different products, all in various width combinations. We've always felt that offering this diverse selection of products is a greater value than focusing on a few single products and offering them in select widths. We are able to provide our distributors with "real time" availability of all of our product inventories.

1) Wood flooring is not maintenance free. Wood floors can show scratches and dents if they are not maintained free of hard surfaced debris, pets with hard claws, or having hard material, such as dinnerware, dropped onto the floor.
2) Wood flooring cannot be ignored when it comes to extended periods of high humidity or dry humidity. Wood is "hygroscopic" meaning it will absorb moisture during periods of high humidity and it will dry out and release moisture during periods of low humidity. When moisture is added, the wood will swell. When it is very dry, wood will shrink. If wood is kept in an "average" humidity condition, it will remain stable. It's all part of a life cycle and perfectly natural.
3) Check job site conditions. With new construction, there are huge variations and shifts in humidity levels from day to day. Most service problems with hardwood floors occur in new construction. If the flooring is delivered and allowed to sit in these unstable conditions, it will absorb additional humidity and increase the moisture content. Installations of improperly acclimated wood will result in complaints that always "come back" to the contractor/installer. Make sure you always check:

a. Relative humidity levels in home should be stable. Check them with electronic humidity gauge.
b. Check basement for humidity levels that are within 4% of the main floor. If the home is kept under reasonable humidity conditions, wood flooring will remain very stable and unchanged to the eye.
c. Check the basement for ANY indication of water or source of humidity. Leaky rim joists, sump, puddles, etc. While this may not appear to be your job, it will affect your workmanship.
d. Check exterior grade taper, gutters, seals around doors and windows, etc.
e. How long ago was the basement floor poured? 60 days is the minimum to add any finished products to a home. Concrete releases moisture at varying rates for the 1st year after it's installation. Newer concrete releases moisture at a very high rate and will be absorbed by the hardwood floor as well as the subfloor.
f. Check the subfloor moisture content with a moisture meter. Check it in several places and concentrate in front of windows and doors where rain or snow may have blown in. Moisture meter readings must be below 12%.

Existing structures should be checked for the above conditions as well. Older homes have a more limited scope of these problems. Being aware of potential problems will put you in a much more professional position as well as saving both you and your customer some avoidable problems in the future. Be aware of other potential problems or misconceptions about wood flooring.
4) Wood flooring may develop small gaps in some boards during seasonal changes. Slight changes in dimension during seasonal changes in humidity are part of a normal cycle for a solid hardwood floor. The more your customer can control interior humidity, the less they will see in dimensional changes in the wood flooring.
5) The reasons your customers should be considering wood floors are: a. Beautiful - no other product shows the unique variations from nature as natural wood flooring
b. Value - High quality, properly installed and maintained hardwood floors maintain resale value at or above their original cost.
c. Clean and natural durability- Factory finished wood floors made in the USA contribute no VOC's into your customer's home. Reasonable common sense care, listed in our care guide, will result in a floor that will age gracefully and always put forward a look of timeless beauty.
6) Spend time with your customer before installation begins. When the flooring is delivered, visit the job and your customer. Open 3-4 boxes and lay them out. Your enthusiasm and professional approach to establishing and verifying your customer's choice will go a long way for a smooth job and great referrals.
7) Spend time with your customer after the flooring is installed. Make sure your installer cleans the flooring before he leaves. Provide a cleaning kit and care guide to your customer when the floor is completed. Many customers clean their floors with the wrong cleaners and wrong use of good cleaners. This results in calls about "dull finish", footprints on finish, or inferior quality perception of finish. Properly cleaning and discussing cleaning saves a call from them and provides more great referrals.
8) Become an expert for your customers! Floor covering stores need to have a good understanding of all of the issues with hardwood products to assure satisfied customers and to offer a service that has value to their customers. Many installer/contractors are missing valuable information on options in finish, characteristics in factory finish, current installation techniques. Consider investing your time in training classes or product seminars from the NWFA and your distributor.