Thermory® Solid Hardwood Flooring is now available in Western New York, in fact, nationwide.
Europeans developed a “thermal modification process” ideal for upgrading in the solid hardwood flooring industry.
Milled from “thermally modified” hardwoods, Thermory® flooring features superior stability, beauty, durability, functionality and is environmentally sound. Thermory® fills a void in the marketplace -- it's the only solid hardwood flooring product line warranted for use over radiant heat and concrete applications.
The “thermal modification process,” developed and refined over the past 20 years in Europe, is a highly technical computer-controlled process carried out in specially designed high-temperature kilns. Only heat and steam (no chemicals) are used, making the process entirely green. The process produces hardwood with outstanding dimensional stability and durability and also brings out the natural beauty of the wood, making it an environmentally friendly alternative to engineered (veneered or layered) flooring and tropical hardwoods from endangered forests.
Thermory® products have been widely used for more than 10 years in Germany, Austria, Norway, Switzerland, Japan and Italy for interior and exterior use as flooring, siding and decking. Now, NWFA (National Wood Flooring Association) member, Attica Millwork, Inc., is importing Thermory® for use in the U.S. market. Company President, Kevin DeMars states, “We have received our two container shipments and it is beautiful beyond our expectations.”
Mr. DeMars says the flooring is “straight and true, finely machined and sanded with beautiful full thickness color tones.” He states that as a dealer base is established across the U.S., “more and more homeowners, builders, architects and designers will sleep better knowing they’ve used Thermory® Solid Hardwood Flooring. It’s just more stable, it’s just more beautiful.”
Another benefit of the “thermal process” is that the color of the wood is transformed to beautiful, full thickness color tones which highlight the natural beauty of the wood. The color of the “medium-treated” wood, Salsa, varies from light to golden brown, while the “ intense-treated” wood, Tango, is a luxurious dark brown. Current inventories include both Salsa and Tango in domestic Ash, a hardwood comparable to oak in grain and hardness characteristics. Both are available in widths up to 7 ½” in a finely sanded or a brushed finish.
Mike Caroll, of MP Caroll Hardwoods in Buffalo, says “Thermory® is the perfect remedy over radiant heat and to control the movement of wide plank solid wood flooring. Traditionally, consumers have had to settle for swelling in the summer and gaping during the heating season. Now they can enjoy a flat floor in the summer and a tightly fitted floor all winter.” He states that Thermory® installs easily, can even be glued to concrete, and finishes beautifully with little or no sanding required. He also says that the Salsa can be stained to match any color preference and the Tango can be used instead of some of the exotic species at a fraction of the cost.
As radiant floor heating becomes even more popular with today’s homeowners and specifiers, Thermory® offers a much needed alternative. Peter Harman, owner of Harman Hardwood Flooring Co. in Rochester, says that it’s always been a “crap shoot” knowing what to use over radiant. Peter states “You are offering the best product since sliced bread and I’m a skeptic, but if this flooring does what it says it will, we just revolutionized the solid hardwood flooring industry.”
Charles Peterson, well-known award-winning hardwood flooring Master Craftsman -- featured in "Fine Homebuilding," "This Old House" and author of the bestselling book “The Art of Wood Flooring” -- says the timing is perfect for Thermory® to hit the U.S. market. “In this billion-dollar-plus flooring market, with multimillions spent each year to remedy hardwood flooring problems, mostly attributable to moisture, imagine the positive impact Thermory® Solid Hardwood Flooring, with its stability and beauty, will have on this industry.”
