Mercier Pro in Red Oak

By Louis Iannaco
As the pastural green summer turns to autumn, the fall foliage has begun to showcase a kaleidoscope of different colors. And just as the season’s color scheme changes, so will the selections of hardwood flooring choices throughout the nation’s speciality dealer showrooms as mills introduce their fall fashion statements for the floor.

One of these companies is Preverco, which is debuting its Exotic Series of hardwood flooring. This new line brings striking species of hardwood from areas of South America and Africa, including Brazilian Cherry/ Jatoba, Santos/Cabreuva, sapele and tigerwood, noted Julien Dufresne, Preverco’s vice president of sales and marketing. These four species of wood are rich in tone and provide a warmer, cozier ambiance to any setting.

“The exotic species Brazilian Cherry, or Jatoba, has a beautiful reddish-brown tone and is offered by Preverco in three colors,” he said, “Natural, Bourbon and Espresso. Often marked with dark streaks, the wood is 119% harder than Northern Red Oak. Compared with red oak, the Santos/Cabreuva species is 71% harder (just slightly harder than the tigerwood species) with 28% more dimensional stability. The Santos/Cabreuva has a dark reddish-brown tone, while the tigerwood’s coloring is suggested by its name, striped and ranging from a light tan to a dark orange-brown. Sapele, also boasting above average stability, is 16% harder than red oak and has a rich red-brown color that deepens over time.”

Preverco’s new Exotic Series is available in 31/4 inch widths in both engineered and solid hardwood, and a 3/4 inch thickness for the solid hardwood. The sapele species is available in engineered flooring only.

Armsrong’s Bruce has introduced the Global Exotics collection featuring four new exotic species—tigerwood, Santos Mahogany, Brazilian Cherry and African Mahogany. Known for their unique color variations and natural hardness, this new product offering will create a beautiful addition to existing domestic species, as well as an outstanding value, noted a spokeswoman for the company.

“Global Exotics is a great choice for the consumer who is looking for a beautiful and unique engineered wood floor,” she said. These engineered hardwood floor products feature micro-beveled edges and ends and is offered in a 3-inch plank. The clear, DuraLuster Plus Finish compliments the distinctive grains and color tones inherent to these exotic species. All colors carry a 15-year residential finish warranty. As with existing Bruce engineered hardwood products, Global Exotics engineered planks can be glued directly to concrete, stapled to a wooden subfloor, or “floated” above the subfloor with no direct attachment. This makes Global Exotics a great choice for any room, even the basement.

Also, Armstrong has added seven new SKUs to its popular Valenza Tropical Exotic Hardwoods. Comprised of four engineered species including Brazilian Ruby Ironwood, tigerwood, tauari and pangali ironwood, and three solid species—tigerwood, tauari, and pangali ironwood—the product additions are an expansion of what many retail customers describe as “one of the best quality exotic products in the industry.” These bold additions are sure to generate additional consumer interest, as well as increased sales for retailers.

Tropical exotic hardwoods remain popular in the marketplace for their inherent hardness and unique color and graining, noted a company spokeswoman. Brazilian Ruby Ironwood, offered in engineered only, features a flowing dark grain pattern, surrounded by a strikingly rich red color. The new engineered species feature a filled-face, sawn surface making the floor extra-smooth to the touch. Micro-beveled edges and ends emphasize the linear visual and reveal definition of each plank in varying lengths.

“The Valenza Collection brings affordable designer-quality choices throughout the home,” she added. “It’s one of the only hardwood floors to be offered in both solid and engineered construction so that the same visual can be installed on any level of the home and display a continuous look throughout the house. The inspiration for the collection comes from nature and then builds on cutting-edge interior design trends.”

Scandian USA is introducing its Bonita Collection, a premium, thick wear engineered wood flooring produced in its new facility in Curitiba, Brazil. “This new plant uses a unique cold press process called Solitec to adhere thick sawn veneers to quality core stock,” said Bruce Hammer, Scandian’s director of business development. “The result is a tight bind between veneer and core with less stress on the wood during manufacture.”

The collection features 24 SKUs broken into two different series. The Silver series has eight SKUs 3/8-inch thick with a 2.5mm sawn wear layer, and the Gold series has 16 SKUs 1/2-inch thick, 3-1/4-inch and 5-inch wide, with a 3.6mm sawn wear layer. Bonita features popular South American species like amendoim, Brazilian Cherry, Santos Mahogany, timborana, and several others in both natural and stained selections.

“We are beginning by launching the product with distributors in traditional engineered markets and we have plans to systematically take it nationwide,” he explained. “We will also be adding a couple new selections to our Solid Collection, but those details are not yet available at this time.”

Mercier introduced Mercier PRO at the end of August, a new line targeted toward construction professionals and do-it-yourselfers. “Mercier PRO adds to the Mercier products offer,” said Barbara Manivet, the company’s marketing coordinator, “in an unequalled price/quality ratio, Mercier PRO is offered in three species (red oak, hard maple and yellow birch), five stains, in a professional grade 3-1/4-inch board, and in a finish with a unique gloss level and texture that helps make micro-cracks, small dents and scratches less apparent.

“Whereas Mercier Design+ program offers customized Mercier Generations products,” she explained, “Mercier PRO opens the way to a simplified offer, proposing several star products at a highly competitive price.”