Sustainable Beauty Comes Home
Ark offers two different hardwood flooring constructions… Engineered and Solid. While much ado is made about the advantages of one over the other, the fact is that both are equally beautiful, and in most situations, equally long lasting. We offer a lifetime structural guarantee and a 25 year finish guarantee on both constructions. Here is an quick overview of the key differences between the two constructions.
Solid Construction
This is just what it sounds like. Each plank is a single 3/4” thick, solid piece of your chosen species of wood, topped with multiple layers of our protective polyurethane finish. Solid construction can be sanded and refinished if necessary and for this reason is often the preferred choice of homeowners particularly worried about long-term damage to their flooring.
Engineered Construction
Here each plank is created using five layers of natural hardwood laminated “cross-grained” to each other. This base is then topped with a premium layer of your chosen hardwood species and multiple coats of our protective polyurethane finish. This construction counters wood’s natural tendency to expand and contract with seasonal temperature changes. It also gives our floors unusual resistance to warping and buckling (we guarantee it). Engineered flooring is your best choice for any area at risk for moisture, particularly installations over concrete or “below grade” (ground level). Engineered floors are also generally thinner than solid. This has little impact on floor life, but it can minimize the height differential between your new floor and the other floors around it.
Green Story
As one of China’s most innovative companies, A&W / Ark Floors commitment to the environment is ongoing. A&W / Ark Floors has been recognized by some the world’s most prestigious environmental organizations and was one of China’s first members of WWF/CFTN (China Forest & Trade Network). In 2006 A&W Ark Floors received its Green Pass to the international timber and flooring market Chain of Custody Certification. A&W Chairman Carl Lu has been a guest speaker at the WWF’s “World Forest Environment Forum” receiving recognition for contributing to responsible forestry. A&W / Ark Floors was one of the first companies in Asia to sign the Communiqué.
About Ark Floors
Ark Floors brand, a division of A&W GROUP, is a United States company that draws an abundant resource of products from global enterprises. Our ability to utilize these resources has positioned ARK as brand that represents the best of both worlds, assuring consistent, first-quality products.
ARK’s responsible forestry practices have been recognized by some the world’s most prestigious environmental organizations. A&W GROUP was one of China’s first members of WWF/CFTN (China Forest & Trade Network) and in 2006 received its Green Pass to the international timber and flooring market Chain of Custody Certification. A&W GROUP Chairman Carl Lu has been a guest speaker at the WWF’s “World Forest Environment Forum” receiving recognition for contributing to responsible forestry. And in 2009, A&W GROUP was one of only 500 international companies to sign the historic Copenhagen Communique, a global initiative on climate change. Our efforts have not gone unnoticed. At Domotex 2009, ARK was awarded Top International Flooring Brand.
