Manufactures and their distributors have four conventions per year and one huge one just to talk about all the new and latest technology that they are going to sell homeowners. All of this is to perpetuate a population of consumers and salespeople buying into a false premise, fake is better than real.
Florida homeowners, as you consider how to replace your floor do not settle. Do not settle for fake expensive floor covers. SYP Direct specializes in homeowners, in fact, we become your advocate in the face of misinformation about solid real wood floors. 2014 Sanibel Island Florida Heart Pine Writing about our history in Florida must start on Sanibel Island because, well, look at the floor! 1×10 wide plank Heart Pine, ¾ x 8 7/8 in […]
Clear aka C and Better Southern Pine Clear pine is tricky, how so? Well true C grade looks like our main picture, without any vertical grain or heartwood. However, you have Clear Heart Pine is not not C grade, but may or may not be vertical grain. Furthermore, Souther Pine may be quartersawn, producing vertical grain without heartwood. SYP Direct is proud to offer our 1x4 Clear Southern Pine for $3.45 per square foot. Now [...]
Read More
We use 2 step, air and then computerized steam. "Is it Kiln dried to 6% like White Oak"? We get this a whole bunch even from installers, mostly up north. (joke, sort of). All of our floors are kiln dried to 10% or just under. Yes, Oak is 6% but Heart Pine is not White Oak. At a molecular level pine allows moisture to both 'come and go' without losing integrity, not so with many [...]
Read More
Why do people buy ‘single use’ floors? (A product designed with planned obsolescence ridiculous promises and useless warranties.) LVT MARKETING- Waterproof- Lifetime Warranty-and Luxury in the name. Homeowners buy it because the marketing is amazing and frankly trying to find real wood wears them out over time. Hand it to the majors, they've created a repeat customer product line; a new one about every decade or so. The industry is a mess everyone wants fake [...]
Read More
State and City "tours" This is by no means a complete list in fact we have not done a new one in a couple of years just because things have gotten much busier but there are some cool stories posted, with a lot of cool ones missing. We once delivered a floor that had to be at the house it exact time because there was a birthday present, please do not ask us to ever [...]
Read More
Laminate is not wood, nor is it a floor. A photocopy of wood and a temporary floor cover, best define laminate. Laminate is made with synthetic materials or very thinly sliced pieces of wood.
No Surprises during delivery The best way to have a good shipping experience starts with no surprises. Gate codes, overhead powerlines, gravel road, bridges; no detail is too small. Why? Because commercial shipping companies charge for everything. If there is some type of last-minute change or “surprises” they can abort the delivery and take your pallet back to the terminal. Does not sound too bad until you get the re-delivery charge. Think of LTL carriers [...]
Read More
Why Are VOCs Still Used? What a great question? The answer is that very few of us know they exist in almost everything manufactured for mass merchandising. Volatile Organic Chemicals (VOCs) can be used to produce products and created as biproducts. VOC's can be harmless; they can be dangerous but the majority of just the "unknown" as is not enough information to make a determination. Paint, wood-finishing products, lacquers, hydraulic fluids, petroleum fuels, adhesives, pesticides, [...]
Read More
What other floors are green, aka eco-friendly? Well, dirt and most concrete are certainly in the category, but what about the things that sit on top of those two? No matter what else you hear while shopping, solid 3/4 floors should outlive the house, i.e., be salvaged one day. On the other hand, all 'floor covers' with very few exceptions, everything else ends up in a landfill. Seriously, the bathroom counter-top you see here was [...]
Read More