Dec 20 2006
BuildDirect, the world's leading online wholesaler, has launched two new lines of flooring products to meet increased consumer demand for exotic hardwoods. The new lines, Toona, hand scraped hardwood flooring, and Taun, stained exotic hardwood flooring, are made of two Asian wood species not commonly found in North America.
"We have been tracking a marked increase in demand for exotic wood flooring," said Rob Banks, executive vice president, sales, for BuildDirect. "Our customers are moving away from traditional strip oak flooring towards darker, exotic woods, wider planks and processing techniques such as hand scraping for that custom, re-claimed look."
Notable attributes of the Toona line include a very pronounced grain and hardness comparable to that of white ash (1300 points on the Janka hardness scale) making it suitable for high traffic areas. Toona is available in either hand scraped or classic flooring at a cost of USD $3.18 per square foot by the pallet (approximately 818 square feet in total), or by container at a cost of $2.12 per square foot.
The Taun flooring is made from Asian fruitwood and is extremely hard (1,900 points) - making it durable enough for public facilities. Taun has a slightly open grain, and is excellent for staining. It is available at a cost of $3.35 per square foot by the pallet or $2.03 per square foot by container. A single Taun pallet includes approximately 750 square feet of flooring.
Other popular exotic hardwood flooring species available at BuildDirect include Brazilian cherry, tigerwood, teak and kempas, each of which provide designer looks for both developers and do-it-yourselfers who are looking for more options than what is available at their local build-it centre.
BuildDirect has been a leading online wholesaler in popular brand-name flooring since 1999 and offers offer a variety of flooring products including bamboo, laminate, and cork as well as hardwood flooring.