Hasta La Ideas

Standard hardwood flooring features a tongue-and-groove arrangement to lock each piece into place. However, the interlocking set-up means that should you need to remove a damaged piece, or access the subfloor for some maintenance reason, you must take up the entire floor until you reach the relevant piece.

A Pennsylvania-based company called Steller Floors has developed an alternative to the tongue and groove. At first blush, the company’s logo seems a strange one for a flooring company…

…until you realize it represents their innovation: An extruded plastic spline.

By 3D-printing a plank that would snap neatly into the spline, the company worked out the right profile they’d use to cut into hardwood.

Their resultant flooring product can easily be laid by a DIY’er. To firm each piece up, you simply step on it with your foot.

And should you ever need to remove a piece, you can pull up just that piece, using a suction cup.

You can also install these herringbone-style.

And now for the sticker shock: Their least-expensive option is a 5/8″ thick Oak at $10/foot. (I assume that the cost of the splines is in there.) If you want to step up to 3/4″ Oak, it’s $11/foot. More exotic species (Walnut, Hickory, etc.) are $20/foot. Innovation doesn’t come cheap.