Wooden flooring is a welcome addition in many residential and commercial properties. Over the years the world of wood flooring has changed and with it so have your options and considerations. If you are considering wood flooring now or in the future, you may find the latest options and trends confusing. To help, we have prepared a guide to wood flooring that includes all your options together with visual images of each floor. Wood Flooring Construction:
Two distinct construction types are on offer nowadays and each of the two is better at home in a different set of circumstances. Your choice of one over the other could directly impact the expected longevity of the floor, so it is worth researching well before committing to a certain type.
1st type Solid Wood Flooring ? These are the traditional wood flooring that most people suspected are also the only option. Each floorboard is made from solid hardwood in thickness of 18mm to 20mm and width varying from 100mm to 150mm, while the length varies incredibly depending on the size of the harvested tree (after all, wood is a completely natural product so size of trees fluctuates). Of the two types solid is by far the strongest and suits any residential or commercial properties. In fact, it is often preferred in commercial properties due to its long service life of around 100 years. On the other hand, solid is not suitable in damp or humid areas such as the bathroom as the wood will buckle and finally crack.
2nd type Engineered Wood Flooring ? On the surface it looks precisely like solid wood flooring because it is made of three to four layers with the top layer in all cases made of solid wood. Each floorboard is made from solid wood in the form of 3mm to 6mm layer (called the lamella) supported by MDF, Plywood and Softwood. Unlike solid wood, length can be pre-determined and often longer than solid. This varied build of real wood and syntactic material makes engineered wood flooring suitable in all parts of the property (with the exclusion of the outdoors). On the other hand the use of diverse materials some of which weaker than natural wood means that service life is reduced to around 25 years.
Once you have chosen the most suitable type for your property, move forward to choosing the most suitable grade.
Wood Flooring Grade:
As you know by now, each of the two types contains ?real wood?. Solid is built from 100% real wood, while engineered contains a layer of 3mm to 6mm real wood. In both cases the wood is available in different levels of refinement commonly referred to as grade. The grade is simply a visual indication on the floorboard and it won?t impact the longevity of the wood. The decision as to which grade to prefer falls to budget constrains and taste in d?cor. The four grades are:
1st Prime grade - Prime grade wood flooring are cut from the middle of the tree which means that the floorboard will have the least amount of colour variations between the planks and knots are very few in between.
2nd Select grade - Select grade wood flooring are cut from the second ring from within the core of the tree which means that the floorboards will show some colour variations between the plank and some knots can be expected.
3rd Natural grade - Natural grade will feature sapwood and black knots of up to 30cm in size. Compared to the previous two grades, price difference will become more substantial making this grade very popular when fitting wood floors on a tight budget.
4th Rustic grade - Floorboards will feature sapwood and black knots of 35mm. There might be unlimited colour variation between the floorboards. Rustic is the most affordable option.
Once you have decided on the type and grade of wood flooring, you can continue with choosing the most suitable finish.
Wood Flooring Finish:
The last consideration to make is how your wooden flooring will be protected. The finish is a thin almost transparent layer of liquid that acts to seal the wood and to provide some form of protection.
The most common are lacquer, oil and UV oil finish. Lacquer is popular because it makes the wood almost waterproof as it sits on the wood, while oil is better at preventing common wear and tear damage as oil sinks into the wood. Unlike type of wood and grade, the finish can be changed without incurring huge costs.
If you have any questions leave your comments below. Thanks for reading!
About Guest Blogger
Your complete guide to wood flooring by Wood and Beyond. FSC licensed London merchants of solid wood flooring, engineered as well as decking and worktops. When choosing wooden flooring, please consider the environment and look for sellers who source their woods ethically from managed forests. Images by Wood and Beyond.
This post was written by a guest contributor. Please see credential in the post above. For guest post guideline at Home design inspiration , please check out our write a new guest post on home design tips at Home design inspiration page and know more about? how you can share your home design tips with our community
Source: http://www.indianhomedesign.com/2012/08/Your-Complete-Guide-To-Wood-Flooring.html
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