Wood flooring

Wood flooring are a popular choice for many homeowners and will also often feature in commercial properties. Wood has an ability to uplift the look of almost any room and create a warm welcoming feeling, which is why you would often see wood used in storefronts, reception areas and entrances. There are many options and many considerations to take into account when deciding on wood flooring which is why we are bringing you this short guide.

First consideration – wood species:
There are only a handful of tree species that could be considered for the task. These woods should ticket three boxes. Plentiful so their price is affordable, hold eco friendly credentials of availability from sustainable forests and strong so to offer many years of service life. The most common are Oak and Walnut. Each is further broken down to sub-species (Walnut alone has close to 600 sub-spices). The differences between the two are purely visual based on the grain structure of each type (oak having tight grain and walnut open grain) and will not impact the durability of the floor.  Decision of potential buyers is often based on budget, as walnut tends to cost slightly more.

Second consideration – technology type:
The world of wood flooring is not simply based on wood species, but also on the technology of the base floor. The types of rival technologies are two, and while in most cases either type will suit well, it is important to understand the differences in case of unique circumstances.

Solid wood – The first type is also the most common of the two. Solid wood flooring uses complete 100% natural wood in its structure such as Oak or Walnut.  It does not use any other syntactic materials and therefore has a reputation of especially long service life. While its strength is its durability, its weakness is the fact that the size of available floorboards is limited (been 100% natural material that makes sense) and it may also react to changes in temperature by contract or expanding.

Engineered wood – These also use real wood such as Oak or Walnut but only as a top layer. Beneath there are three or even four layers of syntactic material such as MDF, Plywood and others. The result is a type of wood flooring that looks precisely like the previous type, however it is slightly more affordable (as less natural wood is used and syntactic material are less expensive) and does not react to temperature changes. While these are its strength, its biggest weakness is its service life that does not match solid wood flooring.

Last consideration – shade of the wood:
Traditionally the colour or shade of the wood would have been determined by the species of wood. Nowadays wood flooring companies are able to offer bespoke colors based on colouring technology so you do not have to match your décor to the wood, but the wood can match your taste and direction.
Enjoy your new floor.