Improving

Wooden Flooring

Wooden Flooring

Tread the boards of your choice this year, whether you prefer to pad around on pine, lay down on laminate, or wallow in walnut.

Laminate

TYPE: Laminate
Essentially a sealed photograph of a section of real timber placed on top of a high density fibreboard core. Laminate is a manufactured floor constructed of several different layers with a top layer of decorative hardwood, protected with a film of melamine resin.

DURABILITY:
A laminate floor is extremely hardwearing - resistant to scratches, crayons, ink, household stains, high heel indentation, nail polish and direct sunlight. It has an average life expectancy of ten years. Look for performance guarantees – nothing less than ten years!

NEED TO KNOW:
A laminate floor is suitable for most rooms in the home, even the kitchen and high user areas like the hallway, however laminates are generally not recommended for bathrooms because of high moisture levels. Although some laminates are suitable for high humidity, it’s always best to check the label with the supplier beforehand.
Laminate can be laid directly onto concrete or a plywood sub floor, and can be tongue and grooved or clicked into place. It’s worth getting a professional to lay your floor.
When insulating always use a polythene sheet and then foam or wood fibre underlay. Foam is most common; however, wood fibre provides greater cushioning and levelling.
The main disadvantage of a laminate floor is that it is a hard surface and, if damaged, can be extremely difficult (in fact near impossible) to repair.

WHY BUY:
It’s cheaper than a solid floor, is easy to install and, because it has greater directional stability, it will not warp if laid correctly. A laminate floor is easy to keep clean and hygienic, as it does not trap dust, nor does it require sanding or polishing.

Solid Wood

TYPE:
Choose from softwoods hardwoods and even painted woods. Woods can be unfinished or pre-finished.

DURABILITY:
Very robust and hard wearing, though some woods are softer than others.

NEED TO KNOW:
A solid wood floor will have a long life and is allergy free. Its ideal for hallways, bedrooms and living rooms, though high user areas will require more robust timbers such as pine.

The main disadvantage with solid wood is that it’s more expensive to buy than laminate, can be difficult to install - definitely not a DIY job - and is quite high maintenance, requiring regular varnishing and sanding every 5-8 years or so. Alumax top coat, an aluminium-based finish, will add to durability.

In newly built houses it is recommended that you wait at least four to six weeks before laying a solid timber floor. The heating should be on during this time and the timber should be left in the house to adjust to temperature, i.e., to acclimate. Timber should not be laid directly onto concrete but onto joists, batons or a sub plywood floor and must be secret nailed or glued in place.

To keep it clean, suppliers don’t recommend water-based cleaning fluids-specialist cleaning fluids available in most hardware stores are preferred.

WHY BUY:
The main advantage of solid wood is that it can be sanded and varnished several times to look like new again.

Junckers

TYPE:
Junckers is a solid hardwood, pressure treated floor, factory finished with several layers of a strong two-component lacquer of impregnating oil. It’s available in a wide range of wood species and qualities and comes in strip boards or wide boards, in 14mm and 22mm thicknesses.

NEED TO KNOW:
Junckers has developed the quick and easy ‘clip system’, which joins the planks by a steel click that fits into specially milled channels on the underside of the planks – so no glue or nails are required. This system allows Junckers to be installed as a floating floor over most types of sub- floors, even concrete. To clean, vacuum or wipe with a damp cloth.

WHY BUY:
Junckers is easy to install and to maintain.

Engineered

TYPE:
An engineered wood floor is made up of layers of real timber, unlike a laminate, with a top layer of about 4mm, which can be sanded over time to look like new again. This type of flooring is available in strips or in wide planks and in a variety of thicknesses from 15mm to 21mm, pre-finished with a hardwearing layer of lacquer.

NEED TO KNOW:
Engineered wood floors are suitable for all rooms in the house, although generally speaking is not recommended for use in the bathroom.  They are also extremely compatible with an underfloor heating system; the layered boards actually let the heat through quicker and will not expand and contract as a solid wood floor will. The timber can be locked into place, with no need for glue or nails, and laid as a floating floor over an existing sub floor or directly onto concrete.

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