The Best Oak Flooring from a Family Business
Beautiful wood flooring gives ambiance to a room. For many years now, natural oak flooring has been the primary type of wood flooring in use across the world. It not only looks good, it is also hard wearing and stable. However, it has various limitations. It changes with weather and moisture, sometimes swelling and at other times contracting. A much better option to use would be engineered wood flooring. It looks just like oak wood and lasts as long as natural wood.
Engineered wood flooring is made by gluing a layer of solid oak onto multi-laminate plywood. The plywood should be 10 layers and 15 mm thick. Each layer is glued in opposite directions. The solid oak is then glued onto this plywood and should be 6 mm thick. Strong, efficient glue is applied to give a strong bond and proper adhesion. The result is attractive, natural looking flooring that is more stable than regular wood flooring. It is impossible with a good quality engineered floor after it has been fitted to be able to tell if it is a solid oak product or and engineered product.
There are numerous advantages of using engineered wood flooring. Its stability gives it minimal movement, if any, unlike solid oak flooring. Regardless of change in temperature, the flooring remains in position. Unlike natural oak, it is non-porous and does not soak in moisture; it does not swell nor does it require an allowance for expansion when laying it in place like solid oak does.
It is easy to install. One can use different patented methods of installation, which take a shorter time than it takes installing solid flooring. It can be installed as a floating floor, a nail-down floor or a glue-down floor. For floating surfaces, a tongue and groove system locks the planks together. With this method they can adjust in size freely with humidity and temperature change. Some people even take their engineered flooring along with them when they move house, as it does not attach permanently to the surface when fitted as a floating floor.
Similarly, engineered flooring is easier to repair. It is easily sanded in areas where dents and scratches may appear. When buying engineered wood flooring, one should only purchase the flooring with a 6 mm wear surface allowance so that during its working life it can easily be re sanded and finished if required.
Engineered wood flooring can be used in rooms with light moisture such as basements, kitchens and bathrooms. It can also be used over radiant heat systems such as underfloor heating. Natural wood flooring is unsuitable in such areas as it shrinks, buckles and cups-up. Engineered flooring on the other hand is resistant to all these and wears quite well if you purchase a quality product from the right company.
It is environment friendly. Plywood is made from softwood, which is plentiful and quickly replenishes due to their fast growth. It is cost effective too, as the boards are wider and longer; this means one uses fewer boards than natural wood flooring requires. It is easy to clean and is largely stain resistant.
The greatest disadvantage of engineered wood flooring is that it has fewer refinishing options if you purchase a low grade material that so many outlets now seem to sell. Only flooring with thicker top surface as mentioned above can be refinished with re sanding. If you purchase a cheaper 3 or 4mm top surface material exercise extra caution when sanding so that the veneer is not removed. We would always advise that you stay away from this type of product if you want a quality job that will last a life time.
As a family Company jf joinery and jfj flooring date back in trading from 1853. The family business has moved down through members of the family for years and has gained enormous experience within the joinery and Oak flooring trades. We are always happy to give you sound advise on all aspect of purpose made joinery for example, windows,doors and all types of woodwork for your home. We mainly work in top quality hardwood within all our joinery and also supply probably the best Solid Oak and engineered oak flooring within the market place today. Our quality flooring prices will beat nearly all companies that advertise on the internet and we also offer a next day delivery service all over the uk on our flooring with free of charge.
Please visit our web site or give us a call if you need any help or advise. We pride ourselves in being a large enough company to offer you the best prices but still small enough to care and give you that individual personal service that you the customer deserve.
By John Fanthorpe
