Wood flooring: How to Walk the Plank

WOOD FLOORING. HOW TO WALK THE PLANK SOLID HARDWOOD ENGINEERED LAMINATE FLOORING FLOORING FLOORING JANKA RATINGS KN 16.3 4.5 15.0 4.9 12.0 6.0 TURPENTINE RED IRON BARK & IRON BARK 11.9 6.9 FRENCH DAK WA BLACKBUTT SPOTTED GUM MARRI (11.0 (7.1 ROSEGUM BRUSH BOX 9.5 (7.5 BLACKBUTT (7.6 9.0 8.0 8.5 9.1 Bamboo Blue Gum Bamboo Natural Blackbutt Coffee 9.5 8.0 15.0 16.3 Brushbox Chestnut Grey Box Grey Iron Bark 11.9 8.5 9.0 7.1 Iron Bark Jarrah Karri Marri 8.0 11.9 8.5 Membatu Red Iron Bark Rosegum Silvertop Stringybark 11.0 (12.0 Spotted Gum Tasmanian Oak Turpentine WA Blackbutt Western Red Cedar Wormy Chestnut SOLID HARDWOOD FLOORING Solid wood flooring is milled from a single piece of timber which is kiln or air dried before sawing. According to the desired look of the floor, the timber can be cut in three ways: flat-sawn, quarter-sawn, and rift-sawn. The timber is cut to the desired dimensions and either packed unfinished for a site-finished installation or finished at the factory. The moisture content at time of manufacturing is carefully controlled to ensure the product doesn't warp during transport and storage. Some hardwoods have become very difficult to find and are being harvested without concern to their eventual extinction (Brazilian rosewood for example). Not only is this hard on the environment, it drives the price of the wood so high that producing furniture out of it is out of the question for most woodworkers. If you can, try to buy wood from a sustainable forest (commercial tree farms that ensure the supply of the wood). Have a look at the National Hardwood Lumber Association for ways to sup- port sustainable forestry ENGINEERED WOOD FLOORING Laminate is melamine-infused paper on top, wood chip composite underneath. Most certainly not what you want to call real wood. Solid hardwood is definitely wood, from top to bottom. Engineered wood, too, is real wood. It is a sandwich of 1/16" to 1/8" of finish wood on top and non-finish plywood underneath. So, what you're looking at is 100% genuine wood. The top finish layer is pre-finished, meaning it has been sanded and sealed before it gets laid. As soon as the floor boards have been put down, you are free to walk on it. in comparison, unfinished solid hardwood has to be sealed, and this means you have to wait until you can use your floor. Note: solid hardwood also comes in pre-finished. But do you know that it really is preferable to have plywood underneath? That's right: the mid layer of plywood is laid cross-ways to the finish layer, offering addi- tional strength to the flooring. LAMINATE FLOORING Put your face right up to laminate floors--looks like real wood, doesn't it? Start using a magnifying glass. Amazing! That's because laminate flooring is really a surface layer of two thin sheets of paper impregnated with melamine. This surface layer is a photograph of wood grain, not real wood, and is usually covered by a tough transpar- ent layer impervious to dogs, chairs, high heels, whatever. Laminate Flooring is flooring by pictures. Underneath the wood-grain picture is approximately a half-inch of wood-chip com- posite. So, sure-it's wood. In theory. And herein lie each of the strong and weak spots of laminate flooring. The strong point is that you can reproduce almost anything on this Earth through a photograph, even the most costly Italian marble. The weak point is that it is fake. Fake $500 per sqm marble will still be fake? TIMBER FLOORING INSTALLATION FLOATING FLOOR DIRECT STICK This method is used on Lami- This is by far the most popular Floating Floor Direct Sck nate and engineered flooring. method here in Western Aus As the picture suggests, black tralia for the fixing of your new plastic is laid first on the bare wooden floor. As the picture concrete slab to help prevent suggests, a moisture barrier is moisture from penetrating the applied to the concrete slab, floor. Following this comes the then the wood is glued and underlay which comes in vari- nailed to the concrete. The ous types depending on your overlay timber used in this budget. Once this has been method can range from 10mm laid, the timber Laminate or to 14mm in thickness, however engineered boards follow 19mm can still be used. PLANK ON PLY PLANK ON BATTENS Plank on ply is very useful Plank on battens is mainly when the concrete slab has used in houses where the slight variations. A moisture client wants the hollow sound- barrier is applied to the con ing floors, just like the older crete slab, then sheets of ply- houses where 19mm boards wood are glued and nailed were nailed onto joists. Now a either apply black plastic or apply a mois- direct to the concrete. The days though, we e wood is then glued and top nailed with small brads to the ture barrier onto the concrete plywood. slab, fix the battens down, then glue the wood onto the bat- tens. The boards used for this method must be 19mm or above to compensate. INSTALLATION, FLOOR SANDING, FLOOR STAINING AND FLOORBOARDS FINISHING IS AN ACTIVITY THAT INVOLVES SKILLS Upon completion of your floor, you will find our attention to detail is what makes us that little bit better than your average timber flooring company. We don't cut corners, every aspect of your floor will be done to the highest standards. Solid wood floorboards can be applied on wooden battens, joists, directly onto flat concrete (direct stick) or onto plywood (plank on ply). brought to you by ARTISTIC TIMBER FI.OORS WwW.ARTISTICTIMBERFLOORS.COM.AU GREY IRON BARK GREYBOX TASMANIAN DAK MERICAN BLACK WALNUT INDONESIAN CHERRY MEMBATU 6 CHESTNU SILVER STRINGY