Engineered or Solid Wood Flooring – Which is Best?

by Wood Flooring

This is one of our most frequently asked questions and there is a great deal of misunderstanding and assumption about both options.

Firstly here are the two different products simply explained.

Engineered wood flooring – There are different construction methods but generally speaking good quality engineered wood flooring is constructed using a base of glued multi-layer ply board that is then topped with solid wood therefore making it look like a solid wood floor but giving it extreme stability. Many people say that they can tell the difference between solid and engineered wood but they are normally referring to Laminate.

Solid wood flooring – is exactly that solid wood.

Just to confirm neither of these floors are Laminate. Laminate is a lacquered photograph of wood copied onto hardboard or very thin ply.

Decisions, decisions…..

When you start planning a new wood floor, it is very important to measure the moisture levels in your sub floor. Moisture levels should be very low and in order to be confident about the levels, it’s important to take a substantial number of readings across your entire floor.  If your sub floor is borderline when it comes to moisture levels, there’s no getting away from the fact that you’d be safer to opt for engineered wood flooring than solid wood. There are other ways around this but cost can become be an issue. A suitable DPM (damp proof membrane) will normally be sufficient to safely lay an engineered wood floor.

When installing a wood floor in your home, the decision for engineered or solid can depend on which room you’re looking to re-floor.  Because of the significant fluctuations in moisture levels and temperatures in the likes of kitchens and bathrooms, there’s no doubt that engineered wood flooring will be less problematic in these areas.  Thanks to the way that engineered boards are constructed, while they will expand and contract slightly when exposed to rises and falls in temperature and moisture levels, in comparison with solid wood the risk of resulting damage is minimal.  When solid wood is exposed to significant environmental changes it expands and contracts with a more noticeable movement, which, over a long period can cause damage to your floor.  This won’t happen with a good quality, well-fitted engineered wood floor. It is also worth noting the potential for wear of wooden floors especially when they are fitted in a kitchen because if the maintenance is not kept on top of the floors can become shabby looking this is due to water from washing up, drips from dishwashers and fat splatters from ovens and hobs

Heavy footfall or high traffic areas

Heavy or high footfall refers to environments where there is likely to be a higher impact on the floor thanks to the people crossing it.  This would apply more to places such as schools, pubs, restaurants, village halls, gymnasiums etc.  Wherever there is high or heavy footfall, it’s comforting to be able to re-sand and re-finish your floor relatively frequently.  Although an engineered wood floor with a relatively thick solid wood top layer can be sanded comfortably three times during its lifetime, a solid wood floor will take up to five or six sanding’s before risking significant damage. (This would be a non-tongue and grooved floor as T&G floors can only be sanded to the tongue at maximum)  So, if you are flooring a room where there is likely to be high or heavy footfall, your sub floor is nice and dry and there are no significant temperature or moisture fluctuations as well as no under floor heating, then solid wood flooring is probably a more practical solution.

Budget

Wood flooring is a great solution, no matter what your budget. With little difference between solid and engineered wood flooring prices, your budget shouldn’t be a huge driving factor in your decision-making process because irrespective of the amount you have to spend, you should be able to find a solution that ticks all your boxes in either category. In recent years the price of solid oak floors has generally come down depending on what is chosen.  In effect an engineered board will cost at least as much as a solid if not more.

Solid or engineered wood flooring at a glance:

Sub floor moisture level is borderline

Solid wood — Not recommended

Engineered wood- OK with suitable membrane or underlay

Bathrooms and Kitchens

Solid wood -Bathrooms and kitchens – Not recommended

Engineered wood – Highly suitable

High or heavy footfall

Solid wood-Ideal

Engineered wood-Suitable

Finally, if I was looking for a new floor, personally I would go for an engineered floor nine times out of ten.

Health benefits of wood flooring

by Wood Flooring

The Health Benefits of Wood Flooring

Doctors recommend hardwood floors for people with allergies and respiratory problems. The hard, smooth surface does not provide a home for dust mites, pollen, fleas and animal dander.

Medical findings are that hardwood floors are helping asthmatics and respiratory sensitive individuals live healthier lives. In fact, it’s suggested that just about everyone derives some form of health benefit from living in a hardwood environment.

Millions in the UK suffer from just tiny amounts of house dust setting off symptoms ranging from itchy eyes, sneezing, rash, breathing difficulty and sinus trouble because of trapped pollens and moulds in their fibres. Even frequent vacuuming will not eliminate those microscopic monsters but natural hardwood floors allow you to reduce those allergens while your rooms remain warm, inviting and germ reduced.

With tough finishes hardwood floors stand up to the wear and tear of today’s active families. Easy to maintain, just wipe with damp mop and sweep or vacuum regularly. Distinctive characteristics in hardwood flooring allows for each floor to have a unique one-of-a-kind look. Wood floors can add value to your home at time of resale.

Parquet Flooring: Everything you Need to Know

by with No Comment Wood Flooring

Parquet flooring is believed to originate from Versailles in 16th Century France, which makes sense as to this day Versailles panels are re-created using a number of different woods cut into shapes to form stunning patterns. It’s thought that early parquet floors, made from solid timber, started to replace marble as a high end option for the wealthy at that time. This was a very expensive choice and to some extent continues to be today, though this depends largely on the choice of material and design. Wood from different species of tree can be used to achieve different effects from their contrasting colours, such as oak, cherry, maple and mahogany among many others. Parquet floors started to fall out of fashion in the 1930 with the introduction of carpets and lino, but have recently seen a renewed surge of interest due to their versatility and stunning appearance once finished.

Parquet flooring refers to patterns created by affixing hardwood blocks (cut into shapes with straight edges; such as diamonds, triangles, rectangles and squares) to concrete or other sub floors. If a mosaic is created from curved shapes or natural forms, the craft is referred to as marquetry. The type and styles of parquet flooring available are virtually limitless, from the pattern itself to the size of blocks, solid, engineered, grade of wood, textured, scraped, wood species and the type of finish.

Traditionally, the most common pattern was the three finger block (three slats of wood making up one square block, tiled in an alternating pattern), but these days the most commonly recognised design is herringbone parquet; a staggered zigzag pattern formed from rectangular blocks with either a one or two block border, often of a contrasting colour for a striking finish.

Parquet floors were traditionally bonded to the floor with hot bitumen (a tar like substance) but this often fails over time and leaves the floor loose. Instead, we use a cold adhesive which is far more effective and results in an extremely stable surface. We’ve seen several examples of people instead trying to lay parquet directly over floorboards, nailing down the corners of the solid blocks, which leaves the floor prone to moving, creaking and having gaps appear. It’s one of many reasons we’d advise to get the professionals in for this type of floor.

Designs of parquet wood flooring are often found in Edwardian houses, however we have seen much earlier examples crop up from time to time. We’re often being called to houses to fit a new floor, only to pull up the carpet and find an original parquet nestled below. These will generally need repairs, but with a good sand and a bit of love, they can often be returned to their former glory.

Installation of solid hardwood parquet flooring is a job best left to professionals and we really wouldn’t recommend it as a DIY project, but if you’re working on a budget it’s possible to buy engineered panels with parquet laid on top of the ply core. In this case, it should be straightforward to install much like any other engineered wood flooring, as long as all the usual precautions and advice are followed, though the quality of the finish will be sacrificed for the ease of installment. In any case, a parquet floor, once laid, is a truly beautiful addition to any home and should inspire both awe and envy in your peers.

For any more help and advice, or if you require a parquet floor for your home, please feel free to call us on 01962 733016, email info@winchesterwoodfloors.co.uk or pop into our workshop and we can get your flooring project started today! 

How to maintain your parquet floor

by with No Comment Wood Flooring

One thing we’ve noticed time and time again whilst restoring parquet floors around Hampshire is that many people don’t seem to know how to care for them properly. In this blog we aim to arm you with enough information to keep your parquet floor maintained and extend it’s life.

Cleaning a parquet floor is a simple process, but you need to be looking after it from the word go. Once the floor gets to a certain point of wear and tear, no amount of cleaning can bring it back to life and the only option from there is to sand it off and start again.

There are two types of cleaner, one for oiled floors and one for lacquered floors. Always use the recommended cleaner. If you use any other type of cleaner on your wooden floor, you run the risk of spoiling the finish. Steam cleaners are a big no no – wood and water don’t mix, so throwing steam into the mix will really cause you problems.

Regardless of whether your floor is oiled or lacquered, the basic process is the same. You should start by sweeping or vacuuming the floor. When vacuuming, make sure the part of the vacuum cleaner that’s in contact with the floor is soft to avoid scratching the floor surface. Henry type vacuum cleaners are ideal for this, rather than those that are wheeled across the floor as these types can leave marks. We’re constantly seeing parquet floors that have been damaged by vacuum cleaners, so it’s important to take note.

After any excess dirt and grime has been vacuumed away, then the appropriate cleaner can be used. We generally recommend Osmo wash and care for oiled floors and either Bona or Junckers for lacquered floors. Simply follow the instructions by adding the cleaning solution to half a bucket of warm water, wetting the mop and ringing it out so the floor doesn’t get too wet during the cleaning process. Too much water can cause swelling to the wood and other problems which are best avoided. Always use a damp mop, not a wet one!

We recommend repeating this process at least once a week, although this can vary depending on how much the particular area is used. Hallways have much heavier foot fall than a bedroom which may only see foot traffic in socks or slippers rather than shoes.

For any more help and advice please feel free to call us on 01962 733016, email info@winchesterwoodfloors.co.uk or pop into our workshop and we can get your flooring project off the ground today!