Wood floors

If you want to create a sleek interior, a new wood floor can add considerably to the overall look. You can choose between soft wood, hardwood or veneered wood (also called engineered floor), but before you pick your floorboards from a catalogue carefully consider the following issues: traffic, style, maintenance and price..

Traffic

It’s very important to choose the right wood for the right room – heavy-traffic areas should have solid hardwood, whilst areas such as a bedroom can take a pine floor. In medium-traffic rooms go for engineered floors – these have a solid timber top layer, are pre-varnished with industrial standard lacquer, and easy to lay. You’ve possible read in many places that bathrooms and kitchens shouldn’t have a timber floor. This is nonsense. Think of a yacht – the floor is made of wood! You just have to seal the floor with the appropriate varnish – either yacht varnish or some hardwearing lacquer (no acrylic-based varnish here!)

Style

 Dark solid hardwood is the current trend – such as walnut and ebony – but make sure you’re not going to be a fashion-victim. Dark floors are not suitable in small or dark rooms. Also, if you’re in England or in a country where the weather is mostly grey, unless you have large windows, don’t use dark floorboards!!! I know, many magazines and makeover shows tell you things like dark floors reflect light… and they’re so “contemporary” – absolute bollocks…. I believe (and always advise my clients) to choose a good quality, medium brown wooden floor – such as oak – because a floor should not be about “now” or fashion, but should be timeless and stylish by its nature. In small and/or dark rooms try to use light wood, such as light oak, maple or ash. Alternatively limewash or paint pine floorboards – a very suitable choice for a Scandinavian look or a beach hut feel or that French provençal style. Most importantly, never follow magazines (remember those pictures are taken by pro photographers and stylists … then touched up on computers). Follow your own instincts! Be true to your personality and to the building you live in!!!

Maintenance

Always follow the manufacturer’s recommendations. Generally speaking, a wooden floor only needs regular vacuuming and the occasional mop-up (not too much water – use those floor-wipes!) Of course the floor will show wear and tear after a few years and it will probably need to be sanded down and re-varnished. Timber floorboards require lacquer or wax. You must choose between them – you can’t wax a lacquered floor or lacquer a wax floor. Waxing is preferred by wood, it’s a lovely finish and smells great – but it has to be done a minimum of once a year (in heavy-traffic areas every six months!). Lacquering needs to be done about once every five years or so. Also, lacquer protects the floor more from spills, accidents and knocks. If you go for engineered floorboards – it’s certainly better to go for a lacquered finish as this type of floor can only be sanded down once or twice in their lifetime (only the top layer is solid wood).

Price

Remember, you get what you pay for. Softwood such as pine is much cheaper than hardwood – and wear and tear will show sooner! Hardwood lasts long, wears well and requires little maintenance. Solid hardwood timber is quite pricy but worth every penny. The cheaper solution is engineered floorboards – they come in tongue-and groove strips and can easily be slotted together. Another consideration is the cost of laying the floorboards. Unless you’re a very competent DIY’er – laying solid timber floor (particularly parquet) should be left to a craftsman. However, engineered floor is similar to laminates, so it can be an easy DIY job. If you’re eco-conscious, always check the label as to whether the wood comes from properly managed forests.

If you want a truly eco-friendly floor choose bamboo. It’s not only ecological, but extremely hardwearing and water-resistant which makes it particularly suitable for kitchens and bathrooms and areas of heavy traffic. It complements many different interior styles – particularly oriental decoration.

Read part 1 – wooden flooring

Read part2 –  floorboards

Read part4 –  laminate wood floor