Beautiful solid wood floors can look wonderful, creating a true sense of style and individuality and a modern, contemporary feel within any home. There are many different types of real wood flooring, each with its own look. Distressed or distressed flooring, the distinctive lines of parquet flooring, there are engineered wood and strip flooring, as well as mosaic paneling and end-grain wood block flooring.

Aged and worn floors

Distressed hardwood floors or distressed flooring present a sleek, lived-in look. It looks, to all the world, as if your floor has been laid for years and adds a certain authenticity to your home. Distressed and distressed floors are also a very practical option for both residential and commercial properties because they keep their good looks for longer. The rugged, worn and lived-in appearance will not show the scratches and scuffs caused by daily use. They are also a popular choice because they never require sanding unlike other types of hardwood floors.

parquet floors

Wooden parquet floors are a very popular option and one of the reasons for this is that a parquet floor can be laid in many different ways, with many different patterns. Patterns available are Herringbone, Double Herringbone, Single Basket Weave, Treble Basket Weave, and Chevron. You can also opt for parquet panels, parquet borders, parquet motifs and parquet floor medallions.

Engineered Wood Flooring

Engineered flooring can be installed that floats on top of a foundation, is secretly nailed to existing wood subfloors, or glued down completely to the concrete or wood subfloor. Engineered flooring is great if you need to reduce the noise level in a room, and it works well with underfloor heating systems. Engineered wood flooring is available in a wide range of sizes from 14mm 3-strip flooring to 20mm structurally engineered wide plank. strappy flats

A wide variety of tongue and groove plank flooring is available in European Oak, French Oak, American Black Walnut, Wenge, Aged Oak, Reclaimed Pine and Merbau. Wood strip flooring, like engineered wood flooring, can be nailed down to wood subfloors or glued to concrete subfloors, but unlike engineered wood flooring, it is not recommended for use with systems. underfloor heating. Strip floors are very easy to maintain and can be sanded many times to freshen up their look, making them excellent value for money.

Mosaic Panels Mosaic Panels, also known as finger parquet, is an antique style of flooring that was widely used in the 1960s and is available in European oak, mahogany, teak, and merbau. If you are placing tile panels on a wood or concrete base, an epoxy glue should be used, but if the panels are felt-backed, an alcohol-based adhesive should be used. End Grain Wood Block Flooring

End-grain wood block flooring is available in several species of wood, including European Larch, European Oak, European Smoked Oak, Pine, and Fir. The wood is cut along the growth rings to produce a very different look to that achieved with more common slatted flooring. It is extremely resistant and therefore ideal for areas that experience a lot of foot traffic.

wood floor repair

From time to time, your hardwood floor will need repair, whether it’s to remove scratches or stains or even to correct a floor that was poorly laid in the first place. Scratches can be sanded down with fine to medium sandpaper, but it is recommended that stained floorboards be replaced because depending on how deeply the stain has gone into the wood, you may have to sand quite hard to remove the stain and this could mean that section of the floor will not look the same as the rest.

If you’re lucky enough to inherit an original hardwood floor or are looking to restore a floor you covered years ago with carpet, you may need some repairs. This may involve replacing sections of old hardwood flooring with new wood. If you need to do this, it’s a good idea to source wood that matches the original wood as closely as possible, in color and type.

After repairs have been made, the floor should be machine sanded to a fine finish and any gaps filled. Once this is done, you can start staining the floor in your chosen color. Sometimes stains on your floor will only become apparent after you machine sand the floor or even apply your chosen new finish. If this happens, you can choose to replace that section or leave it on because it adds character to your floor.

The original parquet floors were glued and nailed with copper head pins. Over the years these eroded leaving spots around each fixing. Unfortunately these stains cannot be removed, but it must be said, they are part of the character of the floors. When installing a new parquet floor, stainless steel headless dowels are used to prevent this problem from happening again in the future.

Why is it important to hire a professional?

With the increasing number of DIY shows on TV, many people try to refinish their own hardwood floors only to find that it’s not as easy as it seems on TV. Professional wood floor refinishing companies will have invested in the right machinery for the job and also the right training.

Being inexperienced and using unforgiving machines can cause extreme damage to your hardwood floor and can reduce its lifespan by up to 50%, so it’s important to hire a company whose employees are fully trained and qualified in wood restoration. wood floor. This will ensure that the least amount of wood is removed during the sanding process and therefore extend the life of your floor.

Hiring a professional to do the job will leave you with a perfect finish and may even end up saving you money, after all it would be much more expensive to attempt the job yourself, rent the machines, buy the sandpaper and finishing materials, only to then have to hire the professionals to redo the job afterwards because you’re not happy with the finish.

What should a person look for when choosing a flooring provider?

When looking for a company to supply and install your flooring, you should look for a company that can demonstrate the quality of their work. Ask to see examples of their work or at least photos of it, and ask them to produce genuine testimonials.

Ask to see proof of their qualifications. Appropriately qualified UK flooring contractors will have passed City & Guilds NVQ level 2 in floor coverings and should have passed the health and safety test and hold a valid CSCS card for trade work.

Take a look at the equipment they plan to use and ask what measures they have in place to minimize dust, the last thing you want is to be cleaning the house for weeks after they’re gone.

Confirm that they offer a free, no-obligation survey and quote.