CHOOSING WOOD FLOORING THAT IS BEST FOR YOUR HOME

Solid Wood Flooring better suited to your needs?

What is solid flooring made of wood? It is exactly as it is sounded, a solid piece of wood that may vary in the thickness. Unlike engineered wood floors, this type of flooring can only be used in rooms above the ground. Solid wood flooring is best for rooms such as living and bedroom spaces as well as kitchens, dining rooms, and bathrooms. Wood flooring can also be sanded and refinished or repeatedly refinished.

Floor Sanding Oxford  Contact us today for an estimate at no cost for engineered or solid wood flooring today!

Light-filled, Open-Airy Rooms

There are over 50 types of wood that homeowners can choose from. It is important to find one that suits your personal style. Light woods are the best choice if your style room is light and airy. These wood species include maple and ash.

A Room with a Cozy and Warm Feel

A cozy, warm feeling is another popular one homeowners want in their home. This feeling is most common in medium-sized wood species. Oak and Hickory are two species that can bring this feeling to your home.

A Refined & Stately Room

The third style homeowners prefer for their homes is elegant and stately. This look is often achieved with dark woods like mahogany or walnut.

Hardwood Flooring's Durability

The National Wood Flooring Association states that Floor Sanding Oxford is a product of the association. It is an integral part of, after you have decided on a style of flooring, it's important to consider how the flooring will be used over time. Are you a single person or a couple who lives alone? Do you have young children and pets? A Janka scale is used to rate each wood species for hardness and durability.

Once you've decided on the type of wood floor you want and the durability, you can begin the wood flooring process. These helpful tips will make it easy to choose the right look for your home. Call us today for a free estimate in your home 01865 575440.

HOW HOUSING TRENDS AFFECT THE HARDWOOD FLOORING MARKET

Both homebuyers and homeowners love the look and feel of hardwood floors. Shifts in the home trends affect that level of appreciation and boost the popularity of specific wood flooring.

Whenever the Housing Market Declines

Declining home markets make it tough to sell your property. And when houses aren't selling, most homeowners invest in home improvements. Upgrading from carpet to hardwood floors is one of the most popular home improvement jobs, increasing property value and improving the look and feel of a space. Homeowners also invest in exterior and interior upgrades to help their house stand out in a market that is flooded. This contributes to increased sales throughout the hardwood floors market, but those increases may only occur in certain product lines. Laminate and engineered hardwood floors price less than solid hardwood, but provide a similar upscale look. Homeowners looking to put their home up for sale at a declining housing market might be more prone to invest in these kinds of flooring to attain a greater return on their investment. Some types of hardwood flooring, such as bamboo and cork, are considered green alternatives. Homeowners seeking to improve their current house and have a better impact on the environment turn to these floor alternatives.

When the Housing Market is on the Rise

Improvements in the home market may also activate a rise in hardwood flooring earnings, as more homeowners demand the strength, durability and warmth of wood floors in their new home. A increase in new home building tends to be echoed by a rise in the overall hardwood flooring market. Mid- to high-end new builds frequently call for hardwood flooring, and many homeowners offer it as a reasonably priced upgrade. Upward trends in the housing market may also activate a spike in hardwood floors sales as homeowners invest cash into their property via home developments. Frequent upgrades include replacement vinyl and carpeting with luxury exotic hardwood floors such as Brazilian Black Tiger or even Asian Walnut Acacia. These products produce a fresh feeling for buyers moving into older houses and attract browsers into new builds.

Redecorating and DIY Trends

Redecorating is another home tendency that spreads into the hardwood flooring market. Popular television shows and websites influence the redecorating market, causing ripple impacts to move across the flooring industry. Lately these impacts have made waves from pre-finished hardwood floors, a product that provides an exceptional appearance and remarkable longevity. Quality pre-finished hardwood comes in a vast range of finishes, and will last the whole life of their home without any requirement for replacement. This attracts many interior designers and homeowners searching for a unique appearance and reliable products. The DIY trend continues to grow, and hardwood flooring producers and retailers are reacting with simple to install products. Just click lock engineered hardwood could be set up anywhere in the home with regular tools and limited skills. This housing trend has affected packaging and manufacturing within the hardwood floors market, allowing for greater choice for both DIY fans and hardwood flooring installers. The hardwood floors market remains closely intertwined with housing trends. As home markets move down and up, the demand for hardwood floors changes too. Through all of it, discerning homeowners recognize the worth of this quality goods and continue to opt for warm, attractive flooring.

What Is Fumed Oak Flooring?

 

Fumed, or stained oak is walnut wood flooring which has been treated to change its colour. Fuming or smoking entails putting the oak in an enclosed environment where ammonia is introduced to the atmosphere. This enclosed environment may be a closed tank or a sealed jar or some form of container into which only a relatively modest amount of ammonia is introduced. The impact of the ammonia in the atmosphere is that the colour of the timber is changed.

It is a frequent error that fuming or smoking oak includes the application of this ammonia into the oak, but this isn't the case. The change in color comes about from the wood's response to the presence of ammonia in the air. Effectively what occurs is the ammonia causes the tannins from the wood to be attracted to the surface. The nearer the tannins are into the surface, the darker the wood will look. The more the timber is subjected to the ammonia, the darker it becomes. The results obtained from fuming or smoking will vary from a rich brown colour to almost black.

Essentially, the level of the colour and also the tone of the color depends upon the length of time the wood stays in contact with all the ammonia fumes. Periods of as few as half an hour will provide a lightly fumed effect and 72 hours per darker end result. What's more, the higher the temperature in the room, as you'd imagine, the quicker colour change results will appear, but not just that, the tone is going to be affected. Hotter temperatures normally present red tones and warmer temperatures green tones allowing for creativity in regards to the fuming or smoking process.

Like many things, it's reputed that fuming was discovered by accident. Dating back to the turn of the twentieth century, it's thought that the initial discovery was first made in horse stables. At that time, it had been noticed that the beams above the horses were substantially darkened compared to the beams in different parts of the secure and this darkening process was connected to the ammonia at the horses' urine. Fuming or smoking as a timber treatment process became common place with arts and crafts furniture makers and to this day, is very common. Although not difficult, fuming oak flooring is not something which would usually be performed on a DIY basis for flooring, although it is commonly used on this basis for colouring small pieces of furniture.

Sand and Refinish vs Screen and Recoat

The work involved is one of the chief differences between a sand and refinishing versus display and re-coat. A sand and refinish project is much more laborious. It is a multi step process that takes several days to complete. When a sand and refinish takes place on hardwood floors, sand paper is used from low/rough grit to progressively higher/finer grit. This aides in the procedure for eliminating the existing finish on the ground and exposing the hardwood.

A display and re-coat is much less laborious. It is typically a 1 step process and not nearly as effective as a sand and refinish. During a screen and re-coat, screens(picture a window screen) are used thus the title "screen and re-coat". A screen and re-coat is only going to remove the top layer of memory. An orbital device is utilized with a screen attached to it. It will abrade the surface for good adhesion for the coat of poly that will be implemented. A display is much less abrasive than sand newspaper- even if it's the exact same grit. A display and re-coat does not sand down to the raw hardwood.

The ability to remove floor discrepancies

A screen and re-coat will only remove surface and shallow scratches on the top coat of the polyurethane. It will not go deeper. In case you've got deep scratches in the end, a sand and refinish will be needed to eliminate them. A screen and re-coat won't get rid of any discolorations in your flooring from pet stains or water damage.

A sand and refinish has the capability to sand surface out and other deeper scratches because it is being sanded down to the raw hardwood. Even though a sand and refinish will remove many scratches that has penetrated through the poly and left markings, there are cases where the floor was gouged too intensely and these penetrations are too deep to sand outside. However, repairs could be done since a sand and refinish will help mix the new and existing floor.

Machines Used

Sand and Refinish you'll need a belt sanded, edger, hand sanding gear, buffer.

Screen and Recoat you'll require a buffer to attached the displays to and MAYBE some hand held equipment for the corners of an area or steps.

Repairs

In case repairs/weaves in are needed, a complete sanding and refinishing must be carried out. A screen and re-coat won't suffice in blending the new and existing floors. When fresh hardwood is set up as a repair/weave in, what will sometimes occur is a tiny height difference in addition to a color difference. Hardwood oxidizes and changes color over time. The harshness of this shift is completely determined by the species of hardwood. And the brand new hardwood may be slightly thinner. None the less, when a floor is fixed, you will want to sand it down do it is all flat and at precisely the exact same degree and possibly employ a blot to help combine the area that's been repaired. A display and re-coat can't attain this.

Prefinished Hardwood

Prefinished Hardwood includes a factory finish that's chemically different than every other type of memory or alternative endings implemented on site. Not only is it chemically distinct, but it is likewise applied differently. Prefinished Hardwood floorings finishes are somewhat harder than a website finished floor. Because of this, it is not recommended to screen and recoat. You can sand and refinish if desired. You will loose the micro beveled ages that are associated with a prefinished floor but none the less- you have the ability to sand, stain, and employ a polyurethane or oil/wax finish if you would like.

The Capacity to change the blot color

With a sand and refinish you're starting completely fresh with your raw hardwood. This means you'll have the choice of choosing a distinct stain color. Not only are you able to choose a different color, you can choose a different type of polyurethane like waterborne or acrylic based , you can decide whether to perform an oil/wax finish like Loba or Rubio. You have more choices with a complete sand and refinish.

Using a screen and re-coat, the only option would be to apply a new layer of memory. It will typically be a petroleum based or waterborne polyurethane- based on what was existing. When there's currently oil based polyurethane applied and you wished to apply a waterborne finish throughout the screening procedure, it can be done only as long as the existing oil based poly was down for 6 weeks. You can't display and re-coat with existing poly and switch to an oil end like Loba or even Rubio. The oil should penetrate in the hardwood and since a screen will not display down to the raw wood- this isn't an alternative.

With a sand and refinish and display and re-coat, you can select which sheen amount you would like your end to be( I.e. lace, glossy, or matte.)

Sanding and Refinishing requires substantially longer than screen and re-coat. While a sanding and refinishing job can take 5-7 days(based on the size of this project and drying times between every coat of stain and complete); a display and re-coat is typically finished in 1 afternoon. However, when you screen and re-coat, depending not he finish you use, you have to adhere to the drying times when employing the ground and placing furniture back. Though a display and re-coat can day 1 day to finish, if using an oil based poly for instance, you might need to wait 4 days before placing furniture on the floors.

Oxford Floor Sanding

Oxford Floor Sanding

Transform your home as you start with your wooden floors!

Transform your home as you start with your wooden floors!

When you are thinking about restoration in your office,house or apartment maybe one of the first think you think about is flooring! Most of our clients know how transforming is to change, paint or sand your old shabby wooden floors, and this is way they became our clients. A very natural material like wood is not easy to be kept in prime condition, but here our company appear with years of experience, modern technique and great experts. We have renovated many wooden and other types of floors by the years and we are proud with our customers’s smiles! You can give us a FREE call to discuss your project! Our skilled experts work with pleasure at wooden floor business and they really know how to achieve the floor vision of your dreams!

Our company provide customers with a services as covering all aspects of sanding,gap filling, painting and everything your floor needs! Contact us or visit our website and learn more!