Hardwood floors are one of the most beautiful additions you can make to your home. They are not only ooze class and style, but also serve the dual purpose of being functional. This makes them an ideal choice when you are building or undertaking any sort of home improvement project on your house. They dramatically improve your house, improving the overall appearance and raising the value of your home so it becomes easier to sell. They are also friendly for people with dust mite allergies, since unlike carpeting, dust mites cannot find a home or nest on wood. They really are an interior decorator’s dream addition.
These floors are a breeze to maintain. The cleaning process only requires that you have a soft brush, a mop and occasionally polish. Day to day cleaning is as easy as sweeping away the dust and debris, and you are only required to mop once a week. The mopping should be done along the grain to maintain the integrity of the wood. Polishing is done once in a while, also running along the grain. The main reason for this is that the polish acts as protective layer to prevent damage to the flooring from various things such as furniture scuffs and accidental spills. If you are considering upgrading your flooring to hardwood, here are the options that are currently popular around Australia;
Site Finished Floors
The proper definition of site finished hardwood is unfinished. It is brought from the lumber yard in its raw wood form, and then installed. Once it has been put into place, it is then sanded, a process which takes quite a bit of time to finish depending on the square meters of floor. The next step is texturing, which is done one of three ways; distressing, hand scrapping, or wire-brushing. The texturing process is laborious and can take more than a few days since every board is done by hand. After this, the desired colouring is added to the wood through a process called staining. An appropriate amount of time should be allowed to ensure the wood absorbs the staining agent and no moisture is trapped beneath the poly-finish.
This type of flooring is desired by most home owners because it gives them some form of autonomy into what the floors of their home should look like. It also scratches their DIY itch and makes them feel like a part of the process.
Pre-Finished Hardwood
With prefinished hardwood floors, all the processes of getting the flooring material ready for installation are done at the factory. This means that the only process that will be carried out at the house will be the installation. This type of wood is desired for two main reasons, with the first of which being that it is hassle free. Since you do not have to sand, texture, or stain the wood, time is saved. A typical installation takes about less than three days depending on the area being worked on. The other major benefit to pre-finished floors is that they last longer when compared to the site finished kind. They are between 7 and 10 times hardier since when it is finished in the factory about 6 or 7 coats of poly-finish which is then oven baked with Aluminium oxide.
Engineered Hardwood
This is a type of hardwood flooring made from several boards of both plywood and hardwood that are bonded together. Even though it is made using different layers, each one is laid facing a different direction in order to prevent the engineered flooring from warping and sagging when installed in humid or moist environments. They leave the highest quality of wood at the top to ensure that it has the appearance of solid hardwood. This type pf flooring is gaining popularity as an alternative to solid wood thanks to its two redeeming qualities. The main reason ties in to the construction process, which makes this type of flooring in most levels of the home including the basement once a protective moisture barrier is installed. The other reason is that this type of flooring, like all the other hardwood floors, is easy to maintain.
Custom Made
This is a relatively new concept in hardwood flooring in Australia, when compared to the better known options. What makes this an alternative is that you imagination comes into play when creating a custom wood floor. All you have to do is come up with an idea and if it is workable, then it can be actualized. This is the only type of flooring that lets you play around with what you can do, including specific installations like a basket weaving design or using eco-friendly material. This endeavour is going to cost you a pretty penny to set up, but the results will have both you and your guests impressed for ages.
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