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What is Laminate Flooring?
Laminate Flooring is made up of a high-density
base, with a photograph of wood on top, coated with an acrylic
lacquer. There is no real wood in a laminate board.
What is Wood Construction
Flooring?
Wood Construction
can also be known as real wood flooring, as the whole board
is made of different woods. The top layer is solid wood, with
a layer of wood pieces laid at 90 degrees to the top layer to
create stability. The bottom layer is laid the same as the top
layer.
What is Solid Wood Flooring?
Solid wood is exactly as it sounds,
one piece of wood from top to bottom.
What
is the difference between Solid Wood Flooring and Engineered
Wood Flooring?
Each has their specific uses and is dictated by your lifestyle
and specific needs.
Solid wood flooring can be used on the ground floor and above, but
not below ground floor, i.e. cellars etc. Solid wood should be in a moisture-controlled
environment. Solid wood strip or plank is nail down only and
requires a wood sub floor. Solid wood parquet can be glued to
a variety of sub floor materials.
Engineered wood flooring consists of a multi-ply, cross-laid
backing with a veneer top layer of a selected species. Engineered
wood flooring can be used on on any floor, above or below ground floor.
Engineered wood flooring is more dimensionally stable so it
can be installed in areas where solid wood is not compatible
due to moisture. Engineered strip, plank and parquet are floating floor applications, with one or two glue
down ranges over various sub floors. Engineered includes floating floors where the tongue
and groove are glued together, but the floor is not anchored
to the sub floor.
What
is "Floating Flooring"?
Floating
flooring is a flooring system laid down over a layer of underlay.
So while the individual planks are glued together, the individual
planks are not nailed or glued into the permanent floor. Instead,
the planks form a system that "floats" over the layer
of underlay. The underlay can be laid down over existing floors.
Should your Floating Hardwood
Flooring be installed under kitchen appliances?
In
the kitchen, you should install the flooring under kitchen appliances,
but be very careful when you slide the appliances over the floor.
We recommend covering the flooring with something such as a
spare rug to protect the flooring when you're moving the appliances.
Are there methods that make
it possible for ALL stains to be removed from Hardwood Floors
or is it sometimes impossible for some stains to be removed?
Most stains don't penetrate more than
the sanding will remove. However, if you have a severe water
stain, you may not be able to remove it.
How much of an irregularity
(drop or rise) can there be in an existing Sub Floor before
installing your Hardwood Flooring?
You
can have a drop or rise up to 3mm difference over 3 lineal metres.
Do Hardwood Floors increase
home value?
Absolutely. Engineered
and solid wood floors are recognized as the highest quality floors
available and would increase the value of your home.
I am installing a Underfloor System involving water piping set in concrete that would be my sub-floor. Can your products be used
with this type of floor heating system?
This
installation is okay as long as the tubes don't touch the wood.
You also would have to use a underlay vapour barrier
between the concrete and the floor.
Can your Hardwood Flooring
be installed over Linoleum and be used on stairs?
Hardwood flooring can be installed on
the stairs, however it can be slippery. You can install our
floating hardwood flooring over linoleum if the linoleum remains
sound and tightly glued to the original sub floor.
Is there a type of Hardwood
Flooring (e.g. maple versus oak) that is more durable or longer
lasting than another?
There
isn't much difference between hardwood flooring wood types.
The only negative on oak is it's a rather porous wood, but it
is a very hard durable wood, as are maple and beech. White oak
is slightly harder than red oak. Your choice will really comes
down to aesthetics. Bear in mind that any lacquer will provide a hardwearing surface that will protect the wood from any marks.
My concrete floor has a few
low spots in it and I was wondering what to use to solve this
problem?
Most building materials
suppliers have a concrete levelling product. We suggest levelling
any areas that are more than 3mm in variation. Make sure
you use the underlay with a DPM before installing over concrete.
Do you have to install your
Hardwood Flooring under existing cabinets?
Ideally,
the hardwood flooring would go under the cabinets. You can,
however, cut around the cabinets if removing the cabinets would
cause undue complications. Keep in mind, though, that if you
were ever to change the cabinets, you could have a problem if
the new cabinets weren't the same size as the old cabinets.
How do you keep the planks
in a Floating Hardwood Floor from separating during installation?
You should apply glue to the first three
rows and allow them to dry. Make sure they are good and tight.
Use a rubber mallet and a block of wood to put in the first
three rows. Let those rows dry, and then proceed with the rest
of the floor. With loc system floors this is not an issue, you can lay your floor straight away without waiting for any glue to dry.
Is it possible to install
Floating Hardwood Flooring over concrete?
Real
hardwood floor is designed exactly for this kind of application.
It requires an underlay with a DPM over the concrete floor.
The floating floor system can go directly over that.
If there were a crack in
the concrete, would it cause problems with a Floating Floor
installation?
We recommend
that any cracks in concrete be filled with concrete filler and
sealed prior to installation. If it's just a hairline crack
you can simply cover the crack with duct tape. Keep in mind
that underlay with a DPM must be installed prior to laying down
the floor.
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solid wood
flooring