Making hardwood floors a success

Whether it’s a residential interior, or a commercial installation, hardwood floors add an air of class, as well as structural strength. They are said to lend a sense of permanence to an interior and remain the most popular flooring choice for those who value tradition the most. That said, modern construction is embracing wooden flooring. With the emergence of super engineered  products, a consumer is assured of durability and affordability.

Benefits of hard wood flooring

Hardwood floors are easy to install. Quality hard wood floors are specifically engineered to ensure a uniform and stable fit.

The choice between finished and unfinished hard wood floors is an important factor in this, of course.

Hardwood floors are elegant and aesthetic and give a warmth and beauty to any room; hard wood floors offer warmth, beauty, value of wood and never go out of style. They are also said to enable a look of spaciousness wherever they are installed.

This type of flooring is also durable and strong. High quality hard wood floors that are kiln-dried, manufactured, installed and finished to certain standards can last for generations. The hard wood floors are tough, hard-wearing, and have long term durability. They can stand up to active workspaces and heavy feet traffic. Suntups have an engineered wood product that guarantees the consumer a five year period free of humid effect. In Africa, the weather is extreme on both ends. It can be dry and hot for a long period, and then switch to a short period of total wetness. This can result in expansion and contraction respectively. The ordinary solid wood is not stable in such conditions but the engineered one is.

With solid wood flooring, it generally expands and contracts a lot more than a Suntups Super-Engineered™wood floor, this can cause havoc or even failures with your flooring. The Suntups Super-Engineered™wood flooring is constructed to be dimensionally stable, in fact up to 70% more stable. The Suntups Super-Engineered™ floors are made with the same thickness re-surface area as a solid, so if the thickness below the tongue is a ply or solid wood it is still just thickness but with the ply you get stability and safety and 60 percent less exotic wood is wasted simply on thickness.

Good quality hardwood floors are a good investment because they add value to property. It is a great long-term investment and can actually become a strong resale argument, exceeding the initial installation cost of the floors. It also enables a faster sale and brings higher prices at the time of resale.

Hardwood floors offer variety of choices in appearance. There are many colors, styles, stains and species available. An addition is a choice in the available finish that is pre-finished and unfinished hard wood floors. No matter how diverse and unique your needs are, there is always an option for you with hard wood floors.
A properly installed hardwood floor never gives you hollow sounds or vibrations and is easy to keep and maintain.

These floors are a healthy choice for interior environments as they have no fibers, grout lines or embossing that can trap dust, pollen, particles, animal dander and allergens that occur with carpets. They are the best choice of flooring with allergy sufferers and improve air quality. Hardwood floors are ageless. They are always trendy and modern. When other floors will begin to look tired and worn, your hard wood floors will still look beautiful. And your hard wood floors become more valuable as time goes by. Also keep in mind that unlike carpeting and vinyl, hard wood floors can be refinished rather than replaced when the finish has worn out.

Hardwood Flooring Installation Options

At Suntups, one can get a wide variety of wood engineered products for flooring. The bottom line is to avail a floor that will be a good value for money spent. The solid wood top layer has a thickness of about 3-5mm. this layer of wood can be made from any type of wood. The wood is glued together to make a firm plank. The core of plank is made of plywood.

Plywood is the most common for the core and usually consist of 3 to 5 or more layers of plywood that’s glued together, the grain of each layer runs in the opposite direction and makes engineered wood more stable and able to be installed as a floating floor. A 3 layer system is also available where the core of the board is made up of strips of cheaper hard wood and has the same properties as the plywood core. To finish the board off, a layer of ply or backing is applied to the bottom of the board.

Suntup options

The cut options below is mostly a decorative decision, use this to establish what type of pattern you would prefer for your new wooden floor. The Rotary Cut is sliced or peeled from the log with a sharp blade while the log rotates, this produces a bold or busy grain exposing the logs growth patterns. This cut is usually only available up to 1mm thick. There is also the Quarter or Verticle Cut. This cut is less common in South Africa and usually the most expensive and can be done by using a sharp blade or saw, this type cut through the growth pattern and exposes a linear type of pattern on the plank.

The Plain or Horizontal Cut is a popular cut and exposes the grain and growth rings but not as much as the Rotary cut. This cut or saw is usually available in thicknesses of over 3mm.

Pre-Finished Hardwood Flooring

Pre-finished hardwood flooring is one of the newer trends in hardwood flooring. Its unique characteristics make it a perfect fit for some and a tight squeeze for others.
Pre-finished hardwood flooring is much like any other hardwood with a few exceptions. Each pre-finished board comes finished from the factory; they also are generally beveled on either two or all sides. They are available in many of the same widths and lengths as traditional hardwood, though longer boards are harder to find and more expensive.

The biggest difference between traditional and pre-finished hardwood flooring is in the purchase and installation. Once the floor is done, the two are very similar in appearance and maintenance. The purchase price of pre-finished flooring is higher than that of traditional hardwood. On the other hand, labor costs will be much lower when using pre-finished boards, as they can be installed very quickly. Since they come sealed straight from the manufacturer, the floor is ready to go right after it is put in; after conventional hardwood is installed, it still needs to be sealed.

Those looking to match an existing hardwood floor should definitely use traditional hardwood. It can be very difficult to match pre-finished wood with wood that is already present. If you are trying to replace part of a floor or if you want cohesion between a new floor and an old one, traditional hardwood is the way to go. Hardwood flooring is undeniably attractive and is a very desirable material when buying, appraising, or selling a property. Those looking to upgrade their existing floors to hardwood will find that there are many options to consider in their purchase.