Whether you are looking at building a new home or renovating an old home, the type of flooring that you use can dramatically affect the overall look of your home. From a cosy shagpile carpet, clean linoleum, sleek tiles or warm wood, the flooring you choose can change the feel of your home. It’s not just the type of flooring you pick, but within each flooring options is an incredible range of styles, textures and colours. You are probably aware of this when you think of carpeting, maybe even when you think of lino, but for many people when they start to look at timber flooring they have a set idea of what they should see, and are shocked when they realised just how many options and variety there are. Need inspiration? Click here.
In Melbourne there’s a saying that if you don’t like the weather, go inside, turn around, then go back out again, and it will have changed. Anyone who’s ever travelled into Flinders Street from the suburbs on the train will confirm the accuracy of this statement. So why should you settle for a flooring that won’t adapt to your changing needs?
Types of Timber Flooring
Often when people think of wood floors the two options are the cheaper chipboard floors designed to have a covering over them (but often just varnished in lower cost homes), or polished hardwood tongue and groove floors that were the standard flooring time pre-1900s. If you have ever renovated an older home and replaced the flooring cover you may have seen examples of the way flooring was treated over the years, from stained or painted wood, different underlays and rugs, to more modern wall to wall carpeting.
Visiting professional sites like the Timber Flooring Melbourne’s website will give you an idea on the different types of timber flooring available for modern renovators. Polish and varnish on a hardwood T&G may be the most commonly thought of wooden floor, but the possibilities stretch far beyond that these days. There are of course still a variety of T&G options, although the old redwood has more commonly been replaced by the faster growing pine, but beyond that there are also options that include wood laminates, engineered wood and bamboo.
Engineered Wood
A modern solution to an old flooring problem, engineered wood has come a long way from early production options which were limited to a layered plywood or a composite chipboard – although these are still options, the quality and use has increased to make for very attractive flooring options. You can check this link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engineered_wood to know more.
You will often see polished chipboard as a flooring option in trendy sporting goods stores and even high-end fashion retailers looking for a more “industrial” look but not wanting to go with the polished concrete and exposed wiring that became popular in the 00s.
Although engineered woods can be made of the same material that are traditionally used for flooring, because of the nature of the product they can also be made from other options such as bamboo, sugar cane or hemp. Providing an environmentally friendly solution that uses industry waste products and sustainable resources.
Because of the ability to create very strong wood alternatives engineered wood can also be used to make creative products, from curved ramps to spiralling slides.
No Cowboys Means No Clean-up
A final note on wood flooring – one reason to hire a professional flooring contractor over either doing it yourself or hiring your cousins’ mate who’s own renovation came up great, is not for the professional finish or even for the guarantee, but for the removal of the old carpet, lino or tiles. The joy of having a beautiful floor finally finished is often marred by the simple fact that there is a pile of rubbish sitting on your front lawn that now needs to be disposed of. People are often surprised at just how much rubbish is generated from a flooring renovation. More than simply a layer of carpet, there is often underlay, cement, nails and metal beading. It all doesn’t appear to take up much room when lying neatly on your floor, but it certainly takes up a large amount of space when it is sitting on your front lawn. So, before you sign up a contractor ask them what their policy is around rubbish removal. Thanks to Timber Flooring Melbourne for their expertise on this post!
