Wooden Flooring

Introduction

We use a wood/laminate flooring in the majority of the sets we produce. It is a common choice as a flooring material and can come in various styles, colours, cuts, and species
With hard wood flooring no two trees are identical, therefore, no two finished floors are exactly alike
Wood floors normally fall into 3 categories, traditional, contemporary, or rustic
Narrow and shorter planks will make your room appear deeper and wider, while wider and longer planks will have the reverse effect. Wide planks give the illusion of a larger space. The fewer joins there are, the less busy the room will appear. .

Expansion Gap

You should leave a 10mm gap between the flooring and the walls on all sides. The same applies to other solid objects such as doorframes, heating pipes, stoves and radiators that are flush with the floor and furniture.
This free centimetre won’t be visible later because it will be covered by skirting boards or transition profiles.

Direction

As a general rule, make sure to lay your floor in the same direction as the main light source in a room and in the same line as the main entrance to a room
Strip flooring can be installed in any direction in any room, usually it should run parallel with the longest wall

Layout

Staggered Flooring Layout

For the Standard staggered floor we use most often:

The rows of planks should have a staggered, appearance so that seams never line up in adjacent rows.
The end joint of adjacent rows should be staggered by a distance equal to 2 or 3 times the width of the plank.
6 inches the most common minimum spacing for 2- and 3-inch hardwood boards

Standard Floor Layouts

Key Points:

Laminate

Laminate flooring is a compressed fibreboard plank, covered with a photographic image of wood with a protective overlay. Laminate flooring is only an imitation of solid wood
It has the appearance of real wood due to the accurate photograph of wood on its surface. Because the same photograph is used for many planks you can have repeating patterns across the planks
At a distance, these floors can look fairly realistic, however the fake nature becomes apparent when you get close to the floor
The planks interlock at the edges, forming a solid floor and joints are hardly visible

Sizes & Fitting

Laminate flooring is typically available in 7-mm to 12-mm thicknesses
Laminate planks vary from less than 5 inches to 7 or more inches wide
The flooring should be staggered anywhere from 6 to 12 inches or more
Avoid placing planks with identical wood grains next to each other
You should leave a 10mm gap between the laminate flooring and the walls on all sides
You'll also need to finish off edging and molding with matching products. These finishing touches, particularly where the flooring meets another flooring type, are important for the overall appearance of the room

Engineered Wood

Engineered wood floorboard consists of 3/4 layers of wood, glued together to create a plank. It has a real-wood veneer on top, its construction has a relatively thin layer of hardwood bonded over a premium-quality plywood.
Engineered wood is a much more convincing replica of solid hardwood than Laminate as the surface is genuine hardwood.
Individual planks can come much wider and longer than typical hardwood floors. The widest floor you can get with engineered is 10”
Engineered hardwood flooring has slightly beveled edges, which creates slight grooves between boards, while solid hardwood flooring generally has very tight seams between boards.

Sizes & Fitting

It comes in a variety of different thicknesses that range from 10-20mm. Typically around 14mm thick. It has a real-wood veneer of around 4mm thick on top,
Width ranges from 2 1/4 to 7 inches Length- 12-60 inches. The maximum length recommend for engineered flooring can be installed is 7m in any direction.
Engineered wood flooring is generally installed in one of three ways – it’s either glued down, floated over the existing flooring or secured with hidden nails.
You should leave a 10mm gap between the laminate flooring and the walls on all sides
You'll also need to finish off edging and molding with matching products. These finishing touches, particularly where the flooring meets another flooring type, are important for the overall appearance of the room
Use the last panel in the row to fit and then use the off-cut to begin the next row, creating a staggered pattern,

Solid Wood

Solid hardwood floors are made of planks milled from a single piece of timber. Wood is a completely natural product so every every plank will be unique.
Solid wood flooring comes in long planks. It generally has very tight seams between boards
Solid wood flooring boards tend to be narrower than engineered hardwood flooring
Solid hardwood comes in pre-finished and unfinished boards. The most common wood used is Oak.
It comes in 4 different grades according to how it looks. The grades of wood are: Prime, Select, Natural and Rustic. Prime grade solid wood flooring has only a very small number of small knots. As you move down the list of grades, the size and number of knots in the wood increases.

Sizes & Fitting

Solid Wood flooring is typically 18-20mm thick.
Narrow plank widths can be anywhere from 70mm – 100mm. Medium width flooring is anything between 125mm – 200mm.
Solid Wood boards come in a range of sizes. There’s no set length, it’s all random.
Boards should be no longer than 7 feet, and no shorter than 1 foot. The average length is between 3 and 3.5 feet
The correct expansion gap for wood flooring is 10-12mm. It must be completely maintained around the perimetre of the floor, which must not touch anything along the edges.
The second row should be started with the section cut off the board at the end of the last row you laid. Stagger the end joints of the adjacent rows by around 30cm.
The planks should be mixed before being layed to avoid areas of dark and light planks as they can look patchy and out of place. Avoid Grouping similar colours and grain pattern.

Reclaimed Wood

Reclaimed wood flooring is made from timber that’s salvaged from old buildings and structures then re-purposed to create flooring.
The ageing process over time enhances the natural hues of the wood. It is very characterful with a variety of rings and knots
It has cracks ,splits, scuffs, marks, and dents in reclaimed wood as part of the natural ageing process.
It is truly unique flooring, no two pieces of reclaimed wood are the same, it has a very tight grain
Oak is the popular choice for reclaimed wood due to its finishing and colouring choices
It is installed the same as most solid and hardwood flooring. Glue and Nails are the standards with Reclaimed Wood

Sizes & Fitting

Reclaimed Flooring comes in random lengths ranging from as short as 30cm to well over 150cm
The boards should be installed in a completely random fashion to create a really natural and authentic looking floor
Stagger the end joints of the adjacent rows by around 30/40cm for variation in the overall look

The boards either connect using a click system or the tongue and grooves are glued together
Plank floors usually work best when laid down the longest wall length

The correct expansion gap for wood flooring is 10-12mm. It must be completely maintained around the perimetre of the floor, which must not touch anything along the edges

Parquet Wood

Parquet flooring is formed of short wooden blocks or strips arranged into a geometric pattern; usually herringbone or basket weave. Parquet tiles creates an almost 3D appearance.
Parquet wood blocks have fixed dimensions, so they can be laid in intricate geometric patterns.
Parquet flooring can be made from both solid, and engineered wood
In addition to a main pattern, most parquet floors have a different decorative border
Prime grade parquet – no knots, and more even colour.
Mixed or Selected Grade Parquet– small knots up to 20mm, normal colour variation
Rustic grade Parquet – any size knots, natural colour variation.

Sizes & Fitting

Parquet tiles come in a few common sizes: 9 by 9, 12 by 12, and 19 by 19 inches
The total thickness of tiles typically ranges from 5/16 inch to 3/4 inch
Parquet flooring is different than ordinary wood flooring where wooden planks, usually wider that 10cm and longer that 1m are used.
The patterns must be straight and symmetrical along the edges
It is started from the middle point of the room and runs parallel to the longest walls.

The correct expansion gap for wood flooring is 10-12mm. It must be completely maintained around the perimetre of the floor, which must not touch anything along the edges

Parquet Flooring Styles

Parquet flooring is usually installed in larger rooms since this option could be a bit too busy looking and overwhelming for a smaller space.

Herringbone and Chevron are the most popular designs,

Herringbone is created by laying the wooden planks in rectangles, each one of them placed at a 90-degree angle for this broken zig-zag effect.
Chevron planks are cut at an angle creating an arrow point. Similarly to herringbone, chevron can be laid diagonally or parallel to the wall.

The most common woods used in parquet floors are oak and walnut

Borders

It can be fitted with a border or without. The border will usually be in the same tile just fitted horizontally which can be made up from a single or double block of the same tile
The border is in the same wood type. It can however be longer tiles or shorter tile depending on preference
Metallic trims can also be added to distinguish the tile and the border tile, this is a thin metal trim that is fitted in-between the boards

Sealants/ Beading

Caulk

Silicone sealant or caulk needs to be applied to fill the gap between the floor and skirtingboard
Skirting boards shouldn't have any contact with the floor and should be fitted after the flooring has been installed
You apply this along the floor line where the skirtingboard meets the wood.
Usually caulk is a colour tinted to match your wood floor

Scotia/Beading

Scotia is a decorative and practical used with solid wood, engineered wood and laminate flooring. It has a neat finish and covers the expansion gap.
It is a decorative moulding used to cover the gap without removing the skirting. It is fixed to the skirting board and over the top of the flooring around the perimeter of the wall.
You would use Scotia if you were not putting your skirting on top of the wood floor. Scotia comes in concave style and the other style is convex which is called beading.

Shadow Gaps

As wood shrinks and expands through the seasons and years, there will always be a small gap between floors and skirting boards. We usually represent this with a 1 or 2 mm gap between flooring and skirting depending on contrast and lighting.

Wood Filler

A wood filler will be needed to fill in gaps between solid wood floor boards.
Wood filler typically comes in beige colour (similar to the colour of unstained wood) and you can paint/stain to match the colour of the woods floor
The gap should be filled to sit flush with the floorboard

Transition Strips

Whenever two different types of floors meet, there must be a smooth transition whether they are at the same level or not. A T-Molding is a transition piece that covers the gap between the floors of two rooms, usually a doorway
It has a slight beveled or rounded top. It has a protruding edge centered on the bottom that fills the gap between two different floors in a doorway
They can come in variety of materials and finishes including metal, wood, rubber & plastic
They can range in size from 2.5-8mm in width
If you're using a single kind of flooring throughout and there are no height differences you don't have to install a T-Molding.

Common Types Of Transition Strips

A transition strip covers the expansion gap for each material between rooms and floors. We need to add the visual break provided by a transition for realism.
A useful guide can be found here:

https://www.gradus.com/files/webfm/uploaded/Downloads_PDF%20Brochures/Brochure%20-%20Floor%20Trim%20Collection.pdf

Wood & Tiles

Transition Strips need adding when wood floor meets a tiled floors, they can be slim strips and be hardly noticeable
They sit flush with the tile and wood floor
They can come in metal, wood, plastic or rubber. The stylist will specify the type wanted

Finishes

Lacquered Finish

A lacquer is a bit like a modern day varnish and is applied to a wood floor as a way of protecting the floor giving it a glossy shine
Lacquer comes in high gloss, gloss and matt finishes but usually a lacquered finish provides a glossy smooth look and feel to the wood floor. It has a strong reflective finish
Lacquer is not very forgiving and will not hide rough wood, gouges or imperfections
Lacquer effectively sits on the top of the wood and doesn’t sink in like oil does.

Oiled Finish

An oiled finish accentuates the natural wood grain and provides a natural matt look
It is used when you’re looking for a natural looking finish for your wood floor. This solution will give you a natural matt look.
Oiled floor finishes often come with a brushed effect, which serves to open up the grain of the wood even more
Oil is used on solid wood and engineered flooring

Painted Floorboards

Painted white floor usually have matt finish as chalk paint is used which is known for being relatively thick and opaque
There are hardly any reflective properties with painted floors and appears as one flat colour
Grain & texture is minimal in appearance
White floor can really brighten a room and maximises light

Whitewashed Floorboards

Whitewashing will highlight the grain of natural timber. The effect of white washing is an uneven, almost worn looking surface colour. It should have a worn and weathered look
This floor should have a low sheen and even matt finishes
Whitewashing looks completely different depending on the wood. Pine wood is particularly suited for whitewashing

Antique Wood

Distressed wood uses a number of tools and techniques are used to distress the wood finish. This includes etching, embossing, scraping, colour washing and wire brushing.
It is weathered and has a textured effect, including dents, scratches and nail holes, that give the floor an antique look and feel. Distressed hardwood flooring is available in both solid hardwood and engineered wood.
Reclaimed wood flooring is unique, giving it character that wouldn't be achievable with new flooring. Wood comes in a mix of warm browns and some greys, from light to dark with a stronger character then new oak

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