Interiors
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By Katherine Sorrell
A Guide to Wooden Floors Laminate or solid, engineered or reclaimed, timber flooring is a classic choice that works in every room of the house. It’s less cold and hard on the feet than stone or tiles, better at repelling stains than carpet and is endlessly good-looking, whether in a period property or a new home. Preparing for a new timber floor Timber floors can be fitted anywhere in the house, on solid or suspended floors, although – because wood expands and contracts according to humidity – they’re often not advised for bathrooms or other wet areas. In this case, it’s best to stick to highquality engineered wood. Insulate the sub-floor before you start, and consider what effect the new flooring will have on your final floor level – which may affect thresholds and require doors to be cut across the bottom so they will open and close. When fixing the boards down, make sure to avoid any pipes and wires that run beneath the existing floor. To keep your final floorcovering pristine, avoid fitting it until all the ‘wet’ or dirty building work is complete. What type of timber floor? Laminate floorboards are usually made from a resin-impregnated decorative paper surface layer
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(with photographs of real wood), bonded to a thin MDF or chipboard core. With cheap versions it can be easy to spot the pattern repeat , and they’re not especially durable, but more expensive brands are very tough and come with long guarantees. Solid wood is exactly that – whatever type of wood it is composed of goes all the way through the board, so it looks and feels entirely natural and can be sanded again and again. Engineered wood (sometimes called multi-layer or, confusingly, laminated) is made from layers of solid timber or a veneer of solid timber on top of MDF, plywood, chipboard or softwood, with a balancing veneer beneath. Most are made up of either three or five layers, cross-bonded for greater stability. A top layer of at least 5mm allows for limited sanding if necessary. The advantage of engineered boards over solid ones is that they shouldn’t warp, gap, cup or bow. Reclaimed boards have a beautiful patina that simply can’t be replicated, and are the environmentally friendly option. They don’t come cheap, as they often require work to remedy problems such as woodworm, ingrained dirt and stains, dents and splits, variations in thickness or colour, broken
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