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Archive for the ‘Finishing wooden floors’ Category
Wood Flooring and Conservatories
If you recently added a conservatory to your home, you are probably mulling over the options open to you for your new flooring. Conservatories can be used during any time in the year and by having a stone floor it can be quite cold underfoot. However, by having hardwood flooring with underlay, your feet will not feel the chilly whilst you are enjoying the sunshine in your conservatory or watching your children play in your garden. Conservatories are great spaces for relaxing, enjoying some time with friends or even to use as an inspiring office or study.
By its very nature, a conservatory is normally constructed principally in glass on at least three sides (and quite often overhead as well), which means that part of its pleasure is that it can be a real sun trap. While being a suntrap is a huge plus for its owners, the fact that conservatories are real suntraps can pose real challenges when it comes to wood flooring. Why? Because suntraps mean high temperatures at certain times of day and (often) the lack of insulation offered by glass can mean that temperatures can drop dramatically overnight.
It is this fluctuation in temperature which poses the greatest problem for wood flooring rather than either the highs or the lows themselves. That said, choosing wood floor for your conservatory means that you need to make your flooring decisions just a tiny bit more carefully than you might in some of the other rooms in the home. Hardwood flooring would look perfect in your new conservatory and it would add a natural look in the latest addition to your home. Not only is it really easy to clean and maintain, but it looks fantastic too. Hardwood flooring comes in a range of different colours depending on the wood that you decide to go with. Whether you choose maple, oak or ash, you will not be disappointed with how amazing your new hardwood flooring looks.
In order to have a professional finish on your new hardwood flooring, hiring a hardwood flooring specialist to lay your new flooring will ensure that it looks spectacular and with a high quality finish.
Please feel free to contact us with any queries on 08456 021781
Suitable Finishes For Hardwood Decking
Decking is a stylish way to update your garden for summer. Not only is it great for barbecues, it’s cost-efficient and practical, too. It’s also ideal for families with young children as the surface is safer than stone for playing on, and its natural texture will make it an attractive feature in any garden.
Hardwood decking is a real investment and if you’re planning on investing in this solution, it’s worth considering which finish will work best for your personal hardwood decking project. Every hardwood decking project has its own characteristics and it’s well worth considering every detail of your project before choosing which hardwood decking finish is most suitable for you.
There is little doubt that there is a direct correlation between how well maintained a deck is and its life expectancy, so it’s important to make the right maintenance decisions throughout the life of your deck. Regular cleaning with the right products is really important after your deck has been installed and it’s important to make sure you are familiar with any specific requirements of the deck you choose. The first of the maintenance decisions you’ll make for your deck involves the selection of a suitable finish for your hardwood decking.
Some of the most commonly used finishes for hardwood decking are:
- UV oil
- Teak oil
- Generic outside decking oil, or
- A stain of some sort
UV oil is the preferred option for anyone who wants to protect their decking against any sun or light related damage or discolouration. Typically, decking will grey with age and sunlight. If you want to avoid this greying, a UV oil will certainly help.Teak oil and generic outdoor decking oil on the other hand are commonly used finishes for decking and all types of garden furniture. Teak and generic outside decking oil preserve the natural look of your decking by penetrating the wood, providing nourishment and helping protect it against mildew and algae.
If you want to change the colour of your wood, you can choose a stain to achieve your desired colour. If you choose a combined stain and seal option, not only will you be able to achieve your colour goals, you’ll be able to seal your wood at the same time.
Our Osmo Wood Oils and finishes for Decking from Source Wood Flooring
 
 
Please feel free to contact us on 08456 021781 with any queries.
Wood in your kitchen:
When it comes to choosing a material for your new kitchen floor, more and more people are choosing to go this way forward. There are two types of wood flooring and one of which is very suitable for the kitchen or in general for any area that may experience damp or wet conditions.
The traditional type of wood flooring is called solid wood flooring and as the name suggests, the floor is made from complete solid wood. The alternative is a type of wood floor called engineered wood floor that looks precisely like solid wood, but uses MDF, Plywood and Softwood in addition to real wood. This alternative wood floor is suitable for the kitchen, as its construction can be made waterproof using the right coating. The floor can transform the look and feel of a room. The kitchen is a very important room in everyone’s house, and is often a key selling point. This is why it’s so important that your kitchen floor creates a good impression.
If your floor is old and worn, then it’s time to start considering renovation. Flooring is a very important aspect in a kitchen, and can be extremely costly to replace. If the existing flooring is in good repair, you might be able to restore it instead of installing new flooring. For instance, if your floor is wooden, floor sanding might be the simple and cost effective answer.
The huge number of choices and options available can be confusing and difficult to understand but our knowledge and experience can help you achieve the result you have in mind. Engineered wood flooring does not react to temperature changes or to humidity conditions as solid wood does. Each floorboard is made from three or four layers of syntactic material that are glued together and placed below a layer of real wood, commonly Oak or Walnut. The result is a wood floor that is not only attractive in its design, but also better suited for the kitchen.
Each floorboard is covered in a layer of transparent coating that acts to provide the floor with basic protection from foot traffic, wear and tear. In the kitchen area, a special layer is applied to make the floor waterproof by sealing it. This layer of coating is called lacquered and unlike other coatings such as oil that goes into the wood, lacquered will always sit on top thereby protecting the floor. From time to time you will need to top up the coating, a process that takes just a few minutes.
If you are thinking of kitchen design, wood flooring could be a flexible and stylish choice. Simply fit engineered wood flooring with the right coating and you will enjoy the new design for many many years. If you have ny quieries about your flooring for kitchens, please feel free to cinatct us on 0845 021781
Wood Panelling.
Although installing wood flooring on walls may seem like a crazy idea, there is no reason whatsoever that wood flooring can’t be used effectively and imaginatively to clad walls. If you’re looking for a natural and slightly unusual wood clad style for your room, wood flooring installed on your walls may well prove to be your perfect solution.
The effect of using wood flooring on walls can be really stunning and can add either a modern or traditional look to your room, depending on which species of wood you choose and how you choose to install it.
One important thing to bear in mind however, before even considering installing wood flooring on your wall, is that the base on which you’ll fit the floor is stable. The reason for this is that wood flooring must be staggered when it’s fitted, so it simply can’t be fitted over an unstable surface whereby the planks can’t be secured along the their entire length. Installing plywood on your wall before fitting the wood flooring to the wall makes an ideal, stable surface.
When it comes to installing the wood flooring on your wall, you’ll need to decide whether you want it to be installed vertically, horizontally or even diagonally.
If you need any help with your wood queries please feel free to callus on 0845 021781
Wood flooring in your home;
 When you invest in new engineered wood flooring, you might well be thrilled with the results. The aesthetic qualities of such offerings are second-to-none and they are also very practical, making them ideal for homes.
However, to ensure that your new floors remain in good condition and stand the test of time, it is important that you treat them with care. This way, you can rest assured you will get optimum value for money. Indeed, a wooden floor can last for the duration of a property if it is looked after.
One of the ways in which you can help ensure your wooden flooring remains in top condition is by engaging in regular sweeping. For best results, use a soft broom or a vacuum cleaner with a soft attachment. This stops any scratches occurring. You should consider doing this roughly every two to three days.
Meanwhile, it is also beneficial to periodically wash your floors with special cleaning products. Here at Source Online we sell a range of such items. It is important that you stick to the appropriate products, rather than using generic cleaning substances that may be harmful to your engineered wood floors. This type of washing can be conducted around once a week. Then, every three to four months, it is helpful to clean your floors with a special product that contains wax. This helps to rejuvenate the wood.
As long as you are sensible in your approach and heed the advice given to you, you and your fellow householders should enjoy many years with your flooring.
Please feel free to contact us on 08456 021781
Wood flooring in Spare rooms..
If you’re lucky enough to have the luxury of having a spare room in your property, it definitely pays to make the most of it. When you lead a very busy lifestyle like so many homeowners nowadays, it can be really tempting to neglect a spare room, or just use it as storage space for unused items- which isn’t likely to leave the room looking its best. Many homeowners now use a spare room in the house as a study to create a dedicated working environment within the home. This is becoming more common as a lot more people now work from home part, if not all of the time and find it near impossible to concentrate or keep files organised in other rooms.
There are also more young people going to university in this generation so a study can often be a vital area for research and writing essays where students will not be disturbed. Decorating a study is a little different to decorating other rooms in the home as it is important that work within the study is not disrupted However, if you’ve now decided that the time is right to bring your spare room back to life, you need to start with the décor basics- and one ‘basic’ which can make a huge difference to the look of a room is flooring.
Whether you wish to transform your spare room into a beautiful guest bedroom, a home office or a games room, the flooring which you choose is essential, and as it goes without saying that you will want flooring to look stunning and remain looking this way for a very long time, why not opt for wooden flooring?
Wooden flooring is available in a huge ranger of shades, designs and durability’s, so whether your spare room is likely to be used a little or a lot, the perfect flooring can be found with ease. Laminate floors have really taken off over recent years and it’s easy to see why. Practical, stylish and cost effective, laminate is ideal to use in a variety of locations. Laminate flooring is less prone to scratching than wood and is easy to clean with a damp mop. Unlike hardwood flooring, laminate is also suitable for use in areas which might come into contact with water, for example bathrooms and basements.
Please feel fre to contact us with any queries regarding your flooring on 08456 021781
Engineered Flooring: The Finished Look
When you invest in new engineered hardwood flooring you might well be thrilled with the results. The aesthetic qualities of such offerings are second-to-none and they are also very practical, making them ideal for homes. So what is engineered wood flooring. It’s laminate right? yes it is fabricated by laminating differnt wood layers together, but it has a solid wood layer on top.
So the hardwood layer is bonded to a stable softwood base which results in a very versatile product that looks and feels just like solid wood.
Why engineered wood flooring. Here are just some of the reasons to consider it:
1) It’s dimensionally stable, this means it is suitable for installation in areas with greater humidity fluctuations, underfloor heating being the most notable.
2) It uses much less of the raw resource than solid wood flooring
3) It has a virtually identical look and feel to solid wood
4) It can be refinished a number of times if required
However, to ensure that your new floors remain in good condition and stand the test of time, it is important that you treat them with care. This way, you can rest assured you will get optimum value for money. Indeed, a wooden floor can last for the duration of a property if it is looked after. Meanwhile, it is also beneficial to periodically wash your floors with special cleaning products. Here at Source Online we sell a range of such items.
It is important that you stick to the appropriate products, rather than using generic cleaning substances that may be harmful to your engineered wood floors This type of washing can be conducted around once a week. Then, every three to four months, it is helpful to clean your floors with a special product that contains wax.
This helps to rejuvenate the wood. As long as you are sensible in your approach and heed the advice given to you, you and your fellow householders should enjoy many years with your flooring.
Please feel free to contact us with any queries at Source Wood Flooring 01379 652613/08456 021781
Wood Types
If you are worried about the type of flooring that you must use, you need to understand that solid wood flooring is one of the best decisions that you will ever make. This is because of the fact that it is durable and last for more than a lifetime and future generations can use the same without the fear of any damage being caused to the same. All that is required is occasional care to ensure that wear and tear can be avoided. Definitely people do ask that if they want to go through a major renovation in the structure of the house, what will happen to the floor. Well, wooden floors can be easily renewed. The best part, keeping aside everything, is that the wooden floors increase the valuation of the property which is not possible in case of carpets.
As of today, wooden floorings are available in different types. This was not the situation a couple of decades ago. The increased number of varieties have actually helped the homeowners to get what they want desire. If you are worried about dirt and dust, you can go for strips of pre-finished wood. These strips can resist dust and dirt very well because of the fact that they are laminated.
Solid Wood: Solid wooden flooring is not meant for use anywhere and everywhere. This is because of the fact that solid wooden flooring will need a special layer beneath it so that the wood can be nailed to the layer. They are generally very strong in nature.
Unfinished Wood Floors: The wood surface is sanded and left bare, ready for any finish you wish. There is a vast range of coloured oils available in both matt and satin finishes to really make the floor your own.
Oiled Wood Floors: The wood is impregnated with layers of specially designed oils that sink deep into the layers of the wood, protecting it from dirt and dust. The oil is more or less transparent, unless you choose to go for coloured oil. Oiled floors require a little maintenance as they need oil re-applied every now and again, but are useful in that small areas of damage can be touched up without the need for major work.
Engineered Wood Flooring: This type of flooring when compared to solid wood has its own advantage. Engineered wood flooring does not require any kind of special base. They can be installed directly on the concrete or any other base similar to concrete. These are not affected by heat and moisture because they are layered wood.
Matt Lacquered Wooden Floors: Matt Lacquer gives the floor a very natural look very similar in style to an oiled floor. The main difference between oiled and matt lacquer is that matt lacquer does not require the same periodic maintenance. All that is required is a quick sweep and wipe over. However unlike oiled floors, you cannot do small touch ups.
Wood Floors With Rugs
Hard surfaces (tile, hardwood, laminate) are very popular flooring choices, but sometimes too much wood can leave the room looking bare and cold. A great way to counter this is to use an area rug over your hard surface flooring. Area rugs can add warmth, soften sound and create a focal point for your room. Many older homes feature wood floors throughout. While wood flooring helps to provide charm which wall to wall carpeting certainly lacks, they can leave your home feeling hard and uninviting.
Wall to wall carpeting is the common alternative to wood flooring for individuals who don’t prefer the upkeep and care required for their wood floors. However, carpet after years often needs to be replaced. If you have young children or frequent foot traffic in your home, your carpet will likely experience stains and show its age after time. Rather than carpeting your floors, why not consider rugs and runners?
A rug can help to make your family room feel more comfortable and inviting. Runners help to add style and a softer texture to your hallways. If you have wood flooring that you want to show off but enjoy the benefits of carpeting as well rugs and runners will help to bring warmth and to soften the feel of your wood floors. Rugs and runners help to soften the spaces in your home and provide a sense of warmth. There are such a wide variety of colours and styles available to suit everyone’s taste. Whether your home features oriental decorations, is more traditional or contemporary; a well-placed area rug can be a great anchor for the accessories in the room.
Area rugs fit well in front of a settee, under a coffee table, dining room table and the foot of the bed. You can add a spark to your room with fluffy shag or elegant wool. There are even water-resistant rugs that are designed for outdoor areas such as patios and lanais.
If you’d like a little more personal advice on the best hardwood flooring for your home – room by room – get in touch with our experts on 08456 021781
Wooden Flooring is Ideal for Entertaining Areas
You might love nothing more than entertaining guests in your home. There is something deeply satisfying about having friends and family around, whether it is for a simple cup of coffee, an evening meal, a full-blown party or anything else.
Not only do such occasions provide a chance to show off your lovely house or flat, they are also excuse to have a great time yourself. Of course, it is important that your abode is set up for having people over. One consideration you may benefit from taking into account is flooring. After all, this can make a huge impact on the aesthetics of space.
For example, if you generally entertain people in your living or dining rooms, you might want to consider investing in hardwood flooring. This can look stunning and help add an air of sophistication to your home. These days, there are many different products available, meaning you should be able to achieve the exact visual effect you are aiming for.
And it is not only in terms of looks that engineered hardwood flooring is perfect for entertaining. It is also highly practical. Because these surfaces can easily cope with spillages of food and drink, they can enable you to feel much more relaxed than if you had carpets. For example, if a guest waves his or her red wine glass around a little too enthusiastically, you needn’t panic. If the worst comes to the worst, you can simply wipe the floor clean in a matter of moments.
Here at Source Online, we specialise in engineered hardwood floors and so should have exactly what you are after.
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