Oak flooring is incredibly durable, resistant and ideal for the family home. Low maintenance, cost-effective and available in a whole host of shapes, sizes and colours, hardwood flooring won’t just look great when it’s installed but will stay that way for years to come. Here at Just Wood, our oak flooring solutions are a class above, available in both solid hardwood and engineered hardwood specifications, with a seemingly endless range of colours and staining solutions, we can provide you with the flooring you need to create your perfect flooring at home.
Typically, oak flooring is split into two categories, solid hardwood flooring, and engineered hardwood flooring. Solid hardwood is taken directly from a single piece of wood, whereas engineered hardwood is usually made from a variety of plywoods, with a genuine piece of oak making up the surface layer. Here, we analyse the difference between solid and engineered hardwood solutions:
Simply made from a single piece of solid hardwood, this type of flooring is cut straight from the tree trunk, before being shaped into a plank of flooring by a specialist piece of machinery. Oak is a popular choice of wood for solid hardwood flooring, due to its strength and durability, and the ability to paint with your chosen finish, be it a solid colour, varnish or even an unfinished look, to match a particular stylistic choice. This means solid hardwood flooring is both traditional and timeless, and due to the pieces being customised to fit your space, installation is quick and easy. Let’s take a closer look at some of the key advantages and disadvantages of hardwood flooring:
Engineered flooring is the contemporary adaptation of solid wood, built to provide extra stability, made from multiple layers of wood. The top surface layer, known as the wear layer is made from hardwood materials, usually Oak, between 2.5-6mm in thickness, with the rest of the plank being made up of base layers typically constructed from either plywood. The base layer accounts for up to two-thirds of the plank of flooring and is designed to provide dimensional stability. For example, an engineered wood flooring plank with a thickness of 16mm will typically have a 4mm surface layer with the other 12mm being made of plywood. Here are some of the advantages and disadvantages of engineered wood flooring:
Engineered oak flooring is generally found in laminate flooring solutions, which is a cost-effective alternative to real hardwood flooring. Laminate flooring is available in many different types of wood, colours and finishes.
There are several different types of finish for your oak flooring, and results can be achieved in a number of ways. From staining to unfinished looks, there is a solution for everyone, no matter your design specifications. At Just Wood, we have a number of wood flooring solutions in a variety of materials, with several finishes to match your style. Our oak flooring solutions are available in unique finishes, so let’s take a closer look at some of the most commonly used finishes for oak flooring:
Smoking, (sometimes referred to as fuming), involves placing the oak into an enclosed environment in which ammonia is introduced into the environment. Typically a closed tank or sealed tent in which a small dose of ammonia is is introduced, the effect of the ammonia in the air changes the colour of the wood. Causing the tannins in the wood to come to the surface, the closer they get, the darker the wood will appear.
A near-perfect solution for flooring that has already been laid, the most common way of finishing your oak flooring is staining or varnishing. Remember to take care when choosing a stain, as it’s important to allow the natural grain of the timber to show through, so you’ll need a high-quality product to achieve the best results. Poorer quality stains can give a disappointing effect, offering little more than an underwhelming brown floor.
A textured finish is achieved by brushing your oak flooring with a wire rotary brush. A light brushing will result in a small amount of texture, whereas a heavier brushing will ensure the texture is deeper and more apparent. The brushed finish will remove the softer grains and leave the surface with a textured finish with an authentic and rustic aesthetic. Textured flooring provides authenticity to your oak, compared with the shiny effect demonstrated by oak laminate flooring and lacquered finishes.
Using a hard-wax oil on the surface for protection, oil finished flooring produces a natural-looking surface without the shine, to create a smooth, authentic finish. Hard-wax oil finishes can also be brushed to reveal the harsher grains of wood underneath, thus aiding the natural appearance even further, providing a genuine, classic finish.
Not dissimilar to applying a layer of varnish to an oak flooring surface, a lacquered finish will protect the surface and provide a glorious shine. Lacquered finishes are available in a variety of styles, from matt to high gloss, providing a choice of strength, durability and style.
Beeswax is a natural way of finishing wood furniture. It can be used on virtually every type of wood used for furniture but is most effective on hardwoods such as oak flooring. It will create a perfect, highly attractive finish which also serves as a protective layer that will help to keep your flooring looking its best no matter what. Completely natural and free from any nasty chemicals which can often be found in household products, such as polishes, beeswax can be used very economically as only a small amount is needed to gain the desired effect. Capable of bringing out the fine grain of the wooden furniture and achieving a beautifully tactile silky smooth finish, beeswax is an increasingly popular choice for oak finishing.
An increasingly popular choice for many consumers, unfinished oak flooring is a great way of achieving natural-looking, authentic imperfections in your wood. Rustic, distressed or reclaimed woods often come with watermarks, oil stains, runs in the finish and other imperfections, whereas with a natural finish, these imperfections will happen naturally over time.
At Just Wood, our skilled team has decades of experience. Whether you need your old wood flooring refurbished or you’re looking to transform your home with wooden floorboards, we’ve got you covered with our comprehensive solid wood flooring services. As oak flooring specialists we stock a wide range of shades, finishes and styles of oak flooring to suit every requirement and taste. Don’t forget, at Just Wood we offer a professional installation service, so you can rest assured knowing your beautiful oak flooring will be fitted by experts. Contact our team today!