Engineered Wood Flooring is a trend
When it comes to high quality flooring, engineered wood flooring is fast becoming a trend in Australia as well as in many European countries. In Australia, the preferred type flooring for public buildings and residential spaces is engineered floors which reflect the beauty of European style construction that many Australians have come to appreciate. A quick peek into many of Australia’s most attractive restaurants, cafes, and other commercial establishments will show that engineered timber flooring is often the chosen material used for conventional construction methods of basic walking surfaces. Polished to perfection, the striking characteristics of engineered timber flooring is something that you’ll really pause to admire!
Many people tend to think that timber floor is on the pricier end of the scale, but the truth could not be farther from this. While carpeting is undoubtedly the cheaper option, high quality engineered wood flooring will outlast it by decades, is environmentally friendlier, and lends an extra degree of sophistication to your home!
Environmentally friendly product and sustainable choice
Planning for a property renovation will likely include several ideas on how you can approach the task of reinventing your flooring, with the usual options being tiles, carpets, and timber flooring. Among the three, your best bet will always be timber flooring. Engineered wood flooring is not only trendy but also belongs to an industry that is carbon positive. It is less greenhouse gas emission and longer service life. Choosing engineered timber flooring for your home is the more environmentally conscious choice with greenhouse gas emissions being five times lower compared to ceramic tile floors, considered a renewable resource, and promotes long lifetime usage (with the standard thickness of 15mm) compared to the alternatives.
At Aspire Floors, we use engineered timber planks of a standard 15mm – 20mm height that comes with a material warranty of 25 years. Interested to check out our product range? Click here to view the entire catalogue.
Engineered Wood Flooring is an ideal solution
There are 5 primary advantages that you will enjoy in using engineered wood flooring for your property renovation projects:
Easy to install. It’s saving time. A lot of time!
Timber flooring may sometimes come with some concerns when it comes to maintenance, particularly keeping the wood plank’s surface looking its best. In consideration of this, engineered timber flooring comes pre-finished for convenience. Engineered wood floors normally don’t require sanding or finishing once they have been installed. Should your timber flooring come without a pre-finish, you need to wait around three days for it to cool down post-installation prior to sanding and coating. Having said this, it is definitely much more time- and money-saving to simply choose engineered wood flooring instead.
In addition, the installation process of engineered timber flooring is so much simpler. This is because engineered timber flooring does not have to go through acclimatisation unlike solid wood timber. With solid wood timber flooring, manufacturers may sometimes recommend that these undergo acclimatisation processes and/or be stored for around 7-10 days before installation. With timber flooring, you’ll get to skip this entire process which will save you time on property renovations or when building new floors.
Better stability and durability
Another advantage of using wooden flooring is that it is highly tolerant of humidity and a host of temperature conditions. The construction design of engineered timber board are in a layered manner, which makes it even more stable and less vulnerable to a host of changing conditions. These design considerations ensure that one will not have to worry about warping or other types of damages to engineered timber flooring even after subjecting it to harsh conditions. Meanwhile, solid wood timber are traditionally cut from blocks or single materials, which make it less sturdy compared to its engineered timber counterparts. Wood easily responds to environmental changes, so any drop or rise in temperature or humidity will mean that these boards will react accordingly – and often, in ways that will compromise its integrity. Engineered timber flooring is known for its flexible, stable, and durably characteristics after it has already been installed.
Better performance on sounds absorbing with Engineerd Wood Flooring
Multi-level apartments adhere to building codes that have specifics when it comes to sound absorption and acoustics. In the Building Code of Australia (BCA), the rule is that there should be no more than 62 decibels of noise in between floors. This requirement can easily be met by implementing an acoustic underlay right onto an apartment’s concrete slab in order to absorb sound. The timber flooring will be laid out right on top of the underlay.
While this is the requirement of the BCA, other governing bodies in other states may also dictate their own specific decibel requirements, which is why it is important to check with the body corporate you are working with before proceeding with the work. Because there will be cases wherein a variety of acoustic solutions will be required, it is best to stick to floating products that are already pre-finished such as engineered flooring, laminate, or bamboo. Parquetry and solid timber flooring may also be considered, provided that one exercises the required additional attention to detail as well as specific installation methodologies. Compared to the rest, timber flooring solutions come with more environmental benefits, are much lighter compared to tiles, score higher in fire ratings over carpets, and are healthier to have in residential spaces in general.
Value-added product when renovating your property
By now, we have already established that timber flooring can be used for longer periods of time and are more durable than other types of flooring if it is well-maintained. However, any landlord knows that not all of his tenants will adhere to the proposed care and maintenance of timber flooring – no matter how often this is stressed. The good news is even if tenants fall short of consciously taking care of their timber flooring, you can still expect it to perform better, last longer, and look more well-kept than carpets. Thus, it is a good decision to invest in engineered timber flooring for your property because it is more worth it in the long run.
Furthermore, the AFTA’s research on data from real estate agents reveal that property values can be 3% higher if timber flooring is used, making it a lot easier to sell at a good price.
Beautiful and multi-coloured surface to choose
Timber floors that have a lighter hue are the popular choice of flooring in Australia, according to the ATFA. This is because such an aesthetic quality translates into easier clean up, and there are a lot of timber species to choose from. This gives a customer more freedom in decorating their home, starting with the flooring. Colours can be matched according to one’s preference or type of furniture, walls, and so much more.
At Aspire Floors, we provide our clients with a wide range of light-coloured timber flooring so you can easily find the best match for your home and your personal taste. See our product range here.
As previously mentioned, engineered flooring comes with a tastefully decorative layer formed out of solid timber that’s bonded on top of plywood, making it more stable and helps to maintain the attractive appearance as well as characteristics that accompany solid timber flooring. Engineered timber floors can also come with marked differences in how they are constructed and can be used in a number of ways: laid out as floating floors, glued right onto a subfloor to act as an overlay, or fixed as structured flooring. Need more information or have some questions? Please feel free to get in touch with our professionals over CONTACT US .
Our product range is from European oak timber and our service covers all of Sydney regions.