THE HISTORY OF WOOD FLOORING

ROOTS: WHEN DID WOOD FLOORING BEGIN?
Wood has been used as flooring for more than 400 decades. As a flooring material, it had been shaped by the challenges it had to confront, but there are lots of reasons why it’s stood the test of time.

THE COLONIAL ERA (1607-1780)
The humble beginnings of timber flooring were in the kind of thick tight-grained planks roughly cut from the abundant ancient forests of America during the Colonial Era. These enormous trees (mainly old-growth Pine) were laboriously cut and fashioned by hand into very large rustic floorboards which were left unprotected by any finishes.

There were early efforts to complete wood with wax out of the mid-1700s. This soft finish managed to withstand water and wear, but it needed to be frequently reapplied since it wore off so quickly.

BAROQUE ERA (1625-1714)
The Baroque Era saw the coming of timber flooring in European houses. Ordinarily, these were put very simply in houses that previously had beaten ground floors.

Originating in the homes of French nobility, a new type of floors appeared in Versailles, France, during this moment. Skilled craftsmen hand cut small pieces of various coloured hardwoods into artistic geometric patterns. These complex Parquet floors designs became popular with society’s elite circles. The craftsmen began experimenting with finishes and stains, and these elaborate fashions became trendy with the very wealthy, which makes a considerable mark on the world of interior design.

VICTORIAN AND EDWARDIAN ERAS (1837 — 1914)
During the Victorian Era, technological advances of the industrial age introduced machines which elegant the timber milling process. This result in a considerable increase in wood production.

The industrial revolution and the need for greater housing resulted in an increased demand for timber flooring materials. Oak was broadly available and became popular after due to its strength, workability, and natural beauty. Alternatives were still restricted to local species of shrub currently, and since hardwoods became harder to supply, softwoods were sometimes used as a less expensive choice.

The fashion of European parquet floors spread across the Atlantic and could be found in a few of the most lavish and lavish homes.

Varnishes found from the mid-eighteenth century came into use on wood flooring soon after. Penetrating varnish oils such as Tung and Linseed oils became more popular about 1865.

Wood milling technology progressed quickly, bringing higher quality goods to market. Vast improvements in the timber flooring arrived between 1885-1898, with the development of machines called the side-matcher and the end-matcher. These machines allowed mills to add tongue and groove joints to floorboards. This meant that they can be fitted more quickly and efficiently than previously and concealed nail holes to make a much more uniform, refined appearance. It soon became the most common domestic floor in the Edwardian Era. Herringbone patterns with membranes and tongue also became more common.

A broader variety of national hardwoods were now being used, and much more exotic species began to be imported to their aesthetic and structural properties.

THE 1920S

After controlling the residential floor marketplace centuries, hardwood floors eventually had any competition from linoleum and cork from the 1920s. These brand new floors stuff immediately became popular because they’re inexpensive, easy to fit, and simple to keep.

THE 1930S
From the 1930s improvements in protective endings, like the debut of Polyurethane, higher durability of timber flooring. Because of this, timber continued to battle increasingly hard competition from newer products on the marketplace. On the other hand, the tendency for more economical resilient flooring lasted.

POST-WORLD WAR II
Following World War II, rugs became a much more affordable option because of mass production of synthetic fibres. Carpets were currently a prevalent option. This marked the start of a thirty-year decline in the use of timber floors in national properties.

Polyurethane pushed apart poor wood finishes such as natural shellacs and varnishes. It supplied a hard, protective surface which made wood floors much easier to clean and maintain.

Unfortunately, the standing of wood flooring as a luxury alternative was tarnished due to widespread corner-cutting in the wood flooring industry because it fought hard to endure. Pay cuts for flooring fitters led to a fall in the standard of workmanship, especially in parquet floors. This damaged the public perception of a hardwood floor.

1980-1990S
Luckily, the mid-80s brought a timber flooring revival, and customers rediscovered the classic warmth and natural beauty of wood.

Generation improvements as well as the availability of engineered flooring increased the affordability and flexibility of hardwood floors. It also made it a much more sustainable option. Pre-finished floorboards also gained popularity, allowing clients to prevent the hassle and costs of onsite finishing.

TODAY
Technology in the world of wood floors has come on leaps and bounds over time. It’s currently an extremely versatile flooring choice, and there are an infinite number of texture, tone, and style choices available.

Chaunceys’ range of engineered timber flooring is constructed using 6mm solid wood veneer that’s secured to a core board made from high-grade birch plywood. It is a really stable board acceptable for any area, such as areas with underfloor heating.

BESPOKE FINISHING
Employing innovative manufacturing methods, we could make wood flooring to your exact specifications. Our hardwood flooring finishes are now more durable than ever and are available in a vast selection of tones and sheen degrees to match all preferences.

Types of Solid Wood Flooring

While determining what kind of hardwood is best for your residence or business, you’re going to want to think about your individual situation in addition to other factors. Among the things to consider are if you have a preference for the setup process needed for your selection, what species and color of timber appeals to your tastes, and whether you want the wood to become unfinished hardwood floors or not.

When thinking about the installation of your wood flooring, you’ll need to take into consideration the location of the flooring. Solid wood flooring has special concerns when being installed radiant heat, and it is best that the floors not be installed directly over concrete.

Floor Sanding Sussex Has a number of unfinished hardwood flooring choices which may suit your requirements:

• Classic Series
• Old World Series
• Traditional Series
• Wilderness Series
• Heirloom Series

Our reclaimed hardwood floors was preserved and aged to give it a second life as a gorgeous addition to today’s homes and businesses. Since all of the wood has a story behind it, using reclaimed wood will certainly bring a feeling of uniqueness into your job.

Reclaiming and reusing wood is a sustainable practice that’s environmentally friendly. Our staff will allow you to find the perfect reclaimed hardwood flooring option, whether your style is traditional or contemporary. The boards in our collection of reclaimed barn wood can be longer and wider than hardwood flooring planks.

WOODEN FLOORING FOR ALLERGY SUFFERERS

We’re biased on the topic of hardwood floors , but they are a wonderful addition to almost any home, and not merely because of their stunning look and wide range of wood styles, colours, finished, and laying patterns that there are to select from. Regardless of what your interior décor or personal style is, hardwood flooring will fit in and increase the appearance of your home.

Obviously, it’s aesthetically pleasingly quality is not the only motive to select hardwood floors for your property. A number of our clients opt for this substance as a result of the advantages it offers to allergy suffers compared to other floors types like carpet. Millions of people the world over suffer with various allergies, a number of the most frequent types of which are elevated with regular cleaning and the right floor kind — including dust mite allergies and asthma. No, wooden flooring will not cure this all together, but it is going to help to elevate symptoms and reduce the amount of strikes compared to carpets.

What’s Wooden Flooring Good for Allergy Sufferers?
No matter how comforting and lavish carpeting can feel in your house, it is this same quality that makes it an awful choice for allergy sufferers. This is then disrupted and released into the atmosphere each time you walk to the carpet, aggravating the sinuses of those prone to an allergic reaction.

Even with frequent vacuuming and carpet cleaning, there’s only so much that you can do to eliminate those pesky allergens once they become trapped in the carpet fibres.

Hardwood floors, on the other hand, has no such issues as allergens cannot be trapped in its tough surface and dust is easy to see so you always know when it is time to sweep or gently mop. When it does come time for cleaning, this is a far faster process than cleaning carpets since there’s no demand for any severe vacuuming or hiring of carpet cleaning gear. A soft brush and a once-over using a moist (never moist ) mop is greater than sufficient to get the work done!

Pros and Cons of Kitchens with Wood Floors

Is a Hardwood Floor Kitchen Appropriate for Your Home?

Make Certain that your new kitchen flooring is a true upgrade

Kitchen floors take a beating. They’re in a high-traffic place that is prone to spills and accidents and frequently exposed to plenty of harsh cleaning chemicals. For that reason, kitchen flooring often wear out faster than the floors in different areas of your property. If your flooring are looking drab, dirty, and generally worn out, it’s time to look at an upgrade — but is hardwood the right option? Before deciding one way or the other about kitchens with hardwood flooring, research the pros and cons cons:

Experts of contemporary with Wood Floors

Appears — Hardwood is one of the best-looking kinds of flooring material, in a room as functional as a kitchen. You are able to use hardwood to provide the room a cozy, rustic feel, a trendy, contemporary appearance, or something in between. And by employing wood on your kitchen, you produce a smooth appearance between that area and the rooms around it.

Worth — Should you utilize quality hardwood and get it installed properly a hardwood flooring on your kitchen may actually boost the total value of your property. That isn’t always true for additional workable kitchen floor materials such as tile and vinyl.

Comfort — As we said, the kitchen is an high-traffic place and one in which you devote a great deal of time. Hardwood feels great under bare feet in just about any temperature since it is not susceptible to extremes of heat or cold.

Softness — Should you drop a glass or ceramic bowl onto a tile floor it is basically guaranteed to break. Hardwood, in contrast, is a softer material which can be a little more forgiving. You will likely still wind up with a few broken crockery over time, simply not as much of it.

Disadvantages of Contemporary with Wood Floors

Price — Based on the Sort of hardwood you Decide to Utilize the cost Could be Important.
You will probably spend less by visiting vinyl or particular kinds of tile. The tradeoff, however, is these choices will not increase your house value.

Damage — More than other kinds of substances, hardwood is exposed to water damage. Considering how a lot of your kitchen appliances utilize water that you want to be particularly careful about spills and leaks. Prolonged exposure to water may get the floor boards to twist, which is costly to repair. However, with appropriate care and maintenance, this doesn’t have to be an issue.

Durability — Since hardwood is soft it is possible to dent, ding, and scrape it. With all that you have happening in the kitchen, this may result in a new floor to reveal its age sooner than you want. The easy solution would be to decide on a kitchen with dark flooring. Lighter shades will highlight signs of damage, but darker colors will conceal them.

Locate Your New Kitchen Flooring at Floor Sanding Sussex

It is well worth it to be conscious of the cons, but actually they’re minor concerns. If you care for the floors in your kitchen how you care for the floors in the remainder of your home, there is not any reason that hardwood can’t look good and work perfectly for years and years. Find a Lot of options for your new kitchen flooring by working with Floor Sanding Sussex . Get the process started with a completely free estimate.

Removing Paint From Wood Flooring

If you’re confronted with the struggle of removing paint from wood floors, the chance is that you have either had a spill or you are renovating an old flooring. In certain instances, a spill is simpler to handle than removing paint from wood floors you are in the process of renovating. “Why?” I hear you ask. If you are in the unfortunate position of having to clean up a paint spill, at least you will understand which sort of paint you are handling. In a renovation scenario, it is often a case of trial and error.

One of the most important things to take into consideration when removing paint from wood flooring is the decision of which type of paint you’re handling . The paint may be water-based, oil-based or latex paint and how you tackle its elimination will depend on the setup of this paint.

If you know your paint spill is water or latex based and if it’s still wet, then a damp cloth should do the trick well, leaving you with a fantastic result. That said, if the paint has dried, you’re likely going to need to tackle the spill with really hot, even boiling water and a cloth. Dabbing the paint with all the sexy, wet cloth will help moisten and soften the paint. When the paint has the appearance of being”liquid” again, you’ll need to handle it with a little bit of vigour, massaging with all the sexy, wet cloth to remove the paint. In a worst-case scenario, in which you have a water or latex based paint stain which you understand to be old, you may have to attack the blot with a hot, wet scrubber and a sponge. A top tip here is to apply just a little touch of vegetable oil to the scrubber before beginning the task because this can decrease possible harm, such as scratching and dulling of the surface.

If your paint stain is oil based, and wet, the appropriate thinner for the paint you have been using should do the trick. The good thing is that oil based paint clogs that have been allowed to dry are virtually impossible to change without damaging the flooring’s ending . Where you are confronted with a dried-in oil paint spill, you really only have the choice of scratching or using a compound (like nail polish remover: acetone), each of which will remove the top layer of your floor’s covering. If you decide to scratch off the paint, you’ll effectively wind up scratching away the surface and if you use acetone (eg. Nail polish remover), you are going to lift the lacquer off, both of which will render you with stains of floor that have to be touched up afterwards. You’ll find help to fix these stains .

In extreme instances, paint spills, if water, oil or latex based might call for an entire re-sand and re-seal.

Cleaning and Maintaining your Hardwood Flooring

Prefinished hardwood floors are extremely durable and easy to keep, however they aren’t indestructible. As the homeowner, it’s your obligation to take care of and maintain your hardwood flooring. If you follow our instructions, your hardwood flooring will look beautiful for a very long time.

Before Move-In

• Relative humidity must be kept between 30-50 percent
• Be sure floor is clean before moving in, so small pebbles and debris don’t scratch the floor
• Install felt pads on all furniture. Sharp edges on furniture can scratch and damage floors. The brakes on the base of stoves and refridgerators will dent your hardwood floors. We recommend a product called”Glide Guard” to protect your flooring when transferring appliances.
• Office seats can be extremely damaging to your hardwood floors. Grit and dirt that build up on the caster wheels is quite abrasive and will wear off the finish on your hardwood flooring. A plastic mat onto your hardwood floor can be equally damaging. They can trap dirt and moisture on the surface resulting in damage to the flooring and the finish.

Cleaning Hardwood Flooring

The only cleaning product we recommend is Bona. Cleaning products using a lot of soap will leave a residue on your hardwood flooring, and will gradually make it appear cloudy rather than clean. Employing water onto your hardwood floors will also leave a film because the water will dry and settle on the surface of the hardwood floor. The water may also lead to harm to the finish on the hardwood flooring because the water is absorbed by the wood flooring that causes the end to confirm and crack. Never use Murphy’s Oil Soap, water, or a steam mop in your hardwood floors.

Step 1

Vacuum or sweep your hardwood floors to remove debris and other solid particles from the floor’s surface. If needed, dry wash hardwood flooring to remove any extra dust not picked up from the sweeping.

Step 2

Spray flooring with Bona spray cleaner and spread on the hardwood floor with the mop.

Step 3

Before Bona solution is dry, then place two layers of paper towel between the mop and the hardwood floors. Buff the floor until dry, this can remove excess picture from the hardwood floor

 

ENSURE YOUR HARDWOOD FLOORING LOOKS BRAND NEW FOREVER

Have you ever installed hardwood floors in your home? Hardwood flooring tends to fade after a while due to sun and wear and tear. In order to maintain your flooring in good shape, follow these simple tips to maintain them.

Waxing your hardwood floors will help to retain its brightness and shine. Learning a couple of things about how to decorate your hardwood flooring will help you to give it a brand-new look.

If the main problem of your flooring is scratches and fading then hardwood floor refinishing will be useful. The very first step to refinish your floors is sanding.

Floor sanding is not an easy task. While carrying out sanding make sure you protect your ears too, since the process is quite noisy.

After sanding, you need to apply stain. If you are not sure which shades of stain to use then request expert help.

It’s strongly suggested that you take specialist assistance. There are quite a few businesses offering these services and they have all the expertise needed to refinish your flooring. These businesses have all of the modern equipment that is needed.

WHY YOU NEED TO OPT FOR OAK WOOD FLOORING

Nowadays, hardwood flooring is most commonly used by people used all around the world as it looks stylish and provides beauty to your home. One of the most popular hardwoods is oak, as it needs less maintenance when compared with other wooden floors. Moreover, oak hardwood flooring will also stay with you for many years to come.

A few of the Benefits of oak wood flooring

Oak suits any room — Oak flooring looks great in all rooms in your home. This usually means you could get oak flooring for your bedroom, living room and even for your toilet. Moreover, bamboo flooring are also famous for performance and durability.

Different types — Oak timber is mainly categorised into forms such as white pine and walnut. There are also various finishes and styles available, so you can find any of these which suits your room and taste.

Enhance the value of your house — Most people opt for walnut wood floors, as it can help in enhancing the value of your dwelling. If you’re planning to sell your home and you’ve installed oak hardwood flooring afterward potential buyers will be impressed with the appearance of the space. Therefore, oak hardwood floors will also be beneficial for you in several of ways.

Oak needs less maintenance — Maintaining and cleaning oak flooring is very easy, as you only have to vacuum and dust clean the floor. In the example of water spillages, then you have to immediately wash it.

INSTALLING HARDWOOD FLOORING

Hardwood floors is a viable choice if you do not need to have carpets in your home. A lot of men and women are replacing their old carpeting with wooden flooring since it looks extremely attractive along with being functional and extremely durable.

However, before you begin placing the hardwood floor, there is a number of various choices available to you in regard to the wood and design that you go for.

Most people when they think of hardwood flooring, they automatically think about walnut. Oak is an excellent wood when it comes to hardwood floors but there are lots of other types of wood which you may select from. If you would prefer a lighter coloured wood in your home, you could pick out of ash, or if you’d prefer something dark a wood like cherry or maple would be perfect.

Whatever kind of timber that you choose from, you need to ensure that you get a flooring specialist into put it for you. They will ensure that the floor underneath is properly prepared with insulation prior to the hardwood floors being laid. They have all the tools that is required to put a hardwood flooring properly and professionally.

WHAT LOOK SHOULD YOU GO FOR?

Once you’ve made a business decision to exchange the rugs in your house for hardwood floors, you’ve then got a few more decisions to make before you create your new investment- and among those decisions is your overall appearance that you wish to attain.

With hardwood flooring, there is a fantastic deal of choice, and as well as being able to pick from flooring that provides different levels of durability, so you also get to choose from flooring in several distinct colors.

Various kinds of rugs can provide different appearances to a house – and that is one way where carpets are actually quite like hardwood flooring, as different floors can create very different looks.

Hardwood floors in very dark colors can result in an extremely fashionable and cursory look at a space, whereas quite light shades of flooring constructed from woods like maple and ash can instantly brighten up a room.

If you would like to produce the ultimate warm, homely feel, cherry floors is definitely worth consideration, because its rich colour instantly makes a cosy ambience.

When thinking about the overall look that you want to attain, you should also think carefully about the degree of durability you need.