Timber floors are durable and age beautifully, however there will come a time when you’ll want to refresh them. Sanding, polishing and even staining your flooring is a great way to breathe new life into a room.
When it comes to your home, flooring plays an important role. It has the potential to set the ambiance of an entire room, serving as the canvas for your décor and style, and shaping the overall look and feel.
Opting for timber flooring presents a multitude of advantages. Timber flooring installation has stood the test of time and remained a popular choice of flooring for years. It offers a timeless appeal that can bring a classic feel to your home. It is also easy to maintain, durable and serves as a sound investment.
When it comes to timber flooring, we are the experts. We have installed timber flooring for many businesses and homeowners in Melbourne for over 40 years. Our experts can guide you through the extensive range of timber flooring we offer, so you can create a space you love!
Here are some quick tips on selecting the right timber for your space, from our highly skilled and knowledgeable team of wood flooring enthusiasts.
Softwood v/s Hardwood – which is the right option for you?
Hardwood Timber Flooring
- Expensive
- Lasts longer
- More durable
- Dust and dirt resistant
Softwood Timber Flooring
- Affordable
- Environment friendly
- Easier to work with
- Dust and dirt resistant
The first and foremost distinction in timber flooring begins with the density of the wood used.
As the name suggests, hardwood is denser and sturdier than softwood, which makes it last longer. This is because of its complex structure – requiring highly skilled hands and machinery to work with it. Due to this hardwood timber flooring installations can be slightly more difficult and expensive.
At ITB, we can provide you with the best options for your space that fit within your budget.
Softwood is more pocket-friendly and easier to install since it grows much faster than hardwood – it has a simpler cell structure. It is also the more sustainable option of the two. Many softwood timbers can be engineered to match the strength of hardwood timbers, which makes it a great flooring option at affordable pricing.
Fun fact: Hardwood can take up to 150 years before it’s ready for harvest, compared to softwood which only takes up to 40 years. This is why hardwood has a much more complex cell structure and therefore, added strength. This also makes softwood timber environmentally friendly in comparison since the resources replenish in one-third the time of hardwood timber.
How to shade match timber flooring to your aesthetics?
Timber flooring comes in exceptional neutral shades. Its light and dark hues can complement most of the aesthetics and themes of your decor.
The wide variety of timber finishes and textures allow you to get as niche in curating your space as possible.
Here are some basic design principles that can help you select the right timber flooring.
Select a complementing hue of timber for your space!
The floor occupies most of the space in your home or office, therefore, it must be carefully selected. Complimenting the floor colour can make a huge difference to the visual appeal of your space.
Before installing timber flooring, you can ask our team for a complete colour chart to position in different rooms to help envision the look and feel of our various timbers.
Usually, when working in a smaller space with limited access to natural light – we recommend installing lighter hues of timber flooring. This helps add life to the space and make a room appear larger. These shades are generally best suited for bedrooms, nurseries and living rooms.
Darker shades of timber are best suited for larger rooms as they bring a hint of warmth and cosiness to the space. The warmer palette of timber is helpful when designing an intimate space, whether it’s the master bedroom or a sitting room in your holiday home.
Additionally, it helps to match and balance the floor colour with the colour of your furniture and art pieces. In some cases, a slight contrast in the colours can help bring out the features of your furnishings. Other times, maintaining a consistent neutral shade between the floor and furnishings allows statement pieces to stand out.
Pay attention to texture, finish & final touches
After the wood is laid on the floor and sanded for smoothening, timber flooring installation concludes with adding finishes to the wooden surface. While this is necessary to protect the wood from termites, it also improves how the floor looks and feels.
During timber flooring installation, you can choose many different types of final touches for your flooring.
Three of the most common timber finishes include:
- Water Base Polyurethane: Forming a hard layer on top of the wood, this finish is most successful in protecting the timber from moisture and woodworms – it helps the timber last longer. You can choose matte, gloss or satin sheen for the final look of the floors.
- Oil: This finish provides low sheen and matte appeal to your floors whilst maintaining the natural colour and grain of the timber used. While this is easy to apply, such finishes require frequent reapplication of oil to keep the timber protected over time.
- Wax: This finish is popularly chosen when the natural look and feel of the wood is to be maintained throughout the flooring. Although it is more difficult to maintain than oil finishes and requires ongoing, regular reapplications. The use of wax repels dirt and moisture from entering the wood fibres.
Timber floors are increasingly becoming the preferred choice of flooring across Melbourne homes and offices. This is because of their ability to resist dust, dirt, mould and other particles closely associated with many health hazards.
Our team is well-versed in timber to help you revamp your flooring. For new timber flooring installation, contact us today.
