A solid timber floor, fixed in place is a permanent improvement to your premises. It won’t slide, float about or move around like some other floor coverings. If properly cared for it can last the life of the building and more importantly help maintain and most likely increase the value of the property.
Make it Wood – Do Your World Some Good
“Wood is unique among building materials because it is a natural carbon store – up to 50% of its dry weight is carbon. Responsibly sourced wood products store the carbon that the growing trees have removed from the air.” (http://planetark.org/campaigns/make-it-wood.cfm)
From the Web – Advantages of solid timber.
- A survey by the Australian Timber Flooring Association asked real estate agents about the impact of hardwood floors on home buyers. Of the realtor’s interviewed, 73 percent said that homes with hardwood floors sold faster and 100 percent said often for more money. Hardwood floors are easier than ever to care for and are a smart investment in your biggest asset: your home.
- Timber is a natural, energy efficient, environmentally friendly and importantly renewable resource. It stores carbon and is carbon neutral through its life cycle and is recyclable. Solid hardwood flooring is a low energy embodied product in its manufacture can be re-sanded and refinished to further extend it’s in service life.
- A timber floor is smooth, with low dust attracting properties making it hygienic in service. It will not trap dirt or grit and organisms that can cause allergies, asthma and other ill-health effects.
From the Web – Disadvantages of other flooring.
- However, don’t be fooled because something is sold as a “green” product. Bamboo flooring options might be made out of an “amazing and renewable resource”, but a lot of manufacturers affix the layers of bamboo together with a glue that can emit formaldehyde. Do your research, ask the right questions and use your best judgement.
- Unlike solid timber floors, some engineered flooring and most laminate floors can not be refinished. They have a single wear layer, and when that is damaged the individual piece needs to be replaced. Over time the wear layer on the entire floor will degrade and scratches will appear in the surface of laminate materials.If laminate flooring is heavily worn, deep scratched, or grooved, it cannot be sanded or refinished like solid hardwood: it must be replaced. When this occurs the entire floor will need to be replaced.
Quotes from the web –
” Wood floors, laminates, plywoods, lumber, paints, plastics made over-seas from questionable Chinese manufacturers are hardly, if ever, inspected or regulated. As we have discovered that certain lumber and flooring companies and liquidators relabelling Chinese-made wood floor and lumber products are providing wood products with unbelievable amounts of toxic chemicals to the general public. Researching into this matter, we have discovered these products to be made with formaldehydes, a chemical used as a preservative with detrimental affect to all living organisms on this planet.” (http://www.balboaflooring.com/?pg=tips-toxic-floor-emissions)
Allergies and Timber Floors.
While there have been numerous reports of timber floors being beneficial to allergy sufferers, this generally refers to those with Asthma and Hay Fever. While it is true that a clean dust free timber floor may be extremely beneficial to sufferers of these debilitating conditions, it may also be that those with extreme allergies are still not be getting the full benefit. While clean smooth solid timber floor with your coating of choice will be sufficient for most allergy sufferers, those with extreme allergies may need more particular attention to detail. For example if the floor was installed with the wrong adhesives and finished in the wrong coatings, it may be emitting V.O.C’s much the same as some engineered or manufactured type flooring that is produced with toxic glues.
At Excel Flooring we have the know-how to produce a floor with the correct adhesives and coated in extremely low V.O.C Non Toxic coatings, giving the best possible result for sufferers of severe allergies.