Timber floor – which one should I choose?

When renovating your home and decided you wish to go with timber floor, which one should you choose?

Timber is a great choice for interiors

Firstly you’ve made a great choice by choosing timber flooring for your home. Timber will always add value to your home as it compliments any interior.

Not only versatile it offers a timeless, streamlined look that can be a home’s most striking feature. Low-maintenance and non-allergenic, timber also offers natural insulation so is perfect for any season.

Popular timber for interior spaces

When installing a timber floor, you are virtually unlimited in the types of timber that you can use.  Following are some of the more popular timber choices

• Jarra
• Blackbutt
• Spotted Gum
• Tasmanian Oak
• Ironwood
• Kempas
• Merbau
• Turpentine
• Victorian Ash
• Grey Ironbark
• Pacific Kauri
• Northern Red
• Cedar
• Bamboo

Colour is key for timber flooring

With so many types and styles available start simple with picking the colour of timber, be it dark, light or mid-tones.

Light versus dark timber flooring

To bring a sense of light and roominess to a small space, opt for lighter timbers but please note if you have dark antique furniture, don’t install pale flooring with cooler undertones, as it will clash.

Light timber flooring in interiors

Light floors suit beachy and shabby-chic looks, whereas dark floors or mid-tone caramels work if your style is more classic.

Dark timber flooring in interiors

Dark flooring is the current trend at the moment and will make your home look very sophisticated, but they will show the dirt and will also make a tight space feel more enclosed.

Select the right grade of your timber floor

To choose the grade is to decide if your prefer the character of knotty, veined wood or instead the smooth, unspoiled timber floor with little ‘feature’. Timber suppliers will usually offer 3 grades:

1. light or select feature (offers a subtle, clean grade across the board)
2. moderate or standard
3. high feature (for a unique, aged look)

Solid timber vs engineered timber floors

Let’s start with what solid timber and engineered timber floors have in common:

• They are both hardwood timbers
• They can both be sanded down

Solid timber flooring

Solid wood is milled from a single 3/4″ thick piece of hardwood. It expands and contracts with changes in your home’s relative humidity.

Installation of solid timber flooring

This is the traditional type of timber flooring that is nailed down or secretly nailed down on bearers and joists. Boral has solid timber flooring in their range that can be even glued down over existing floors.

Engineered or pre-finished timber flooring

Engineered wood which is also called pre-finished wood is produced with 3 to 5 layers of hardwood. Each layer is stacked in a cross-grain configuration and bonded together under heat and pressure.

Installation of engineered or pre-finished timber flooring

These floor boards can be:

• glued down
• installed floating over existing floors such as timber, concrete, tiles, particleboard, plywood

Bamboo flooring

Though bamboo being technically a grass, it’s a renewable resource that grows fast and is harder than hardwood timber. With its affordable pricing as well as its strength and durability, bamboo flooring is a great alternative to timber.

Gone are the days that bamboo comes in limited shades only, nowadays you can get everything from white wash to a near black colour with blond, honey and coffee colours in between.

Get a professional opinion on timber flooring

Overall whatever timber flooring you choose you’re guaranteed to bring warmth into the household offering a inviting ambiance into the interior. Make sure you choose the right timber flooring to suit your needs. To guarantee the perfect choice it always helps to get a professional opinion!