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Flooring News
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UK Flooring Direct have over 25 years experience in the flooring industry. During this time we have developed very strong relationships with some of the worlds leading flooring manufactures. It is these close ties along with our volume purchasing power that we can bring you the great deals we can offer on flooring.
From time to time we are offered special deals on end of line products. We get offered these because we are one of the only UK flooring companies who can take in this kind of volume. What does this mean to you the customer? well even better deals! so don't forget to look in our clearance items page.
Hardwood Flooring
Are you looking for a floor of real beauty, then a real wood floor can meet all your requirements. Available in a wide range of different species, stains and finishes we will almost certainly have a floor to meet you requirements. Hardwood flooring is available in either solid or engineered construction, both have their advantages and disadvantages.
Solid Wood Flooring
Solid wood flooring is made from one piece of hardwood timber. The width of the boards can range from 90mm - 210mm and the average thickness is 18mm. The main disadvantages of solid flooring with its installation. Solid wood will naturally expands and contracts after installation, it will also react to moisture problems in either the subfloor or the room it is installed in. With this in mind special care needs to be taken when installing and strict guidelines must be meet.
You have two choices when deciding to install, you can either fully glue or secret nail to the subfloor. Secret nailing is the preferred choice and this can be done directly onto battens or onto a plywood base. If you have a concrete subfloor and decided to fully glue the floor to this then you must first check the moisture content of the subfloor to ensure it is below 4%. If the reading is above then you will need to use a DPM such as Mapei Proof ESM. More Solid Wood Flooring Information
You will also need to ensure you use the correct adhesive when gluing the floor down. Failure to follow these guidelines will lead to problems later with the installation failing. The most common installation failure with a solid wood floor is using the incorrect adhesives and moisture problems relating to the subfloor. Both will result the timber cupping.
Engineered Wood Flooring
Engineered Flooring is constructed of several layers of wood. It will usually consit of three different layers, a top hardwood layer, a core middle section and also a balancing bottom layer. All these are glued together under extreme pressure at 90 degree angles to each other,
The top layer is what gives the engineered floor is looks, this is a real hardwood layer which can vary in thickness from 0.7mm up to 6mm. The middle section is what give the floor its stability and strength and can be made from softwood, plywood or HDF. The bottom balancing layer will usually be made from softwood.
It is this construction which makes an engineered floor much more stable than a solid wood floor and thus can be installed as a floating floor over any type of subfloor. Floating installtion is by far the easiest of all installtion options. More Engineered Flooring Information
Laminate Flooring
Laminate flooring is not a real wood floor but a high quality photographic image of wood. This is placed onto a HDF core board and is coated with a melamine wear layer. It is this wear layer which makes laminate flooring extremely hardwearing and much less liable to scratch than a real wood finish and makes laminate ideal for those with a busy and hetic home life due to these properties and also the ease of maintenance.
Installation is also easy thanks to the click systems the planks just click together with no need for glue, nails etc. Laminate flooring is ideal for use in all rooms of the home or office with the execption of wet rooms such as bathrooms and shower rooms.
When you choose a laminate floor you need to be aware of the different grades and construction methods available. Laminate is graded from AC1 - AC6 with the latter being ideal for use in very heavy commercail installations. As for the construction then laminate is produced either by Direct Pressure Laminate or High Pressure Laminate. More Laminate Flooring Information
