When only real wood will do
LVT has become very good at looking like oak, and in a busy kitchen it is often the more sensible choice. But it is not wood, and in the right room that still matters. Real timber has a depth, warmth and variation that no printed surface reproduces, and it can be sanded and refinished years later rather than replaced.
If you want a floor that will outlive several kitchens, real wood is worth the extra care it asks for. It is the second of the two floors we have chosen to specialise in.
Engineered or solid
- Engineered wood: a real hardwood wear layer bonded to a dimensionally stable core. It moves far less with humidity, which makes it the right answer over concrete, in kitchens and, importantly, the only sensible option over underfloor heating. In a lot of houses it is genuinely the better floor.
- Solid wood: a single piece of timber through its whole thickness. The most refinishing life and the most traditional, and the most sensitive to moisture and temperature. Best over suspended timber floors in stable, well-heated rooms.
We will tell you which of the two suits your room and your subfloor, and we bring samples to your home so you can see the grain and the finish in your own light.
Timber moves. Plan for it.
This is where wood floors are won or lost. Timber takes up and gives off moisture with the air around it, expanding and contracting across its width. A floor laid tight to the walls in a dry January will buckle in a humid August.
So we acclimatise the boards in the room before fitting, check the moisture content of the subfloor as well as the timber, and leave the correct expansion gap at every perimeter and threshold, hidden under skirting or beading. It is unglamorous, it takes extra days, and it is the entire difference between a wood floor that settles and one that fails.
Fitting and finish
Depending on the boards and the subfloor, we fix by full bonding, secret nailing or floating, and we will explain which your floor needs and why. Where you have underfloor heating, we specify accordingly; wood over underfloor heating is entirely achievable, but only if it is done to the letter.
Wood can be laid in plank, herringbone or chevron. See our herringbone and chevron page, or our LVT or wood guide if you are still deciding.
Where we work
We supply and install wood flooring across Newark-on-Trent and across the East Midlands: Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Leicestershire. Free home visit, samples brought to you, and flexible payment options on domestic work.
