WHAT IS SOFT/HARDWOOD FLOORING?
Softwood and Hardwood flooring is a finished product designed to give you a smooth finished surface to walk on. These can be a range of different types of wood depending on your visual design needs.
Softwood flooring offers a slightly cheaper alternative to hardwood flooring but is susceptible to damage, so using them in high-traffic, heavy-wear areas is not suitable.
Hardwood flooring is more expensive than softwood flooring but offers durability, along with closed grain and low sap content.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF SOFT/HARDWOOD FLOORING?
Softwood is cheaper than hardwood flooring
Softwood grows quicker than hardwood so is considered a renewable source
Hardwood flooring is more durable
Hardwood flooring is very low maintenance and is easy to repair
Hardwood flooring has good fire resistance
WHAT IS THE INSTALLATION PROCESS OF SOFT/HARDWOOD FLOORING?
Traditionally floorboards would have been fitted directly to the structural floor joists with a secret nailed tongue and grooved joint along the length of the board. The length of the floorboards would always run at 90 degrees to the floor joists. Today, it is far more common that a sub-floor exists and then the finished floor is applied.
Most finished timber floor products are free floating systems that do not actually get fixed or secured to the floor joists, they are usually joined by a click together dry joint or a glued tongue and grooved joint.
Most of the floorboard products are known as engineered flooring as they are essentially constructed from laminated plywood with a 4mm - 8mm timber veneer to the top surface, this is engineered so the floorboard is stable and far less likely to twist, cup, distort or shrink.
Usually there will be a soft matting material that is laid beneath the finished floor, the floor fitter will measure the room for width to ensure that the flooring is set out in a way that doesn’t leave small strips at one edge, and allow for expansion joints to the perimeter of the room.
Often it is better to install the finished floor prior to fixing skirting boards so that the expansion joint is covered by the skirting board and not visible. However, when finished floors are retro fitted a small bead will be fixed to the bottom of the skirting board to cover the expansion gap.
Payne Carpentry have extensive experience in the many types of traditional cut roofing. We manage our clients’ needs by providing time and cost saving solutions by carrying out the following compulsory works procedures as part of our standard service.
We have been leading Devon’s carpentry industry with superior quality, reliable communication and efficient, effective solutions. If you have a project you would like us to work on, we would love to hear from you.