Wooden floors are timeless and never go out of date. They are both renewable and recyclable. Bacteria, dust and dirt do not embed themselves in wooden flooring, unlike other flooring options. A healthy floor choice for allergy sufferers. They are durable and they offer a huge variety of designs and colours. If maintained properly they will last forever.

The two most popular wooden flooring grades are Prime Grade and Rustic Grade.

Prime grade is also known Select, or A B grade. It is the highest grade of flooring and it is considered a cleaner, more contemporary look with minimal knots and variations. Premier grade Oak will usually cost more than other flooring grade.

Rustic grade wooden floors are full of character, colour variation and knots. They may contain sound and cracked knots up to 60mm in diameter and dead knots, which will be filled, up to 25mm. Rustic grade wooden floors will also contain lighter sap wood on up to one third of the plank as well as some limited bark pockets.

Lacquered wooden floors do not need yearly maintenance, but have a five to ten year visible cycle of deterioration; i.e. more and more scratches in the finish, to the point where the lacquer has to be re­finished. Oil waxed wood floors on the other hand look better and better as time goes by, the more you maintain the oilwax finish the harder the finish becomes and the less you need to maintain the floor.

Engineered wood flooring has a 3 layered construction. A solid wood top layer, a core layer made up of strips of wood and single piece stabilizing base layer. These types of products are normally available in various formats from 10mm through to 15mm and with top layers from 2.5mm -4mm of hardwood. Engineered wood floors can be nailed (20mm only), glued down or floated. An engineered floor is ideal for use over underfloor heating.

Solid wooden flooring is a single piece of hardwood or softwood top to bottom. The boards are tongued and grooved all round and will have micro bevels on the long sides if they are supplied pre finished.

Otherwise they will be square edged boards which will need to be sanded and finished on site. The best way to fit a solid wooden flooring is by secret nailing and it should always be the preferred method of fixing but when necessary you could also glue down a solid hardwood floor. Solid floors are not suitable for underfloor heating.

Hand finished oilwaxed wooden floors will look better the more you maintain them. The wood will continue to absorb the natural oils and waxes and the finish to the floor will become harder wearing. You just need to follow some easy steps and procedures to have a last longing wooden flooring :

• Regularly remove dust and surface dirt on a regular basis using a vacuum cleaner or brush.
• Regularly remove stains and marks with a pH neutral detergent and a damp cloth.
• When cleaning wipe with a damp mop or cloth using a diluted natural soap for oiled wood floors.
• Work on one area at a time, rinsing the mop or cloth regularly and making sure it is well rung out each time to avoid getting the floor too wet.
• Only damp mop your hardwood floor when it shows signs of getting dirty and not just because today is your cleaning day .
• Your wood floor needs the right environment. Ideally a room should be between 18 and 220C and around 40­60% relative air humidity.
• Wipe up any water or other liquid spillages immediately.
• If you have under floor heating the surface floor temperature must never be allowed to go above 270C.
• Once a year you should have your oilwaxed floors cleaned and re oilwaxed by a professional wood flooring company.

Wooden floors that are finished with Lacquers or UV Oils cannot be maintained. You can clean them by sweeping, vacuuming and mopping with a damp mop as you would for any hardwood floor but the surface finish cannot be replenished. Lacquered and UV Oiled floor finishes will deteriorate over the years to the point where the wood floor will need to be sanded and refinished.

Yes. Depending on the thickness of timber layer of your engineered wooden flooring you can sand them up 4 times. Most of our colours are also applicable on site and you can also choose any other type of colour or finish. All our sanding machines are virtually dust free. The maximum dust discharge will be no more than 2 mg. per cubic meter.

A newly laid wooden floor will only be as good as the sub floor it is laid on, and will only perform properly if procedures are followed. It is therefore worth the time and effort to get your sub floor right. Depending on the preferred installation method these are the most common recommended subfloors for a perfect wooden flooring installation are :

Concrete or Screed .

Wooden : Floorboards, Ply or Chipboard.

Floor joists or battens.

The wooden flooring installation method will depend  on your choice of flooring and your current  subfloor . There are three most popular installation methods:

Glue Down. A glue down installation will give you the best result of any type of install. It is our recommended and preferred method, and the one we use 90% of the time. Glueing a floor down to any level sub floor will result in a solid feel under your feet, and far less less movement. You must use glue down if you have a wet underfloor heating system.

Nail Down. A nail down installation is common for solid and semi solid floors. It cannot be used on 14/15mm engineered floors. Whilst a nail down install will give you a solid feel, there are a few drawbacks. Nail down can be used over any type of wooden sub floor, and is a very forgiving method especially with uneven sub floors. Turgon always recommend new sub floors, but if this is not possible, then this can be a reasonable method.

Floating. Whist we never recommend fitting your floor using a floating installation, we understand that sometimes it is not possible to use any other method. The most important thing for a successful installation this way will be the level of your sub floor. If your floor is not level it could seriously compromise the installation.

Yes, you can. But due to the excessive moisture levels in most of the basement areas, it is recommended to install engineered hardwood flooring rather then solid. Maintaining the humidity levels, a wooden flooring in the basement would never be a problem.

Gapping is fairly normal during the winter season due to change in humidity of the room which causes wood to dry out and shrink. In rooms where there are extreme humidity issues, it may be necessary to install a system such as a humidifier or dehumidifier to control the environment in the room. Too much moisture or heat can cause serious problems on the wooden flooring allowing it to crack and even uplift.

Fitting wooden floors safely over under floor heating is simple and effective if some basic rules are followed. Site conditions should be specified by your wooden flooring installer.Engineered wood floors are more suitable than solid hardwood floors for the installation of underfloor heating.

We always recommend using felts for the furniture legs and even plastic foam and discs for the bigger furniture. This will make the movement of the furniture easier and will keep the surface of the wooden flooring safe.

When considering installing a hardwood floor in your apartment, it is vital that you take into consideration your neighbours and the issue of noise. You should always check requirements with managing agents first to see the level of soundproofing required. If you are installing a new wooden flooring, then there is the option of installing soundproofing systems available offered by wooden flooring companies.