Buying and Caring Guide
Some thoughts before you begin
Wooden floors currently enjoy an immense popularity as an interior finish and are very much part of contemporary lifestyles. A wooden floor also reflects your individual taste and style so it is important that you consider your choice carefully. This information is designed to help you with that choice and further provides sensible guidelines so that you can enjoy many years of satisfaction from your new wooden floor.
Display samples within the showroom can give you a good idea of what your wooden floor will look like, but only once it is laid will it take on a character all of its own. Here are a few initial tips to help you choose wisely - more of this under Choosing the Right Wooden Floor section:-
Keep the use of the room in mind when you are considering the quality, colour and tone of your wooden floor.
Areas of heavy traffic such as your hall or living room are best floored with a dark hard wood. Your new wooden floor is unique and with sensible care, it will remain an asset to your home for many years to come.
About Wooden Floors
Wood has a natural beauty all of its own.
Individual characteristics as you would expect, vary tremendously from species to species and even from tree to tree. Some of these characteristics, like colour for example, will depend upon where exactly the tree comes from.
Dark woods are generally the hardest, with the hardest wearing of all being the species merbau. The lighter the colour, the more that the signs of wear and tear become obvious. It’s usual for small knots and splits to be made good with filler before your floor leaves the manufacturer. These minor blemishes are common to all wooden floors and add to their character.
Choosing the Right Wooden Floor
Always keep the use of the room in mind when selecting a wooden floor. Remember that harder woods are best for areas of heavy traffic such as the hall or the lounge.
One notable characteristic of wood is that as a natural product, it expands or contracts in extremes of temperature. A wooden floor may occasionally show small gaps between the boards as a consequence of the effect of heat but you should not be concerned about this; the natural wooden floor will return to normal when the temperature stabilises.
Wooden floors are not really practical for bathrooms, utility rooms or other rooms where they are likely to be frequently subjected to water or high variations in relative humidity such as conservatories.
- Do give us lots of information about your requirements and expectations.
- Be open to suggestions from our expert sales team.
Price versus Performance
Price is not always the main indicator of performance. Most expensive products will be durable, but others may be expensively manufactured to give a luxurious look and feel that may not necessarily withstand heavy wear.
Choosing With Confidence
- Behar will rectify without charge any manufacturing defect that appears within 12 months of purchase without limiting your statutory rights, some goods may carry even longer warranties. However, a usage condition may apply so please ask for details.
- All floors from Behar fully comply to current government flammability legislation.
Measuring and Estimating
Wooden floors at Behar are primarily floating floors - that is, not glued or nailed to the floor underneath, and the standard range is lacquered, although oiled wooden floors are also available. (It should be noted that oiled wooden floors require more maintenance than lacquered floors.) Wooden floors need a level surface so in addition to measuring your room, you should also check the condition of your floor. Most surfaces are smoothed with plywood or latex in advance of the wooden floor being laid and the cost of this essential preparation must be included in your budget.
If you are selecting flooring for relatively complicated room shapes or hall and landings, then we recommend the services of a professional flooring estimator. If you are choosing wood for a basic room shape, then your own measurements should be satisfactory. However, regrettably we cannot guarantee the accuracy of any measurement you make yourself.
- It is better to slightly over-estimate the sizes of your room(s).
- As house building is not an exact science, rooms can be several inches ‘out of square’, so check your measurements at several points across the room both in width and breadth.
- If you live in a new house, don’t just trust the builders’ plans. Measure the area yourself.
- To allow for natural expansion in your new floor, a gap of 10-15mm is always left around the outer edge to preclude buckling. When you order your flooring, you will be invited to choose from a range of finishing beading strips to complete the job.
- Remember to decide whether you’d like your floor laid with the planks or blocks length ways or width ways.
- If you are flooring several rooms and any of them are complex shapes, it’s probably best to let us do the measuring for you. Simply give us a call and we shall be happy to help you.
If you are shopping around and comparing different offers, please beware of so called ‘bargain prices’. It’s the final, complete total estimate with no hidden extras that really matters.
Metrication
EU ruling dictates that all floor coverings must be sold in metric square metres rather than in imperial square yards. A square metre is larger than a square yard, which will be reflected in our prices. Please ask us if you would like us to additionally quote the equivalent square yard price.
1 square yard = 0.836 square metre
1 square metre = 1.196 square yards
Delivery and Fitting
Always use a professional wooden-floor fitter. As part of our standard fitting service, we will organise the delivery of your new floor to your home and co-ordinate the services of the recommended flooring fitter. Here are some tips to make sure that things run as smoothly as possible:-
- Always ensure that you have finished decorating the room before your new floor is laid to avoid paint splashes or other damage.
- Prior to the arrival of the fitter, completely clear the room to be fitted, if possible or at the very least remove all ornaments and small items of furniture.
- If you cannot remove large items of furniture or uplift your current flooring, please let us know. We can normally arrange for this additional work to be undertaken for a small charge.
- Make sure the floor beneath is dry. New concrete floors need to dry out completely and the time this takes will depend on the depth of the concrete; allow a month for every inch.
- Ask our salesperson to clarify what is included in a standard fitting service, and which items may be extra.
- Never let another tradesperson tamper with your flooring once it is fitted.
Caring for your Wooden Floor
Natural wood mellows with age and it should remain an asset to your home for many years. However, to achieve the best possible performance from your new floor, it must be protected from its natural enemies of water and grit.
Although your new wooden floor has been lacquered and sealed, it will stay looking good for much longer if you follow these simple care tips:-
- Mop up spilled water immediately.
- Get a good quality doormat (not coir) to protect your floor against grit and water.
- Consider protecting the floor with a rug if it’s likely to get heavy traffic.
- Remember, furniture can dent wood so use felt pads or castor cups, particularly on chairs.
- Grit and stones can get lodged in the wheels of an upright vacuum cleaner, so choose a rubber-wheeled cylinder model.
- For extra shine, use an anti-slip polish recommended for lacquered wooden floor and colour-test a small area first.
- An oiled floor needs special maintenance. Follow the instructions that come with your floor.
- Don’t forget that dogs and cats will inevitably scratch wooden floors.
Stain removal
When something is spilt on a wooden floor, it seldom leaves a trace, provided you mop it up quickly. But some stains need special treatment:-
- Remove water-soluble dirt with a cleaner designed for wooden floors, following the instructions carefully and using the minimum amount of water with a dry cloth or mop.
- Mop up spilled water immediately with a dry cloth.
- Beware of beetroot juice. It will stain any surface and needs prompt action.
- Use white spirit to remove rubber, oil, shoe polish, soot, chocolate and grease.
- Remove crayon or lipstick with a half-and-half mixture of turpentine and water.
- Harden chewing gum with ice in a polythene bag before scraping it off carefully.
- Avoid using strong stain-removing agents, as they may damage the protective lacquer.
- Don’t rub too hard when you’re removing stains, as this can also damage the lacquer.
Further Assistance
If you would like to ask any questions about further care of wooden floors, either on the subjects covered above or on any other relevant topic, please don’t hesitate to give us a call and we will be delighted to help.
CALEDONIAN
FINGER JOINT
15MM OAK
HARDWOOD
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emerald engineered bevelled oak 14mm hardwood
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MONTANA “120” 15MM HARDWOOD – BOTH LACQUERED AND OILED FINISHES
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