You’ll be ‘floored’ by the stability and durability of timber flooring

Prized for its natural warmth and reliable performance, timber flooring represents a quarter of the flooring market.

Within this category, engineered timber flooring has emerged as a preferred choice due to its superior stability and durability, and a natural look that is almost indistinguishable from solid timber.

GALLERY  

Not all engineered timber flooring performs the same however, product type, species, composition, installation method and the climatic conditions of the install environment all affect performance and stability.

In today’s market, sustainability and health requirements must also be considered.

With the growth of engineered timber products on the market, it is critical for architects, designers and specifiers to know what to look for when choosing the solution best suited to their intended application. Leading timber supplier, Big River Group has released an informative guide to specifying engineered timber flooring for Architects and Specifiers titled, Australian Native, A Specifier’s Guide to Engineered Flooring.

Engineered timber is comprised of a decorative surface layer of timber, called a veneer or lamella, bonded over a timber substrate. By comparison, solid timber floors consist of planks made out of solid pieces of wood and is the more traditional style for flooring. The processes of layering, compression and lamination used to manufacture engineered timber provide additional stability and durability to the end product. Every board is created by bonding together layers of wood, creating a solid core board. The core is then covered with a real wood top layer or lamella. This construction makes engineered timber less susceptible to warping and bowing while maintaining a high degree of structural integrity.

Australia has a diverse range of climates across the country and the location, climatic conditions and the specifics of the interior space – is critical to successful timber flooring specification and installation. Heat, cold and humidity fluctuations may cause timber to shrink, expand and/or swell, causing the floorboards to move and warp. Solid timber flooring is more susceptible to movement than engineered timber, which is more resistant to climatic changes provided it is specified correctly.

Manufactured in Australia, Armourfloor is Australia and New Zealand’s most stable timber floor. The product is manufactured using a five-layer, cross-ply construction, a quality which enables Armourfloor to perform to expectations in all geographical locations. No expansion is required through the floor unless the area exceeds 15 meters in length and width, although perimeter expansion gaps are still required. The rotary-peeled lamella on Armourfloor opens the grain, giving a distinctive flowing appearance and is unique in appearance compared to conventional back sawn products. As a raw uncoated product, Armourfloor must be coated in-situ, enabling the use of different finishes to be applied to produce desired sheen levels. Finishes, such as polyurethanes, oils or wax, can be chosen based on the specifics of the application.

Engineered timber technology has improved greatly over recent decades, resulting in superior performing flooring materials, that/which boast high levels of inherent stability and durability, and greater resistance to temperature and moisture than solid timber. Leading quality products, such as Armourfloor by Big River Group, also offer a natural look that is almost indistinguishable from a solid plank floor.

All Big River engineered flooring and plywood is milled from managed regrowth and plantation forest hardwoods. Big River hardwood is Australian Forestry Standard (AFS) certified.

Big River’s pre-finished engineered flooring comes with a lifetime warranty against warping, buckling or bond failure and a 20-year limited warranty for the finish against wear-through under normal residential usage.

Via Big River Group

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