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Products & Uses Oak Flooring Have You Considered

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Home > Products > Oak Flooring

 

"An oak floor will always portray elegance, sophistication and class..."

Introduction

 

Engineered oak flooring was introduced into the market around 2001. They were launched to take on the laminate boards at the time.

The laminates were generally cheaper, but lacked quality and durability. Most were prefinished and any damage or scratches were virtually impossible to repair.

The quality of engineered boards have increased over the years and together with the increased demand for underfloor heating, an engineered board is perfectly designed to be suitable for this purpose.

 

Everyone wants something different, so, here at Oak By Design, we understand this and guide you through the process step by step.

Some customers are also unsure about the design and colour of the board and therefore we offer a full range of examples showing everything from a light contemporary finish through to a rustic character grade. As we create these at our workshop in Wetherby we can interchange all our processing to create the right look for you.

 

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classic oak

Classic

 

The natural board is, as it sounds, is a quality engineered board ready to lay

The oak, as with all our boards, consists of a character grade European oak.

The top picture shows a filled knot. and the typical grain offered in all the oak boards we provide.

There are some other characteristics within our boards including a small amount of pippy oak, some very clean prime grades and a helping of 'medullary rays'. Medullary rays or tiger markings are present when a board is quarter sawn. See the bottom picture for an example.

The classic board, once laid, can be finished with any number of different products. We would recommend Junckers Rustic Oil or Granglaze for their warm and matt appearance.

 

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colonial floor

Colonial

 

This board has been created as an alternative version from the tudor board.

It undergoes a two stage process.

Firstly ,the board is wire brushed to lift the grain, the top picture shows this quite well. and secondly, the edges are rasped using abrasive tools to create a distinctive feature. The bottom picture also shows the finished board.

 

This board is fumed, a natural way of colouring a board, to complete the look. The final colour can be lightened or darkened to your own requirements

 

 

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tudor floorTudor

 

The Tudor floor has been aged and distressed which comprises of several processes. This includes the shaping of the board, fuming, brushing and other creative skills to create this genuine old looking board.

Step 1 - We shape the board to recreate the worn areas found in some old oak floors. The board no longer has a flat face. The board is curved so that when placed against another board, a slightly uneven floor is produced.

Step 2 - Wire brushing the board will loosen the softer grain leaving a more drift wood effect. Normally, a standard board is sanded and has a smooth finish. The wire brushing now creates texture and this will enhance any stain, wax or oil that is applied after the floor is laid.

 

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New England

 

The lovely looking board was created for the customer wanting a beach hut or washed out appearance.

Elizabethan

 

What a floorboard!

 

Huge 300mm and 350mm wide boards will definitely leave a lasting impression.

 

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engineered oak flooring

Our Engineered Board

 

The board comprises of 2 distinct layers. The top layer is the species of timber you choose, for example, oak, walnut and others.  The thickness of this layer can vary depending on the manufacture but they tend to fall within the 4 to 6mm bracket.  Our flooring has a 6mm top layer.

The base layer is the important one.  This again can vary, but it is here that the board gains its stability and rigidity.  The base can be a plain one layer of cheap softwood up to a high quality 11 smaller layers of birch ply.  Our flooring has the best quality birch ply.

 

The boards can be laid as a structural board and to help, it is tongue and grooved down their lengths.  The added benefit of 'end matching' is standard on all our floorboards.

We use a 'character grade' European Oak and all are pre-filled and sanded ready to lay. There is an added feature of all flooring having a beveled edge.  There are two benefits of this.  Firstly, it provides a nice detail were the boards meet, giving a true planked floor effect.  Secondly, if laid as a floating floor, eliminates the sharp edge a square edged board has.


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The Sub Floor

 

An engineered floor can be laid over the following sub floors:

  1. Concrete or calcium sulphate screed
  2. Chipboard
  3. Leveling compound
  4. Existing floorboards of good quality
  5. Plywood
  6. Joists
  7. Battens

The sub floors needs to be level and dry and level Dry means having a moisture content of 5% or less.

Note, on average, without any external influences, a concrete screed will dry at approx 1mm per day (1 inch per month). This time can be reduced with central or underfloor heating and dehumidifiers.

 

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underfloor heating

Underfloor Heating (UFH)

 

Depending on the type of UFH system you have in mind, the engineered oak flooring can be laid as either a floating floor or a traditional fixed floor

 

The mock up picture to the right shows an oak board floating on a low tog rated underlay. The board is NOT glued down, only the tongue and grooved elements are glued. This underlay covers the level screed and again, is NOT glued down.

 

 

 

 

 

floating oak floor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

lounge

The Fuming Process

 

This authentic process colours the board over a period of time by alllowing the evaporation of ammonia gases to concentrate of the naturally present tannin acid with European Oak.

 

The reaction causes causes the oak to darken over time. The longer the boards are exposed, the darker they will become. Typically we leave the boards anywhere between 1 and 24 hours depending on saturation the customer requires.

 

Please note, this process only reacts with European Oak and not American Oak.

 

The lounge in 'The Barn Conversion' we have completed shows a fumed board for 3 hours in a mixed width.

 

Fuming will give you 'shades of brown' as apposed to a 'continuous colour' a stain would give. The oak we provide is a character grade European Oak and there are small areas of sap wood. This sap wood does not colour and would remain paler. We can tone this down to match if required at a later stage.

 

 

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A Floating Floor

 

A floating floor can be described like a carpet. It has an underlay and the carpet lays on top. No glue or fixing methods are required. The sub floor, albeit chipboard or screed nees t be level.

 

Level is described as:

"When laying a straight edge on the floor over a span or diameter of 3 meters, a gap of no more than 3mm can be seen between the underside of the straight edge and the screed itself."

 

 

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Secret Nailing

 

Secret nailing involves nailing at 45 degrees through the top of the tongue into the joist or subfloor beneath.

 

Ideally this needs a portanailer, as pictured right. The tools enables a purpose made nail to be sent at exactly 45 degrees into the timber. The head of the nail finishes flush with the tongue allowing the next board to be installed.

 

 

 

 

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