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Veneered, also known as engineered wood, is the most durable and strongest of the floating floors.
Unlike laminates, veneers consist of a surface layer, usually 3mm to 5mm in thickness of natural wood.
This veneer is bonded to a more stable base, usually made of ply or even HDF (high density fibre) board.
There is a huge choice of finish, such as Ash, Beech, Maple or Oak, through to harder woods like Mahogany.
Hardwood veneers have the same surface appearances as solid hardwood flooring because they’re both natural hardwoods.
Different appearances result from the different ways the hardwood are sawn. The different sawing methods are:
i) Flat Sawn or Plain Sawn, ii) Rotary Cut, iii) Off-Set Rotary Cut, and iv) Sliced Cut.
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Flat Sawn (also referred to as plain sawn) - can be flat grain (which has a cathedral or gothic effect) or vertical grain (which has a radial or edge grain effect).
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Rotary Cut – method of cutting wood in which the hardwood layer is peeled off the log using large wood lathes. This peeling method shows dramatic, wilder graining.
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Off-Set Rotary Cut – method of cutting wood which gives a sliced appearance and grain pattern with the added cross grain stability of sliced, without the sliced cost. Hardwoods are more dimensionally stable across the grain, and off-set rotary cutting takes advantage of this property. The yield is lower than a regular rotary cut creating a slight price increase vs. standard rotary.
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Sliced Cut – method of cutting wood in which the hardwood layer is sawn like regular lumber. This method shows finer graining.
For fitting, the wood is either glued or clicked together, tongue and groove and laid upon an underlay, consisting of either foam, fibre board or rubber, supplying an evened and sound-proofing quality.
The ideal way to fit the wood is to take away, if applicable, the existing skirting,
cut any architraves at doorways, and refit existing/new skirting on top of the wood,
allowing an expansion gap of about 10mm where the wood meets the walls.
Alternatively, the wood can be fitted 10mm short of the existing skirting all around the edge, with a
decorative beading matching either the flooring or the skirting, fitted to cover the gap. |
