As we work closely with Interior Designers and Architects using our extensive range of engineered timber flooring we can help with any development, and you can see some of the work we have been involved with on the Solid Wood Flooring web site. Flooring and interior décor is our speciality and we hope that you like what you see. Please call us on 01666 504015 if you have any requirements for products that you cannot see here or comments on the web site. We are continually trying to make it as easy as possible to help our clients achieve what they want at the most competitive price for the best products. Why are Oiled and Hard Waxed floor finishes better for commercial flooring applications as well as the home?
There is a big misconception about wood floors finished with oils and hard wax oils. The main one is maintenance. In fact oiled floors are easier to maintain and repair than lacquered floors with modern maintenance methods and kits. In high traffic areas oiled floors should be the preferred option for the following reason:
Places like stairs and corridors always get the wear in the middle and after a few months or year even a lacquered floor would look dull in the concentrated traffic area.
An oiled floor even one that is coloured can be made to look like new with a simple concentrated floor cleaner and a fresh application of the coloured oil, no sanding no mess just a simple process.
Lacquered floors are not easily repaired if people have high heels where the rubber sole has gone (just metal left) or walk in stones and sharp object get dragged along. The normal remedy for this is expensive as it requires a full sanding and re-lacquer which is also time consuming with a lot of downtime.
The latest coloured oils and hard wax oils penetrate the cell structure of the wood therefore protecting it below the surface unlike lacquers that sit on top of the wood and therefore if the oak has been stained it can be easily damaged once the lacquer has worn away because the stain not protected unlike coloured oiled floors where the colour is part of the protection.
Everyone has been in a public place like a bar, theatre, hotel school etc where the concentrated traffic area looks dull and dirty and if the floor was stained it also probably looks much lighter, and these are normally lacquered floors. With an oiled floor it would be very easy to rectify and repaired by simply reapplying oil.
The modern hard wax oils dry very quickly as the last thing a client wants is to install a high quality wood floor that gets damaged by workmen only to have to have it sanded back and re-finished.
Lacquered floors that are partly repaired never look the same because lacquer applied at a factory is completed on a specialist finishing line with heat, infrared and UV lamps to cure it so that it is a hard finish.
Oiled floors on the other hand can be done easily on site after fitting the boards when all other work is completed and are much more easily repaired to look like new. If you get a bad or damaged patch in the middle of a coloured oiled floor you can renew it to look exactly like the rest of the floor, with a lacquered floor this is impossible.
Cleaning oiled floors is just the same as a lacquered floor, vacuum regularly, keep grit off it and use the correct maintenance kit. |
