According to an article lately published on the Home and Garden Television site, the acclamation for oak flooring is quickly “losing ground to its exotic cousins”. There are numerous reasons for this, including the fact that demand is making exotic woods more available and affordable, and the undeniablefact that exotic woods come in so many colours and patterns. The russet colour of Brazilian cherry is especially hot right now in home design, as is cork for its cushioning effect and sustainability. But is hardwood floor installation the same for these outlandish woods?
As it turns out, installing exotic hardwood surfaces isn’t any different than installing conventional hardwood flooring. As with oak, pine and maple, there are four different installation systems that are used with exotic hardwood flooring:
Tongue and Groove
In this system, one side and one end of a plank of wood have a groove, and the other end and side have a tongue – a section of the plank that sticks out from the center of the edge. The tongue of one plank fits into the groove of another plank, and forms a tight, solid connection. Tongue and groove is the commonest installation system for creating floors out of solid hardwoods, both local hardwoods and exotic hardwoods.
Click Systems
First made for devised wooden floors, click systems are presently available for bamboo and other types of exotic woods. Like tongue and groove, the tongues in click systems don’t fit right into the grooves, but must be tapped into the grooves with a flooring hammer. Youwill have to do your prpearation though and discover more about flooring types, because not all exotic woods can be gotten in click systems.
Floor Connection Systems
Floor connection systems change, but usually, all 4 side of the plank are grooved. Then, thereis a separate, unconnected piece of wood, rubber or plastic that connects planks to one another. This allows for floors to be designed with wood and other types of flooring, as long as they have the same connection systems.
Glued Flooring
Parquet floors, which are mosaics made out of different colours and shapes of wood, are usually installed with the glue down flooring strategy. In this process wood pieces are laid on the glue, and then hammered into place to make a level floor. Once the glue is dry the wood pieces are sanded and re-finished.
The sort of installation system relies upon the type of wood being used, and the type of floor – plank or parquet. To fully understand the floor options for different types of exotic hardwoods, you’ll want to do some research online or talk with awiz at your local home improvement store.