Oak household flooring is one of the best types of wood for flooring because it’s a hardwood and is relatively robust. It is commonly used as the wood type for wood flooring because of its durability and also because the material is readily available.
Real oak wood flooring is a fantastic addition to a home as not only does it look great, it can also actually add value to your home! Real oak flooring is a luxury natural material that looks great pretty much anywhere.
The only rooms that oak flooring is not suitable for is bathrooms, shower rooms, toilets and even potentially kitchens. This is purely due to the fact that real wood is not very resistant to moisture and temperature and the floor can become damaged.
Real wood flooring in general is not the cheapest floor type available, but it depends what you compare it to. For example, sheet vinyl is much cheaper than oak flooring but oak flooring will last multiple times longer.
The majority of our real wood floors that we supply are Oak and the prices currently range from £40.99 m2 inc vat to £112.99 m2 inc vat. The real value of something is the cost compared to the amount of use it provides and for how long.
When considering your oak household flooring cost you can use the example of a £50 m2 oak floor for an average UK household, which according to Gov.uk is 94 m2. This works out to a total cost of £4,700. Real oak floors are fully capable of lasting for 100 years, which works out to £47 per year.
For something that gets as much constant use, can be renewed to look like new, and used for as many years, this is actually incredible value for money.
Real oak flooring including the oak household type can and has lasted for more than 100 years. This is an enormous advantage which potentially only stone flooring can match. 100 years is an extremely long time for any product to last.
For oak wood flooring to last this long however it does need to be looked after and maintained. It also needs to have been installed correctly in an appropriate environment. An oak floor in a bathroom for example won’t last long at all as the moisture will ruin it.
In order for oak flooring to last long periods of time it needs to be renewed every so often. The surface needs to be sanded down and refinished with lacquer or oil. Once this is done the flooring will look brand new.
Oak wood flooring is a quality hardwood material which does not crack easily. Wood floors can crack over time however and this is usually due to low moisture and the flooring becoming too dry. All wood flooring is susceptible to moisture and temperature changes, not just oak.
Some of the causes of wood drying out include central heating, air conditioning, log burners, fires and underfloor heating. Natural wood such as oak expands and contracts with changes in moisture and temperature. The movement during these changes can cause cracking which is why the material needs a stable environment.
Oak is one of the most durable woods so it’s less likely to crack than other types of wood, but it’s still a natural material and does react to its environment.
There are two main types of oak household flooring;
Engineered Oak Flooring = The top layer is natural solid oak and the remaining layers are man-made materials such as plywood. Engineered oak can be either glued down or floated over underlay. Some engineered wood floors also have glue free click together planks.
Solid Oak Flooring = There is one single layer of material which is natural oak. There are no other layers. Solid oak household flooring has to be fully bonded (glued) to the subfloor and the planks have to be glued together too. This is the same for all solid oak flooring UK wide.
So between the subfloor and oak flooring you either put underlay or glue depending on the type of oak floor.
If you have any questions or would like some advice please call us on 01992 563 394 or contact us via contact form.
You may also be interested in Best Hardwood Flooring UK
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