When you build or renovate a house, the choice of flooring is one of the important decisions that give aesthetic value to the house later. There are many choices for floors like carpets, terrazzo, wood, etc. Especially for solid hardwood floor, not only choose the preferred color, the wood material itself also determines the aesthetic value.
Why Choosing Solid Hardwood instead of the other Hardwood?
Solid hardwood floor is one of very beautiful and good quality hardwood floors, made from hardwood species such as oak, maple, etc. Solid hardwood can be sanded and refined many times during use, making you able to use hardwood floors much longer than other flooring materials. Another type like engineered wood flooring is made to look very similar to the surface with a solid hardwood floor, but actually, it made of thinner layers of wood and tied to a high-quality plywood substrate.
Speaking of price, of course, engineered wood flooring is slightly cheaper than solid hardwood flooring, but most types of engineered wood flooring can only be sanded and repaired only once because the surface of hardwoods is relatively thin.
So which one do you think is better? A little expensive, but easy to care for and can be used for a long time. Or a little cheap but can only be treated once and the lifetime is limited? All choices certainly return to your hands, adjust to your budget and needs.
Preparing the Installations
Besides being cheaper than solid hardwood flooring, engineered wood flooring offers another advantage in installation. If the installation of wooden floors is needed in the basement area or apartment with a concrete floor base, solid hardwood usually must be installed on one or two layers of plywood first. As a result, the height of the floor increases and can disturb existing doors or slightly reduce the ceiling height. Reverse engineered wood can be attached directly to concrete or on a soundproof mat.
If you decide to use engineered wood flooring, you should be careful to choose a larger top layer. Many high-quality products use a thicker surface layer, which makes it easy to treat with sandpaper. Even so, many people still choose to use solid hardwood floors because they feel a different feeling when stepping on it and feel calmer. Once again back to your needs, prefer to use engineered wood floors or solid hardwood floors.
Talk further about solid hardwood floor, a hardwood that is used is wood that is cut directly from the tree. Not like engineered wood, which consists of wood fibers that are put together with adhesive. The solid hardwood in addition to the floor is also widely used to make furniture, cabinet construction, etc. Solid hardwood floor is not easily curved like other woods but is more susceptible to stains. Solid hardwood is easier to repair than other wood products such as engineered wood or veneers, and this is also one of the reasons why many home developers prefer solid hardwood to be used in their various projects.
For solid hardwood types, there are many unique characteristics including fiber pattern, color, and texture. You can find a solid hardwood floor factory that displays a list of hardwood floor materials on its website. And one that is in great demand is wood materials from Indonesia.
The Difference between Types and Species of Hardwood
Merbau wood is one of the solid hardwoods originating from Indonesia with its unique character and is nicknamed ironwood because it lasts very long. Another name for Merbau wood is Kwila wood and its scientific name is Intsia bijuga. Merbau wood has a very clear variation of wood from the heartwood to the sapwood, the dark brown color of the heartwood turns into the light golden color of the heartwood. The main color of Merbau wood is pink to dark golden, or in other words, there is a little gold splash in its wood color, very unique compared to other hardwood species such as mahogany or teak.
In the Merbau hardwood structure, there is a natural dark brown colloidal substance which will dissolve when the wood is exposed to water, people call this colored water coming out as Merbau Bleeding. Continuous water contact on Merbau wood can cause the dark brown wood color to fade and turn gray, to prevent Merbau Bleeding, Merbau solid hardwood is first processed with “Tannin Remover“. Merbau wood also has an oily wood feature that is very similar to teak. This natural oil from Merbau wood protects wood from water, worms, and termites thus extending its useful life. The advantages and uniqueness of this Merbau wood make many hardwood floors in Indonesia use it as basic material.
If the solid hardwood floor Indonesia suggests the use of Merbau solid hardwood, the hardwood floor factory in Europe and America usually uses Oak hardwood.
Oak or Oak (Dutch Eik) grows in cold regions such as the northern hemisphere, Europe, America, or on the Asian plains which have cold temperatures and can last for hundreds of years. Seeing its characteristics of oak wood, its texture and porosity are quite large and wider than other types of wood so that it dries easily despite contact with water or other liquids.
This is the main reason the solid hardwood floor factory recommends the use of oak hardwood for residential use in areas with high humidity levels. Although not as hard as Merbau hardwood, oak wood is widely used for various types of furniture or wood floors in premium dwellings such as villas, hotels, etc. and there are also solid hardwood flooring Indonesia designs that emit hardwood-based hardwood floor designs that are natural, modern and minimalist.
For some time the solid hardwood floor factory and especially the solid hardwood floor Indonesia are currently releasing the latest hardwood floor products with Bengkirai wood material. Originating from tropical forest areas in Indonesia especially Kalimantan, Bengkirai wood has a texture in many variants ranging from smooth to slightly rough. Bengkirai hardwood weighs heavier than teak hardwood which was popular in the past so it is undoubtedly its durability. It has a brownish-yellow character and is synonymous with bright colors, making your room brighter and natural-looking. Solid hardwood floor factory and especially solid hardwood floor Indonesia suggest Bengkirai hardwood is used for a minimalist home design that looks casual as demanded by millennials today
- By:PT. Jati Luhur Agung
- Tags: flooring wood, solid wood flooring
- Category: Wood Flooring
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