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1. Can I use wooden flooring in the kitchen and bathroom? Yes, you can use them in the kitchen and bathrooms as they are hard-wearing floors. However, just know that timber floors are natural floors and are different from other flooring options like marble and tiles—and hence they tend to react to moisture and wear in a different way. Therefore, you must know how to take care of wooden flooring, especially in high spillage and foot traffic areas. Make sure to discuss with your professional flooring installer to assist you in maintaining timber floors in the kitchen and bathroom. 2. What are the benefits of engineered floorboards over solid timber floorboards? Like solid timber flooring, engineered flooring also comes in varieties of styles, finishes and colours. Some of the advantages of engineered flooring are: Highly durable and resistant to moisture and temperature than solid timber and thus less likely to move and warp More sustainable and environmentally friendly options Longer and wider floorboards are available, making them easy to install They are suitable for use with underfloor heating They require no acclimatisation period provided there is no underfloor heating More elegant choices at budget-friendly prices 3. What does an unfinished floor mean? An unfinished timber floor refers to the raw floorboards that do not have any sort of protective layer or sealant applied to them yet. Though you can leave them like that, unfinished floors are more prone to damage from moisture and wear. Hence, they are usually finished on-site with a light floor sanding, followed by the application of the desired protective coatings and stains. 4. What is the most durable finish for solid timber floors? It depends upon the flooring type, its usage and what you are trying to achieve. Not all hardwoods work well with every other flooring finish. Flooring professionals suggest finishes depending upon the hardwood type. At Forte Flooring, we use a wide variety of finishes, including oil base, modified oil, water base, alcohol base, hard wax oil and many more. 6. What does grading mean? Grading is the way of ranking or distinguishing the visual characteristics of the timber floorboards based on their grain patterns, knots, veins, splitting and insect marks. At Forte Flooring, we have three grades of timber flooring: Select grade Standard grade Character grade Check out our supplier for a full range of timber floor styles and grades. 5. Is tongue and groove better than click-lock flooring? Though the click-lock flooring is easy to install and fast, the traditional tongue and groove flooring is the better option. It’s because the tongue and groove floorings are more flexible and can be fitted over any subfloor, including joists. Moreover, they are easy to repair in case of any damage during fitting, while the click-lock cannot be repaired. 7. Which timber flooring is the best? Whether it’s hardwood flooring, engineered, cork or bamboo, choosing one depends on your personal choice and preferences, such as the colour, tone, and texture you like on your timber floors. And the best hardwood species in Europe is Oak and perhaps Ash. 8. How long will my timber floors last? Timber floors last for many decades if you give them the proper care and maintenance. Sanding and polishing your floors helps renew the timber floors and keep them looking new for many years. The thicker your floorboard is, the more life you can expect with professional floor sanding and polishing techniques.

What’s The Difference Between Solid Timber Flooring and Engineered Timber Flooring? The biggest difference between engineered timber flooring and solid timber flooring is that engineered timber flooring is covered by a warranty and is pre-finished, meaning now acclimatisation, sanding or staining on site. What is Engineered Timber Flooring? Engineered timber flooring is a multi-layered floor composed of timber veneer surface layer sitting atop multi ply substrate. The top layer of the wood approximately 4-6mm making it easier to age and condition the wood, reducing the expansion and contraction of the wood, but can still be sanded back and repaired like solid timber flooring. This allows a manufacturer to create a pre-finished floorboard that doesn’t require additional sanding or polishing after installation – this also allows the wood to be delivered, laid and be ready to go all in one day. How Long Does Engineered Timber Flooring Last? On average, engineered flooring can expect to last around 20 to 30 years when cared for properly. When well looked after, timber flooring can expect to last around 10-12 years before it needs to be re-sanded. What Are The Advantages Of Engineered Timber Flooring? Oak Engineered Timber Flooring is a fantastic alternative to solid hardwood flooring as it’s less costly than solid hardwood, easier to install but more importantly, comes in a range of 100s of contemporary colours and finishes to freshen any home. Also, it’s very difficult to distinguish from its solid timber flooring once installed. A few other benefits to Engineered timber flooring are as follows: (As mentioned) it’s less costly than solid hardwood flooring Difficult to tell apart from solid flooring once installed Better resistance to fluctuations in temperature and humidity than solid wood flooring Significantly more stable Pre-finished timber flooring Matt finish coating Can be installed overheat sun floor Available in a wide range of wood species, styles, colours, and finishes The top layer can be sanded and refinished if necessary Quicker installation Environment friendly The oak engineered floorboards we use at Forte Flooring are constructed out of a multilayer ply base. This enhances the stability of the floorboards and significantly reduces the chances of the wood cupping or shrinking over time, which is common in solid timber flooring. Our Engineered floorboards are coated in the factory under a controlled environment, with a selective colour matching process. This gives customers the confidence they need when ordering their oak timber floorboards. Our matt finish coating significantly reduces the amount of dust seen on your floorboards and allows homeowners to do spot repairs on their floorboards rather than waiting to fully re-sand and recoat their floorboards as is the only way solid timber floorboards can be repaired. What Are The Disadvantages Of Engineered Timber Flooring? No flooring is without its drawbacks, and even though we’re strong advocates for engineered timber flooring there are disadvantages to the timber that needs to be considered. Susceptible to fading if in full sun, although this is greatly reduced with oak flooring Slightly less water resistance What is Solid Timber Flooring? Solid timber flooring is a traditional style hardwood floor which is a solid piece of wood all the way through. Solid timber flooring is often installed in its raw form which means the timber will need to be sanded down and polished once installed. Solid timber flooring doesn’t come with any warranty and has to be acclimatised in homes for weeks before installation. The had to be sanded and coated on site which adds more weeks before the flooring can be walked on. How Long Does Solid Timber Flooring Last? The lifespan of solid timber flooring is largely dependent on how well your timber floorboards are cared for. When done right, your floorboards can last for more than 40 years. What Are The Advantages Of Solid Timber Flooring? As mentioned previously, one of the biggest benefits of solid timber flooring is the ability to be able to sand the floorboards 3-4 times. A few other benefits to solid timber flooring are as follows: Can be used as your subfloor when being installed over bearers and joints Sanded and coated after all trades are done What Are The Disadvantages of Solid Timber Flooring? As we said, no flooring is without its drawbacks, not even solid timber flooring which we’ve detailed for you below: High Gloss that can show dirt and dust and require extra cleaning High gloss floors can require more maintenance and are a lot more difficult to repair than engineered floorboards Less stable than engineered timber flooring Thinner board sizes can add to clutter in homes Installation time can be between 4-6 weeks Longer wait time – Solid floorboards have to be acclimatised in the home for approx 6 weeks, then installed, coated and allowed to fully cure before homeowners can move in Limited choice of colours available More expensive option Choosing timber flooring that’s right for you ultimately comes down to personal preference and functionality. With 3 generations of experience in the flooring industry, our team of experts at Forte, are here to assist you in choosing a timber flooring that suits your needs.

While a lot of attention has been focused on the beauty of wide plank floorboards, an equally important consideration that will impact the look of your interior is the length of the floorboard. Long floorboards are very attractive to the eye and help bring a more premium atmosphere to the interior. One of the advantages of European made floorboards is that even the standard boards available are typically of generous length, compared to product sourced elsewhere. Standard lengths available from Europe typically range from 2200mm to 2400mm. This compares very favourably to the average lengths seen in the Irish market of 1700mm to 2000mm – these shorter boards are typically sourced from China as ‘European engineered oak’ (European oak top layer glued to Chinese ply backing). It’s important to note that much of the Chinese made product comes in mixed lengths (or ‘nested’ boards), which means that typically 30% to 40% of the floorboards will be supplied in much shorter lengths, such as 600mm. European suppliers may supply either fixed lengths, without any short boards, or they may also supply a percentage of mixed lengths, however the percentage of mixed lengths is typically lower than what you’ll see in Chinese sourced product. It’s also possible to purchase even longer floorboards, for example boards up to 5 metres in length. These stunning extra-long boards bring a grand ambience to any interior. To summarise, if you want your flooring to bring a more refined, high-end atmosphere to your interior, then you should specify our longer European-made floorboards for your next project.