Tips and Tricks

Your floors are one the most important investments you can make in your home. Without a good base to start with, it's hard to get that look you really want. Timber is the only flooring product that gives you the ability to adapt to any style, simply put - Timber is Timeless.

Advantages: 

Your installer should be able to work out your area and tell you how much timber to purchase, however if you would like to work out your own area it can be calculated by breaking up the room in to squares, rectangles & triangles and then adding up all the areas.

• Rectangles & squares: measure a wall (5.0) & then measure the adjacent wall (4.0m ) 
• 5 x 4 = 20m2

• Triangles: measure the shortest wall (3.0m) & then measure the wall at right angles to that (6.0m) multiply the two & then half the value.
• 3 x 6 =18
• 18/2 =9.0m2

When ordering timber you must always allow for a "waste" factor, generally this is 5% extra on the total area.

eg: 200m2 + 5% = 210m2 required

NOTE: 5% applies to select and standard grades, for natural grade allow for 10% waste.

When deciding on what timber floor to purchase, shop around and remember that there is a large variety of timber species, colours and features available. Timber floors will last you a lifetime if properly maintained so don't always use price as a guide, take note of the hardness and also the deco you currently have and the deco you would like to have in the future.

Since timber is a natural Product, it may have a wide variety of natural features and colour variation within the one species. Every floor will be unique and may well vary from timber samples or showroom displays.

Sapwood of many native species is much lighter in colour than the adjacent heartwood. 
Some manufacturers may also group a number of similarly featured species together and give that grouping a marketing name unique to that supplier. Where this is the case, reference will need to be made to the producer or supplier to nominate these species if required. 

Hardness indicates a species' resistance to indentation and abrasion, this is measured using the janka rating.

What is Janka rating?

As a consumer of quality timber flooring, you naturally want to know how the product you are thinking about purchasing will withstand wearing and dents. The Janka hardness rating is your standard measurement for this purpose. The Janka test is conducted by measuring the force needed to lodge a .444-inch steel ball into the timber species to a depth of half the ball's diameter. The higher the rating, the harder is the species of the timber.

The table below includes a 'Janka' rating of all timbers listed. As a general guide: 

All Timber flooring is graded in accordance with Australian standards AS 2796.2.

The grades specified in the Standard are primarily based on features and desired aesthetic appearance. The grades of hardwood products are as follows.

•  SELECT GRADE - Select grade is the highest quality timber with minimal features such as knots, holes, splits etc. it is also the most expensive.

•  MEDIUM FEATURE GRADE - Also known as standard grade. Is the middle range grade. It has more natural features than select grade however is still fairly clean.

•  HIGH FEATURE GRADE – Also known as natural grade, Is the most marked of the three with high amounts of natural features, This grade is popular in homes wanting the rustic look.

NOTE: Due to timber being a natural product some combinations of product, grade and species may not always be available.

Availability should be checked before specifying.

The grading names in this Standard are not intended to indicate a ranking of quality. For some applications and species, an increasing proportion of features may make a product more desirable rather than less.

• Timber is a natural product and therefore can not be perfect. Timber flooring is manufactured in accordance with accepted industry standards, which permit a defect tolerance of no more than 5%. The defects may be of a manufacturing or natural type. Therefore when ordering a minimum 5% waste allowance should be added to the total square metre amount to compensate for this.
• The installer assumes all responsibility for final inspection of the product quality. The inspection of the timber flooring should be done before installation. Carefully examine material for colour, finish and quality before installing. If material is not acceptable, do not install it and contact us immediately.
• Before installation the installer must determine that the job site environment and sub-surfaces meet or exceed all applicable recommendations of the construction and materials industries. The manufacturer declines any responsibility for job failure resulting from or associated with sub-surface or job-site environment deficiencies.
• All timber flooring must be acclimatized to the room where it is being installed, This will usually consists of having the timber sitting in the room or home for about 48-72 hours before installation in a normal environment or up to 2 weeks in a high humidity environment - e.g. seaside
• Poor sub-surface preparation may cause ‘lipping' or high and low spots. This can include waterproofing as well as proper laying of battens or plywood.
• Use of stain, filler or putty for defect correction during installation should be accepted as normal procedure. However this can be minimized by selecting a better grade of timber. Grades range from natural grade up to select grade.
• Should an individual piece be doubtful as to grade, manufacture or finish, the installer should not use the piece.
• Please make sure someone is available to take delivery of the order as the delivery drivers are only insured to unload to kerb-side. We may be able to organise someone to put your timber away, however this will incur a charge. Your installer may also do this but don't risk your timber by leaving it outside. Remember it is your responsibility to have this organised before the delivery arrives.