Solid Wooden Flooring or Engineered?

With such an array of wood flooring products on the market in an alarming variety of species, widths, types and finishes, how on earth do you know which one is right for you?

Fashion fads wax and wane with the moon but generally, hardwood floors can all be grouped into two main categories; solid wood floors and engineered wood floors.

Solid hardwood floors are made up of one piece of wood all the way through, from top to bottom regardless of width or length. Solid boards will range in thickness from between 18mm – 22mm and thinner overlays are also available from 10mm – 15mm. Well made Engineered wood floors consist of 3 separate sandwich layers; a real hardwood veneer layer at the top to act as the wear layer, ranging from 3mm to 6mm in depth; then a core layer of Heavea Brasiliensis (other wise known as Rubberwood) and finally a stabilising backing layer of edge glued hardwood. Typically engineered hardwood floors range from 9mm – 22mm in thickness.

So is engineered or solid hardwood flooring best?

The current wood flooring trend is for long, wide planks. Solid hardwood boards that are very wide widths are less stable than narrower boards and in the wrong hands are at higher risk of ‘bowing’ or ‘cupping’ if environmental factors are not exactly right. Any wood, but especially solid hardwood will readily absorb any moisture present in the subfloor or ambient environment causing permanent distortion. That said, correct acclimatisation and installation by a professional is the key to success. Solid hardwood floors tend to be fitted by ‘secret nailing’ on to a plywood laid over the concrete sub floor or nailed directly to batons. A solid hardwood floor will last for generations when cared for properly and can be sanded down and resealed for years to come to revitalise the look of the floor.

Engineered hardwood boards are generally more stable and are perhaps more suited to the climate in the UK and the concrete floor construction of our houses. They can be glued, nailed to a subfloor or floated over a suitable underlay. The better engineered hardwood boards are made up from 100% hardwood, such as theBlueridge engineered White Oak and Black Walnut hardwood flooring range from Blue Evolution. The 100% hardwood manufacturing technique results in a super stable engineered hardwoodboard since any expansion or contraction takes place in the layers at the same rate; resulting in less stress on the glue layer which in turn reduces the likelihood of ‘bowing’ or ‘cupping’ or ‘delaminating’.  A 100% hardwood construction is more sustainable than using plywood or softwood since more of the log is used in the construction of the board, cutting down mill waste.

Some professional installers insist that they can identify whether a floor is solid or engineered hardwoodjust by how it feels and sounds when they walk on it. To most of us though any type of hardwood flooring is not just super hard wearing and structurally robust, it is an investment which will stand the test of time.

In all cases the secret to a beautiful, lasting and problem free hardwood floor is in the correct acclimatisation and fitting. Try to select an installation professional who can point you to plenty of happy customers for references!  Visit this link to find out more about hardwood floor installation.

dblo associates studio brings together a team of architects with a wide experience and knowledge across a variety of project and contract types. dblo associates work covers architecture, interior design and development. working as a studio, allows us the flexibility to expand and contract to suit work loads and to draw on the wider expertise of our associate studios across london. We are  architects london and we believe that the quality of our surrounding have a direct influence on the quality of our lives, whether in public, the work place, or the home. dblo associates is an organisation dedicated to creating and enhancing value through design.

Industrial, Retail & Events Security Services

Premier Guarding is a new generation security company tailored to reflect the security needs and demands of the millennium. We provide fully trained professional Static & Mobile Security Guards and offer a tailored made service for Commercial sites, Industrial sites, Retail outlets, Construction Sites and Special Events. Premier Guarding UK Limited is ISO 9001 accredited and conform to BS 7499 and BS 7858 for supplying security guards in the UK. All our security guards hold SIA license.

Our Security Guards

All our security guards are highly trained in our classroom environment by our SIA trainers. A security guard is passed on to the client if and only if he has no criminal records. Oursecurity officers are employed to meet your specific needs. We expect the highest discipline and standards from all of our staff.

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Premier Gurading has a huge amount of experince giving the very best in event security for concerts, sporting events, company product launches and private parties thoughout the UK.

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Our Key holding security services ensure that your keys are protected and All Keys are coded in our control room and drivers and controllers book for the keys before getting access to the safe. Keys will only be accessed in event of us needing to attend your property.

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Premier Guarding provide retail security officers across London and the UK . All our guards hold a SIA licence and are trained for retail security. We have proven means of targeting shoplifting or stock loss. We will help and advise on existing internal security procedures to provide long term security improvements.

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Premier Guarding UK offers exceptional Customer Care which indeed is our hallmark and service signature. Our commitment to each and everyone of our client is customer satisfaction.

RUMM’s (Remote Utility Monitoring & Management) total energy management solution is a unique scheme combining consultation and planning with sophisticated data collection and clever analytical software to create a bespoke solution – a blue print tailored to each company’s individual needs.

RUMM’s overall mission is to bring leading academic research on energy management into a reality that delivers the win / win of significant cost savings and corporate responsibility. It has a proven methodology to deliver these results.

Since its launch 5 years ago RUMM has already helped clients across the UK, Europe and USA save millions both in terms of costs and CO₂ tonnes.

So if you have:

• an energy bill of over circa £250,000k
• are looking to reduce your energy consumption
• want to help the environment and ensure your company meets with the new CRC (Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme) legislation
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We provide a full energy management solution, including:

• CaP – Consultation and Planning
  From an initial site visit to discuss your current energy usage and requirements, to full site surveys and plans, RUMM offers a comprehensive consultation and planning service designed to meet your individual needs…more on Consultation and Planning
• Pulse Data Collection
  When installing an aM&T system, Pulse is our unique data acquisition product that allows us to collect data from any meter, anywhere.
• IBASS
  Offering secure data storage for all the information collected from Pulse, IBASS is a comprehensive software package that allows both RUMM and the client to examine utility consumption data and identify those areas of high consumption.
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