A delightfully clever timber-look acoustic floor that effortlessly handles the chaos of family life

When designing a home for a busy family of fourteen — mum, dad, four young boys, five cats, two chinchillas, and one dog — material specification is crucial. Not only do your materials need to withstand environmental factors like sun exposure, but you also need to consider the impact of energetic children and pets bringing water, dirt, toys, and noise in and out of a large-scale home on a daily basis. And, for a design-focused client like the mother of this busy Kiwi family, the finishes must be beautiful.  

It’s a challenging brief, but fortunately, Ecodure Flooring had just the product. Touted as ‘quite possibly the quietest acoustic flooring on the market’, Ecodure Flooring’s DuracoreSilent Acoustic Flooring captured the imagination of client Katie.

“Katie was initially looking for a traditional timber floor, and she wasn’t really interested in considering anything else, but once she saw Duracore it ended up being an easy selection,” Nic Blackie of Ecodure Flooring explains. “The high-durability and added acoustic benefits, which they needed as a big, busy family, gave her the confidence she would be stacking features that truly benefit their lifestyle.”

With the look and feel of genuine oiled oak, DuracoreSilent appears to be an authentic timber floor — yet there’s no timber in the product at all. Consisting of a 1mm cork underlay, a patented acoustic in-board system that reduces both noise transmission and reflected noise, a rigid stone core, and a gorgeous vinyl decor finish that imitates realistic oak texture using an embossed-in-register technology, DuracoreSilent offers all the beauty of timber without the vulnerability. Plus, thanks to its sustainable manufacturing processes and patented in-board sustainability technology, Duracore reduces CO2 emissions from raw material procurement right through to installation. 

“The top layer of DuracoreSilent is stain, dent, scratch, water, and UV-resistant, making it ideal for the high-traffic demands and sun exposure in Katie’s coastal home,” Nic says. “Plus, because the home has some very large volume spaces and raking cathedral style ceilings in living areas, the acoustic properties are a real winner, absorbing up to 30% more in-room noise than other hard floors.”

The family had 250 square metres of DuracoreSilent installed across the single-storey home, starting in the glass entrance and carrying through the kitchen, dining room, living areas, and hallways. Katie selected a herringbone pattern in the colour Aoraki Mt Cook, which is a blend of light and mid-oak tones. With a warm palette of greys, creams, and terracotta, Aoraki was the perfect complement.

Because of the embossed-in-register technology, the surface of the flooring carries a grooved pattern that accurately reflects the grain found on natural oak. 

“It’s designed in such a way that when you’re looking at a knot in the timber finish it actually feels authentic to a precision degree,” Nic says. 

Each 7.5mm thick plank in the herringbone pattern has a gently bevelled edge and is designed to lock into its fellow planks for a genuine, dynamic, waterproof installation. Ecodure also supplies accessories like trims and square-nose staircase finishes to ensure the floor is finished to a high standard regardless of application.

Since installation, Nic says the client has been particularly impressed by the durability and acoustic performance of the floor.

“The acoustics weren’t one of her main concerns when first selecting the product, but after seeing how well it performs in their large-volume family home with everyone chatting, kids running in and out, pets bounding about, they have been really impressed. They’ve also had a few parties where heels were welcome and there was no damage to the floor — it’s truly so durable.”

Renovation by Buchanan Construction.

Learn more about DuracoreSilent and Ecodure Flooring.