The advantages of timber flooring and the best option for your next home

Australian blackbutt hardwood flooring coated with waterborne polyurethane.

Many homes across the country benefit from the beauty of solid wood flooring – from solid oak and ash to kwila and rimu.

Whether it’s a new build or a renovation project, what should be considered when exploring solid hardwood flooring options?

Achieving a modern aesthetic with solid timber flooring

When helping homeowners choose a timber floor, designers often lean towards engineered timber for its aesthetic appeal. However, Napier Timber Flooring’s operations manager Daniel De Jesus says solid timber can also achieve a modern look if chosen correctly.

Daniel De Jesus, operations manager at Napier Timber Flooring.

“If designers aren’t sure which timber will work best, they can visit our showroom by appointment. We have all our solid timber and engineered timber on display.”

A popular choice for modern residential spaces is solid oak timber floors.

“You can do different colours and make it look modern, just as an engineered product would do,” says De Jesus. “If everything is ready to go on site, I can visit the project with all our options to narrow down the selection, measure up, and provide a quote on any potential options.

“Some people like there to be fewer knots in the pattern, some prefer lighter colours while some like darker timber flooring.”

Changing the style of wooden floors with stains and finishes

Depending on a client’s preference for colour, this can also be customised with stains. By changing the stain or finish of timber flooring, a stylish and modern aesthetic can be achieved – whether it’s with the wide variety of stain colours available to be applied by Napier Timber Flooring, or the selection of finishes, from glossy to matt.

“With rimu and mataī, people often just put polyurethane on it because they like the colour. But for the likes of American white oak, the majority want to give it a stain to give it a different colour to match their decor and furniture,” says De Jesus.

“Victorian ash is another good example where it has a reddish colour, but when a finish is applied to it, it can look very different.”

The seals available from Napier Timber Flooring include waterborne polyurethane, moisture-cure polyurethane and oil.

“Waterborne polyurethane doesn’t have a smell like moisture-cure poly, but this polyurethane is hardwearing and good for foot traffic or if you have kids or dogs. The third option is oil and they all create different shades on different timbers.”

Each timber species is displayed in the Napier Timber Flooring showroom with each finish option to see how the natural colour is impacted.

American white oak coated with polyurethane.

Polyurethane coatings are practical for prolonging the life of the timber surface in high-traffic areas.

Engineered timber flooring: what do you need to know?

Restoring solid timber floors

As well as the customisable possibilities of solid timber flooring, this flooring type is hard-wearing and a sustainable choice for the home. Many solid wood floors installed years ago still look as good as day one.

However, after many years of light damage, dropped objects, moved furniture and the bumps and grazes of everyday living causing scratched surfaces, dents or breaks in the seal that protects the wood, wooden flooring can be easily restored. As flooring specialists, the Napier Timber Flooring team can sand and re-seal timber floors to revive them to their prime.

“Solid timber flooring is durable and lasts for a long time. But heat sources such as fires and large sunny windows, and high traffic or activity areas like stairways and kitchens, can all increase the risk of damage to your floors,” says De Jesus.

“With solid timber, you can get three or four sands out of a large 19mm piece of timber – this is an advantage over engineered timber as you can often only get one sand and recoat.

“We can also restore timber flooring in homes that are being remodelled and fill any gaps created in the renovation process. Our team can either repurpose wood from within your home from hidden timber flooring in cupboards or bedrooms, or we can source recycled materials to match the original wooden flooring.”

If solid timber floors are maintained properly, they can last up to 15 years before needing to be re-done, making them an attractive option for those designing and building their forever homes.

“You can lay solid timber down and it will be there forever.”

If you would like to explore the range of solid timber flooring options available from Napier Timber Flooring, get in touch with the team to learn more.