Are you confused by all the talk of laminate, engineered, solid, parquet floors? We’ve built this website to help you tell what is what and assist you to make your choice of the correct type of wooden floor that is best suited for your home – there is almost unlimited colours, styles, finish, performance and of course price !

If you can’t find the answers to your questions here – we think we’ve covered most queries, please call us on our national help line – 0861 TIMBER or email us here.

LAMINATE FLOORS:

Laminate floors were first created in Europe some 20 – 30 years ago by the manufacturers of counter tops whilst looking to expand their businesses. By making their counter tops thinner, adding wear resistant surfaces and providing a compact size that would fit in their client’s cars, laminate floors were born. Today the demand for laminate floors has made laminates the fastest growing floor covering in South Africa, just as has been witnessed everywhere else in the world.

Essentially laminate floors imitate wooden floors, their main advantage being their ease of installation and durability. Laminate floors are made of a thin, compressed wood core (High Density Fibreboard) with a melamine coated backing paper on the back to balance the floor by helping to keep it flat and on the upper side a décor layer ( picture of wood) covered with a wear layer. Thicknesses can vary between 6 to 12mm as can the durability of these floors and care must be taken to select the correct floor for your application.


PICTURE FLOOR SECTION                                         �LINK _ LAMINATE FLOORS

Wood flooring has developed enormously in recent years in terms of style and colour whilst maintaining its essential ingredient – its natural beauty. The choice between engineered and solid floors revolves around the installation method and floor level within the home, budget as well as environmental considerations.

ENGINEERED AND VENEERED  FLOORS

An engineered floor is constructed with multiple layers of cross-grained wood, the top surface layer being the “show” face of the species selected whilst the other layers would typically be constructed of a renewable species of wood to provide the “bulk” or core of the floor. Because this top layer of the engineered floor is not as thick as a solid floor board, it is possible to obtain many more floorboards from one tree than one would by manufacturing a solid floorboard

Installation of engineered floors is generally by floating them on the floor base slab, gluing them or stapling them to a ply wood underlayment. Typically, all engineered floors stocked at Rhoms Timberworld are pre-finished, thus obviating the dust, smells and drying associated with the onsite finishing of the floor. Also, being factory finished, the finished lacquer wear surface generally has a far superior finish to that which can be obtained by onsite application and can be more durable also.

LINK – ENGINEERED FLOORS

SOLID FLOORS

A solid floor board is manufactured from a solid piece of wood of the selected species and would typically be 20mm thick or occasionally 32mm. Joining of the floorboards is by means of a ‘tongue- and – groove” on all 4 – sides. Installation can vary by preference but is also determined by the available height for the floor. If installed on battens, a minimum height of 45 – 50mm is required, if stapled to plywood, a minimum of 32mm is needed whilst gluing the floor down can reduce the height to 16 - 23mm as an absolute minimum.

Solid floors are available as unfinished or pre-finished products – unfinished requires sanding and sealing on site with the resultant fumes, dust and drying times associated with the sealant selected. and preparation necessary before applying it.

LINK – SOLID FLOORS

Are you confused by all the talk of laminate, engineered, solid, parquet floors? We’ve built this website to help you tell what is what and assist you to make your choice of the correct type of wooden floor that is best suited for your home – there is almost unlimited colours, styles, finish, performance and of course price !

If you can’t find the answers to your questions here – we think we’ve covered most queries, please call us on our national help line – 0861 TIMBER or email us here.

LAMINATE FLOORS:

Laminate floors were first created in Europe some 20 – 30 years ago by the manufacturers of counter tops whilst looking to expand their businesses. By making their counter tops thinner, adding wear resistant surfaces and providing a compact size that would fit in their client’s cars, laminate floors were born. Today the demand for laminate floors has made laminates the fastest growing floor covering in South Africa, just as has been witnessed everywhere else in the world.

Essentially laminate floors imitate wooden floors, their main advantage being their ease of installation and durability. Laminate floors are made of a thin, compressed wood core (High Density Fibreboard) with a melamine coated backing paper on the back to balance the floor by helping to keep it flat and on the upper side a décor layer ( picture of wood) covered with a wear layer. Thicknesses can vary between 6 to 12mm as can the durability of these floors and care must be taken to select the correct floor for your application.


PICTURE FLOOR SECTION                                         �LINK _ LAMINATE FLOORS

Wood flooring has developed enormously in recent years in terms of style and colour whilst maintaining its essential ingredient – its natural beauty. The choice between engineered and solid floors revolves around the installation method and floor level within the home, budget as well as environmental considerations.

ENGINEERED AND VENEERED  FLOORS

An engineered floor is constructed with multiple layers of cross-grained wood, the top surface layer being the “show” face of the species selected whilst the other layers would typically be constructed of a renewable species of wood to provide the “bulk” or core of the floor. Because this top layer of the engineered floor is not as thick as a solid floor board, it is possible to obtain many more floorboards from one tree than one would by manufacturing a solid floorboard

Installation of engineered floors is generally by floating them on the floor base slab, gluing them or stapling them to a ply wood underlayment. Typically, all engineered floors stocked at Rhoms Timberworld are pre-finished, thus obviating the dust, smells and drying associated with the onsite finishing of the floor. Also, being factory finished, the finished lacquer wear surface generally has a far superior finish to that which can be obtained by onsite application and can be more durable also.

LINK – ENGINEERED FLOORS

SOLID FLOORS

A solid floor board is manufactured from a solid piece of wood of the selected species and would typically be 20mm thick or occasionally 32mm. Joining of the floorboards is by means of a ‘tongue- and – groove” on all 4 – sides. Installation can vary by preference but is also determined by the available height for the floor. If installed on battens, a minimum height of 45 – 50mm is required, if stapled to plywood, a minimum of 32mm is needed whilst gluing the floor down can reduce the height to 16 - 23mm as an absolute minimum.

Solid floors are available as unfinished or pre-finished products – unfinished requires sanding and sealing on site with the resultant fumes, dust and drying times associated with the sealant selected. and preparation necessary before applying it.

LINK – SOLID FLOORS