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Solid timber flooring selection

Solid timber flooring selection is not an easy task. Without basic knowledge with timber floors, it is hard to know which is suitable and desired.This article will provide the buyer a professional introduction to six types of solid timbers: four Australian wood, one American wood and one African wood, to help with the decision of choosing which solid timber floor to use.Ozwood reserve the copyrights of the following article. It is not to be used without the owner’s consent.

Spotted Gum – popular choice           

  • Good Colour: Spotted Gum has a natural raw green and gray base colour. There are touches of light white and gentle red as well. This makes furniture matching easy and it is a modern and popular choice.
  • Measure of Hardness: The standard hardness for household solid flooring is 4.5KN (KiloNewton). The average hardness of Australian eucalyptus wood flooring is 9KN, and Spotted Gum has a hardness of 11KN.
  • Good stability: Spotted Gum not only has fine texture, it has natural oil in its wood fibres, so there will be little waveform or cupping. The shrinkage change risk is much lower than other solid wood flooring.
  • Low prices: Australia is rich in eucalyptus resources, and Spotted Gum is one of the main species of Australian woodland. Compared to the world’s other valuable flooring, Spotted Gum floor has a good price.

As a reference, the price of similar flooring: the US black walnut flooring, has a market price of $225 / square metre, almost double the Spotted Gum.

Black Butt Flooring – Classic choice     

When choosing solid timber flooring, many people decide between Spotted Gum and Blackbutt.Which is suitable?We can consider the following points.

  • Janka Test: Spotted Gum timber has a hardness rating of 11 whereas Blackbutt timber is 9.1. This makes Spotted Gum the harder of the two, but both rating level is very acceptable.
  • Presentation: Spotted Gum has a relatively clean look compared to Blackbutt. It has darker shades of golden brown colour. Blackbutt has light wood colour and consists of veins, insect trails and knots that stand out.
  •  Pricing: Both are reasonably priced and their retail price is almost the same.

The decision is not easy because these 2 timbers are the most popular in solid timber flooring.By considering these 3 points, it does not necessary mean Spotted Gum is better choice than Blackbutt. Blackbutt will show all the darker spotting, shallow and deep colour variation, but many customers find it being attractive with fine texture and naturally occurring characteristics

Ironbark – Rugged style   

If weight and hardness was used as the basis for timber floor price, the Australian Ironbark would be the most expensive.Ten boxes of ironbark flooring weigh over 150kg. A quality chair made of ironbark would be difficult to move.Common Australian Ironbark used is Red Ironbark and Grey Ironbark. There are many variations of colour of them, and even after installation, they’ll get richer and deeper in colour over time. Ironbark is a great choice for colour and texture. Because of its hardness, the flooring is best installed with adhesives and not by nails.Based on experience, the Red Ironbark is the first option for a warm home feeling. For a light, natural red-ish brown welcoming feeling then Grey Ironbark will be suitable

Tallowwood – Rare timber

In the Australian wood flooring market, Tallowwood is known to have oily fibres, mostly free of gum veins and a reasonably “clean” look. It has a rich golden yellow and a hint of brown colour.Many buyers choose Tallowwood for their home flooring because when the Tallowwood timber floors are exposed to everyday heat, the oil from the timber fibres concentrate on the surface. This oil creates a visible layer of natural oil and a high gloss appearance. Not only does the Tallowwood floor become more detail, it also makes Tallowwood more waterproof.Compared to Spotted gum and Blackbutt, Tallowwood resource is low in Australia’s native forests.Tallowwood is my personal favourite timber floor, so at Ozwood’s warehouse, it is manufactured and stocked year round to meet buyers’ demand.If you’re considering in using the excellent qualities of Tallowwood floor, Ozwood Timber Flooring is the best supplier choice.

Black Walnut (American) – Expensive, Prestige

You may be unfamiliar with this name, but you may have come across many of its products. It is used in car interiors, cabinets, furniture, joinery, various wood carvings etc. It is commercially named Black Walnut, a high grade timber from the US.Just like in the US, Australia view the Black Walnut as a precious and valuable timber. All Black Walnut products had always been known as the most “aristocratic” in stature. With deep rich coffee appearance, luxurious texture, gentle wood grains and noble characters; it has establish itself as a prestigious material in furniture and flooring. Black Walnut is produced in the central states of the US, with fine texture, well polished features, oiled fibre and water resistant, it is very desirable. There are a limited number of buyers that select Black Walnut, and at Ozwood, we have had the privilege to install Black Walnut for a few, exclusive homes, every year in Sydney.

 Okan – Desirable, Enticing

Throughout the history of solid wood flooring there were 3 well known types of timber floors.

  • Product of Brazil, the Merbau
  • The Maple from Indonesia
  • And Africa’s Okan

These 3 flooring types have common properties. They are skillfully processed, have good strength and stability with oiled fibres, reasonably priced and there are large forest reserves of each. Of the 3, Okan comes with bright rich red colour and a dynamic texture. After ten years of rapid development, China’s flooring industry is at the forefront of both technology and production capacity. More than 90% of the flooring in the Sydney market is made in China. From our efforts in research and development, we are proud to say that our manufacturing factory in China is ranked in the top 10 flooring brands in the country.