How to Maximise Kitchen Design and Space with Engineered Oak Flooring.
The modern kitchen; far from being a place where the woman of the family spends hours alone preparing meals for ravenous children and a taciturn breadwinner (thank goodness). Today, the kitchen is far more often a central focal point of the household. It is little wonder therefore that style considerations have taken on a more significant role in designing a sophisticated modern kitchen and it is difficult to conceive of a more stylish flooring finish than oak hardwood flooring. Natural wood grains will complement almost any kitchen furnishings and, while being much longer lasting than laminates or lino, is warmer underfoot than stone or tile.
Of course the more astute reader may well be wondering, how can oak flooring cope with the constant temperature and humidity fluctuations that are typical of a busy kitchen? The answer, of course, is that we are not talking about solid wood flooring, which does indeed occasionally suffer problems of heat expansion in places like kitchens and conservatories.
What we are talking about here is engineered hardwood. Engineered oak flooring consists of a thick layer of real hardwood (in our case Oak or Walnut) on the top, combined with layers of lighter, faster growing timbers underneath. These layers are aligned with alternating grain orientations to provide greater stability and resistance to expansion and warping.
In terms of space saving, the most obvious advantage of engineered oak flooring is that it can be laid over underfloor heating. This allows your design to dispense with wall mounted radiators, thereby freeing up that space for additional cabinets and worksurfaces. Nobody wants to break up a nice run of cupboards and a long uninterrupted worksurface to make room for a radiator, particularly when they can enjoy the welcoming warmth of underfloor heating; especially welcome on cold winter mornings when making that first cup of tea or coffee to start the day.
All this being said, is a wooden flooring really going to cope with the possible spills and stains that a kitchen could throw at it? Well, the simple answer to this is yes, providing it’s treated with the right product. A high quality finish such as Treatex Hardwax oil is durable, long lasting and stain / water resistant. We have supplying floors that have been treated with Treatex hard wax oil for over a decade into kitchens with fantastic results.
You can read some feedback from our customers that have used our flooring in kitchens below:
https://www.jfjwoodflooring.co.uk/customerfeedback/220mm-flooring-harrow-north-london
https://www.jfjwoodflooring.co.uk/customerfeedback/flooring-survives-flood
A high quality finish makes engineered oak hardwood flooring very easy to clean. When compared with cheaper laminate flooring or lino, real hardwood floors add an elegance and class to your home that cannot be truly replicated with cheaper alternatives. They also add value of your property and are known to have a very attractive return on investment. According to Alex Biyevetskiy, a home remodelling expert from remodelingimage.com, having a hardwood floor can add up to 2.5% to the value of a property and have a 70-80% ROI.
A hardwood floor is also a floor for life. If the floor is finished with a high quality finish sanding a floor back is certainly not a regular occurrence however it’s nice to know that should the floor start to show signs of wear and tear it can be sanded back, resealed and brought back to its former glory.
