Wood flooring is one of the closest materials you can get from Nature. The rustic feel, musky smell, and the unique grain of each piece of plank brings about a nostalgic feel to the living space. Wood flooring styles naturally exudes a touch of timeless elegance and it is no wonder that it remains the choice of many home owners. It is almost always found in buildings of characters, such as palaces and manors that date back to historical times. For example, the State Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia that has arguably the most beautiful wood floors.

Contrary to common beliefs, wood can be a great eco-friendly choice for all living and company working spaces too. By using wood sourced from sustainable forests (FSC / PEFC certified) and using only adhesives that emit little or no volatile organic compounds (VOCs), wood flooring can be an eco-friendly choice.

For your next design project or home renovation idea, come take a look at some of the beautiful wood flooring style projects that The Floor Gallery has been a part of…

Project #1: HDB Flooring

The owners of this unit chose American Walnut to dress up the floor of their living room. The warm-tone wood flooring style complements the unit well as it provides contrast to the white walls of the premises. The natural varying tones of the wood’s light shade breaks the uniformity of the flooring, brings out the character of the family home, and gives a warm cosy feel to the home. In addition to its aesthetics, this solid wood flooring’s eco-friendly and non-toxic features made it a great flooring choice for the whole family, including the little corner of their furry companion.

Project #2: Condominium Flooring

This apartment in Cote D’zaur Condominium in Marine Parade is covered by FloorTop wood flooring. Also known as engineered wood flooring, it is made by compressing multiple layers of 100% real textured hardwood. With its unique construction, this wood flooring style is more durable, dimensionally stable and less susceptible to warping. In this home, FloorTop engineered wood, along with its natural wood grains, blends perfectly with the Scandinavian-like white walls of the apartment.

Installation of FloorTop engineered wood flooring is also faster and easier. Unlike traditional wood flooring, the original floor does not have to be hacked. FloorTop wood flooring can be overlaid onto the existing floor. There is also no need to sand and varnish on site as the floors are pre-finished at the factory. This cuts down the installation time from weeks to just a day or two!

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Interested to find out more about FloorTop wood flooring for your property? Feel free to contact our decking specialists HERE!
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Project #3: Editlounge Pte Ltd’s Outdoor Decking

Generally all wood can be used for outdoors. The wood used will have to be kept dry and regularly maintained to prevent wood rot. However, there are some wood species that have a higher resistance to decay than others and these are the wood species that are commonly used for outdoor decking. One of the wood species would be Chengal. It is study, durable and naturally resistant to termites. In addition, Chengal has a relatively low shrinkage ratio, (only inferior to Teak) which makes it excellent for applications where it undergoes periodic changes in moisture.

Editlounge Pte Ltd, a post-production and media management company, installed chengal wood decking at the balcony of its Cendex Centre office. Instead of laying a deck over the entire balcony, the chengal wood decking was interspersed with some grey pebbles and tiles. This breaks the monotony of the decked space and gives it a calming “Zen” feel. This project shows that one can definitely create stylish wonders in an outdoor space. All it takes is a little creativity!

Types of Wood Flooring

At The Floor Gallery, we have a wide range of wood flooring styles to suit your needs. For traditional solid wood flooring design, consider Canadian Cherry, a red-colored hardwood hailing from Canada and the United States. Alternatively, take a look at European Birch, a lovely brown hardwood popular among Singaporean homeowners. If you love something a little darker, Tasmania Oak is a grey-colored wood that blends well with contemporary, white interiors. We have more than 20 types of hardwood to choose from, check them out here.

Canadian Cherry	European Birch	Tasmania Oak

If, however, you fancy FloorTop engineered wood style, check out the lovely designs under Spirit M. Select ETM001 for that cool, black minimalist look or ETM003 for a warm cottage feel.

ETM001	ETM003

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At The Floor Gallery, be spoilt for choice as there is a wide variety of flooring solutions. From indoor flooring to outdoor decking, from wood lookalike to real wood floors, and many more! Whether you’re in need of some fresh home ideas or just want to view our flooring range, feel free to contact our friendly consultants HERE today.
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Comfortable to the Feet

Wood flooring is a natural insulator of heat compare to other types of flooring. That means in chilly weather, you will feel warmth on the feet and during hot weather, you will feel coolness beneath. This feature therefore adds extra comfort to your feet while keep one away from illness such as cold and sinus.

Adds Value to Your Home

Do you know that wood flooring adds value to your home? Compare to other types of flooring, one reason why wood flooring adds value to your home is because of its luxurious status. However, it is important for homeowners to know what type of wood flooring to install that can actually increase the property value of your home. The highest value should be solid wood flooring, followed by layered wood flooring and then parquet. Do note that laminate flooring is not considered as wood flooring, therefore it will not help in the increase of the property value if you have the intention to sell the home to upgrade to a bigger home.

Unique Look

Each wood flooring plank has its own unique feature, design and look. You cannot find one wood flooring to be the same as the others. Therefore, it gives your home the unique design and feel. With real wood flooring, your home will stand out among the others.

Nostalgic Value

Another important feature of wood is in its nostalgic value. Every little marks left by your little ones on the wood flooring, create a memory for you, the home owners, many years down the road. This is one reason why some home owners love to have a keepsake of his or her old wooden flooring to be installed in the new home.

Long Lasting

Ever been to more than a century house where the wood flooring is still in its original state? Still strong and sturdy even though it has been more than a hundred years old. Well, this is because wood flooring can be very long lasting if the owner knows how to maintain it periodically (preferably twice a year) via re-varnishing, re-coating and re-painting.

So, there you have, the 5 unique feature of wood flooring. Hope you will appreciate the value of real wood flooring for your home!

The post Benefits of Wood Flooring in Singapore Homes appeared first on The Floor Gallery.

#1 Comfortable for the Feet

Ever had the experience of morning sinus when stepped on cold flooring? Something that is not so pleasant when you need to get up early for work, right? Well, it is important to get bedroom flooring with high insulation and heat resistance properties. This will ensure your feet is comfortable and the flooring is not so cold especially in the morning. Good recommendation of flooring with these properties is wood flooring, laminate flooring, eco resilient flooring and vinyl flooring.

#2 Eco Healthy

Do you know that most building materials have a certain rate of formaldehyde emission? It is also important to check if the amount of VOC (volatile organic compounds) emission on a flooring, if any. Another thing to take note is the component of materials used to manufacture the flooring, are they safe for enclosed living spaces. One recommendation is to look for eco resilient flooring (ERF) or other types of flooring with certified eco accreditation such as the Singapore Green Label. Savvy customers will tend to look beyond that by asking the flooring contractor for the test reports.

#3 Good dimensional stability and durability

Another important factor for a bedroom flooring is to see if the flooring has good dimensional stability such that should there be any expansion or contraction due to temperature changes, it will not result in massive gaping the long term. One example is parquet flooring where you will see gaping appear months after installation. Hence, look for flooring with high dimensional stability and durability.

#4 Moisture Protection

Love to sleep in air-conditioned bedrooms daily? While you feel the comfy temperature, it is important to take note that flooring that does not have high water resistance will tend to be damaged due to poor moisture protection. Hence, it is important to check with the flooring contractor if the flooring has high water resistance, or better still, waterproof features.

#5 Design & Colour

Well, this may not be an important factor, however, the aesthetic look of the bedroom can change entirely due to the change in design or colour of the bedroom flooring. Anyway, a bedroom is a place where you stay long hours at, why not take your time to choose a good design such that you will feel good looking at it in a long term basis. Currently in the market, there are a lot of laminate flooring, vinyl flooring and clickable resilient flooring products which have quite a ton of colours and design for the homeowners to choose from.

There you have the five tips to look into a bedroom flooring. Please take your time and choose the best flooring for your home!

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The Rise of Clickable Resilient Flooring

With the advent of flooring technology, we can start to see clickable resilient flooring products in the Singapore flooring market especially during the 2010s. These clickable resilient flooring which today has many terms created by the local flooring distributors using words like high end, luxury and others, though they are talking about the same thing. However not to be confused, these generic conventional clickable resilient flooring has some good common features that are good to be use as kitchen flooring. These features are being a hundred percent waterproof which made it easy to clean and wash. Unlike laminate flooring and wood flooring, too much water may not be good for them. The others essential features for the clickable resilient flooring also include, high slip resistance, impact resistance, termite proof and various wood like designs.

Though it may look good especially it gives home owners more choices for the kitchen now compare to the past when often ceramic or granite is the choice; most clickable resilient flooring products may not have another important feature, and that is, certified eco friendly properties. There during between 2015 and 2016 period, the Singapore flooring market started to see the rise of Eco Resilient Flooring (ERF).

The Perfect Kitchen Flooring

Basically, eco resilient flooring is the advanced or improved version of the generic clickable resilient flooring products.  It has similar properties to that of a clickable resilient flooring such as waterproof, termite proof,  high slip resistance, impact resistance and others. The only difference, and perhaps the key difference, is that the flooring is certified eco friendly.

What to do look for in a certified eco friendly flooring product?

The common misconception for a certified eco friendly flooring product is that it is made of recycled or recyclable products. However the most important factor of  a certified eco friendly flooring is firstly, it does not contain any harmful substances or metal material; and secondly, it ensures better indoor air quality especially for homes and offices or when enclosed spaces is concerned. The best way to look into whether a flooring product is certified eco friendly is to check for credible certifications such as the Singapore Green Label. Therefore, eco resilient flooring (ERF) is a recommended flooring for the kitchen due to it being waterproof while at the same time certified eco friendly.

Design Your Kitchen Floor!

Now with clickable resilient flooring and eco resilient flooring, it somehow make the kitchen more colourful! For example, you can select from a variety of wood inspired designs or even unique designs like cements, travertine and many for eco resilient flooring. So, it is kinda cool, right?

In a nutshell, as flooring technology advances, home owners will get to enjoy a wide variety of choices and eco friendly choices for the kitchen flooring. So, start design your kitchen today!

The post Kitchen Flooring in Singapore appeared first on The Floor Gallery.

Aesthetics and Appearance

In terms of aesthetics, the difference between conventional and laminate floors is glaringly clear. Read wood is featured by wonderful texture variation of the wood grain, which is why no 2 planks of hardwood flooring, whether engineered or solid, appear actually alike. In laminate flooring, pre-shaped patterns that imitate the appearance of wood texture are imprinted onto the floor area. For this factor, identical designs are repeated on average every five boards.

Although in appearance some top standard laminate floors may look like true wood, repetition is unavoidable, as individuality of an authentic wood is not possible to replicate.

Moisture

Wood is a breathing, organic material that feedbacks to fluctuations in temperature and humidity. For this factor, engineered and solid conventional floors should be fixed in interiors where moisture levels are checked and kept at 45-50 percent for strong and 45-60 percent for engineered floors. Even though engineered conventional hardwood floors have higher stability and dimensional, most wood floors producers do not advise installing them in kitchens or bathrooms, where humidity and temperature can change significantly. In humid and hot climate, such as Singapore, Conventional laminate flooring that is engineered or multilayer is favorable over solid hardwood floors.

Laminate floors have top resistance to moisture and are often used for bathrooms, kitchens and basements. Nevertheless, it is vital to perfectly read the producer warranty and advises in order to reject costly mistakes.

Durability

Durability of any flooring surface mainly depends on amount of foot traffic, as well as adherence to producer advises in regards to maintenance and care of the floor.

Outer layer of most laminate floors is produced by bounding aluminum oxide and melamine resins at high pressure and top heat. The resulting floor surface is generally harder that of natural wood.

Durability of an authentic conventional floor varies depending on producer, finish and maintenance practices. Engineered or solid hardwood floors can be renewed, refinished and repaired quite easily, often without the need to change planks or even the full floor, as is the case with destroyed laminate flooring.

Ease of Repair

Quality laminate flooring does not repair simply. In floating laminate flooring – one that is fixed by snapping individual parts combine and laying them without glue – destroyed planks can be replaced and removed. If laminate flooring was fixed using glue-down technique, floor repairs become very hard. Laminate cannot be refinished or sanded.

Whether engineered or conventional, hardwood flooring is significantly simple to repair than laminate. If surface destroy is extensive, the full floor can be refinished and sanded. If problem is localized, then it can be repaired by deleting and changing individual planks, or even by manually, staining, sanding and refinishing the place in question, depending on style of finish.

Both hardwood and laminate flooring clearly have their advantages and disadvantages, and it is up to the home owners to decide what they really want for their home, before making a decision on their home floor.

The post Quality Laminate Flooring Vs Conventional Hardwood Flooring appeared first on The Floor Gallery.

Wood has been the main option for homeowners for many years. It is strong and durable, natural and looks awesome. Engineered wood flooring offers a number of benefits in addition to being strong, durable and beautiful. Engineered Wood also known as layered wood, is made of 100% real timber, adding a feel of luxury to your home interior space. It is also environmentally friendly as it is made from sustainable wood resources.

It is also extremely easy to install in homes. Most wood flooring used the tongue and groove system and the pieces fit together easily. This can reduce delays and speed up the installation process. Engineered wood flooring can be installed directly on the concrete. This can also save a lot of time and money. Unlike natural wood flooring, engineered wood flooring is stable and reduces the risk of deformation, twisting, bending and creaking in the future.

Besides that, engineered wooden floors also come in a variety of colors and wood finishes, making it easier to find the one that suits your home perfectly. You can choose from a wide range from light to dark colors, and this is an advantage for home owners as they are given many options to choose from.
Engineered wood flooring is a good flooring to use especially in hot weathers. It is strong and can withstand high heat. Heat resistance property of this flooring is very important in hot climate like Singapore.

Hence, the high dimensional stability and comfort that this flooring provides, makes it an excellent choice of flooring for home owners who also want their home to look luxurious and in style.

The post Benefits of Engineered Wood Flooring appeared first on The Floor Gallery.

Light Coloured Flooring

Light coloured flooring is the more popular and more often used flooring in homes. This is because light coloured flooring makes the interior space of the home look and feel bigger and brighter. Light coloured flooring also goes well with almost any coloured walls. Of course, if u have white walls, light coloured flooring will definitely make the home look really spacious!

Dark Coloured Flooring

Dark coloured flooring are increasingly gaining popularity, especially amongst the younger home owners. Dark flooring gives the interior space a mystic and elegant feel. Home owners who loves to have a contrasting interior space, they will prefer to install dark coloured floors to go with white walls. Contrasting colours in the home design gives the home a modern and more stylish look.

Depending on the theme of your home interior design, whether you would prefer to have a flooring that complements or contrasts with the walls, light and dark flooring can then be decided.  Furniture in the home also play an important role. Some home owners love to have their floor in the same colour as their furniture, whereas some prefer to have them in opposite contrasting colours.

Both light and dark coloured flooring have their own distinctive and unique advantages, and of course appeal to different people. Choose a flooring that you love, and of course, choose one which can last you a long time. Be it light or dark flooring, a good flooring that is easy to maintain is also important. Eco Resilient flooring by The Floor Gallery comes in 18 designs, and has many properties that appeal to home owners. Besides being kids and pets friendly, the 18 available designs also has various light and dark coloured options for home owners to choose from. Do check out our eco-resilient flooring designs when you intend to do up your floor!

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There are various why wood flooring should be considered over any other type of flooring

• Wood flooring is cost-effective over the long run: One may think that wood is costly, but over a longer period of time, you will start to appreciate the investment you made in wood flooring as a good one. This type of flooring adds value and class to our homes even at a resale time since its value appreciates as the house increases in value.

• Durability and ease of maintenance: Wood flooring lasts longer as it is not affected by environmental factors such as rain (or moisture) and sunshine. It is also relatively easy to maintain since it involves simple vacuuming and sweeping. With this simple method of maintaining the wood flooring, you are guaranteed to have a longer lasting flooring that is protected from moisture and wear and tear that result to scratches. This type of flooring can be easily refinished as long as the maintenance procedures are followed.

• Environmentally friendly and healthier: Wood flooring is environmentally friendly since it is not treated with chemicals. As such, we are not concerned about any health concerns when using wood flooring. Wood flooring is good for people that are allergic to dust, dander or anything else that can get stuck in a carpet or rug, since it doesn’t trap any of these things as they can easily be cleaned up.

Other reasons to consider include:

• Availability in different styles: wood flooring comes in various styles, colors, so one never really runs out of style.

• Wood as a renewable resource sustained by forest reserves: The production of wood will never stop any time soon.

The post Three Reasons Why You Should Choose Wood Flooring For Your Home appeared first on The Floor Gallery.

On the other hand, laminate flooring is a multi-layer synthetic flooring whose inner core layer is made of fiber board and melamine resin materials. This type of flooring imitates the way wood looks and usually with a laminate finish. This type of flooring is also less expensive compared to solid wood flooring, however does not last as solid wood flooring.

Since it is confusing to sometimes decide on which kind of flooring to go for, here are a few points to consider before making your final decision:

• Cost: Hardwood flooring is usually costly and this depends on how hard the wood is. The cost of installing solid wood flooring is also higher compared to laminate flooring.

• Durability: Laminate flooring resists scratches, wear and tear and moisture better than solid wood flooring since it is laminated. Hardwood flooring is difficult to clean but more appealing compared to laminate flooring.

• Installation: Hardwood flooring is difficult to install unlike laminate flooring. Laminate flooring is packed as planks in a way so that they can easily lap into one another. If you make mistake with the installation of solid wood flooring, it could be costly and frustrating.

• Maintenance: In laminate flooring, there is no frequent repairs since it doesn’t wear and tear easily as it resistant to scratches as well. On the other hand, solid wood flooring can be easily repaired by refinishing and sanding out imperfections.

• Environmental considerations: If sunlight enters your house, do not consider using solid wood flooring since it can fade away easily as it is a natural product. For health and environmental reasons, consider the melamine resin in laminate flooring as it may be a source of concern.

The post Differences Between Laminate Flooring and Solid Wood Flooring appeared first on The Floor Gallery.

Тhеsе twо tуреs оf flооrs соmе wіth thеіr рrоs аnd соns:

Рrоs

Оnе оf thе mајоr рrоs оf рrе-fіnіshеd hаrdwооd flооr іs thаt уоu dоn’t nееd tо sаnd оr fіnіsh іt․ Тhіs fеаturе sаvеs уоu mоnеу аs уоu оnlу nееd tо іnstаll іt аnd can stаrt wаlkіng оn іt іmmеdіаtеlу․

Маnу рrе-fіnіshеd flооrs аrе usuаllу fіnіshеd wіth durаblе fіnіsh whісh еnsurеs thаt thе flооr rеtаіns іts lооk fоr а lоng tіmе․ Іn mоst оf thе саsеs, thеsе flооrs соmе wіth wаrrаntіеs thаt rаngе frоm 5-25 уеаrs․ Тhе durаblе fіnіsh аlsо mаkеs thе flооrs іdеаl fоr hоmе wіth kіds аnd реts․

Тhе mаіn аdvаntаgе оf unfіnіshеd flооr іs thаt уоu саn еаsіlу mаtсh іt tо thе аlrеаdу ехіstіng flооrs․ Yоu саn аlsо еаsіlу сustоmіzе іt wіth уоur dеsіrеd соlоrs аnd lооk․ Ѕіnсе уоu аррlу уоur dеsіrеd fіnіsh аftеr іnstаllіng thе flооr, уоu аrе аblе tо sеаl thе сrасks thаt mіght соmе uр durіng thе іnstаllаtіоn рrосеss․

Соns

Ѕіnсе уоu саn’t sеаl сrасks іn рrе-fіnіshеd hаrdwооd flооrs, іt’s usuаllу hаrd tо сlеаn bеtwееn thе сrасks․ Іn sоmе саsеs, рrе-fіnіshеd flооrs tеnd tо hаvе bеvеlеd еdgеs whісh саn bе unрlеаsаnt tо lооk аt․

Аnоthеr flаw іs thаt thе unіts dо not hіdе bumрs оr оthеr іrrеgulаrіtіеs іn thе sub-flооrіng. Thеrеfоrе, іf уоur subflооr hаs іssuеs, thе іssuеs wіll bе еаsіlу nоtеd․

Unfіnіshеd hаrdwооd flооrs rеquіrеs sаndіng аnd fіnіshіng whісh іs аn ехtrа ехреnsе fоr уоu․ Whеn уоu dо thе fіnіshіng, thе wооd tаkеs wееks fоr іt tо drу․ Тhеrе іs аlsо unрlеаsаnt smеll іn thе hоusе․

In addition, mоst рrе-fіnіshеd wооd flооrs аrе іnstаllеd аs flоаtіng flооrs, аn іnstаllаtіоn mеthоd whеrе thе flооrіng рlаnks соnnесt tо еасh оthеr, rаthеr thаn bеіng nаіlеd іntо thе subflооrіng․ Аgаіn, thіs аllоws fоr quісk, hаsslе-frее іnstаllаtіоn․ Іn fасt, іn mаnу саsеs, уоu dоn’t еvеn hаvе tо rеmоvе уоur оld flооrіng fіrst. Prе-fіnіshеd flоаtіng wооd flооrs саn bе іnstаllеd оn tор оf lіnоlеum, lаmіnаtе, соnсrеtе, аnd еvеn оld wооd flооrs wіthоut resulting аnу аdvеrsе еffесts.

Тhеsе аrе thе рrоs аnd соns оf рrе-fіnіshеd аnd unfіnіshеd hаrdwооd flооrs․ Rеgаrdlеss оf thе flооr thаt уоu сhооsе, уоu shоuld еnsurе thаt уоu tаkе gооd саrе оf іt fоr іt tо rеtаіn іts grеаt lооk fоr а lоng tіmе․ Тhіs саlls fоr уоu tо rеgulаrlу сlеаn уоur flооr․ Yоu shоuld аlsо wоrk hаrd tо рrоtесt thе flооr frоm dеvеlоріng dеnts․ Yоu саn dо thіs bу рlасіng mаts аt hіgh trаffіс аrеаs. Whеn уоu nоtісе thе fіnіsh starting to fаde, уоu shоuld rеfіnіsh thе flооr wіth уоur dеsіrеd fіnіsh too. Do not leave it untreated, if you want your floor to last as long as possible.

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