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They are ideal for winter because they do not get as cold as tile floors, but they are also ideal in any season of the year.
Wooden floors add warmth to any environment in the home. And they are ideal, of course, for winter but also for any season of the year. You look at them and you feel like taking off your shoes.
Natural wood, laminates and ceramic materials that imitate their finish will make you feel very comfortable. Herringbone parquet floors add a stately touch to any room, as well as being welcoming and warm. The installation of wooden slats at an angle had its splendor during the 60s and 70s and, now, this resource that gives dynamism to floors is once again a trend.
Natural wood and laminates are available in a wide variety of designs and finishes, which can complicate your choice. For Laura Tomás, Gabarró’s head of marketing and communication, it is important to take into account both the meters and the brightness of the room as well as the furniture and aesthetics that you want to recreate.
The new laminates accurately mimic the look and feel of natural wood and generally withstand impacts and scratches well. One of the main aspects that should be taken into account before deciding on a model is its hardness. This is measured on the AC scale, with AC6 being the maximum. In addition, depending on the traffic of the room, it is also important to pay attention to the thickness of the slats: from 7 mm, recommended for bedrooms, up to 8 and 12 mm, valid for the whole house.
Wood-look ceramic floors are becoming more and more realistic and, due to their resistance to water and humidity, they have become one of the preferred options for bathrooms and kitchens. In addition, it offers the advantage that the same floor material can be used to cover partitions and thus achieve continuous surfaces.
If you want to enjoy the charm of a herringbone parquet, but the tight budget rules, you will find porcelain tiles that reproduce the arrangement of the slats at an angle on a tile. These designs speed up the installation process – they can be placed directly on the floor without having to remove the existing one -, they do not require maintenance, they do not need to be stabbed or varnished and they considerably reduce the final price, generally higher when it comes to solid wood.
BECAUSE IT FITS WITH EVERYTHING
Playing with different materials to cover the floor is a perfect solution to delimit environments that share the same space. If you have doubts, the truth is that wood combines with any other flooring, although with hydraulic and ceramic tiles it is ten. And without the need for flashing to hide the encounter! In this house, renovated by Egue y Seta, the oak flooring, by Winco, was alternated with hexagonal-shaped pieces, by Equipe.
VERY EASY TO PLACE
The slats that are joined together by a simple click, without glues, polished or varnished, allow changing the floor quickly and without debris. And recover it again to move it to another home in the event of a move. This mounting system was created and patented by Quick-Step, a firm that, thanks to an innovative liquid-repellent coating, has water-resistant laminates, like this design from the Classic range, in natural oak (22.09 / m2) .
WHAT COLOR DO I PUT IT IN?
In small spaces with little natural light, it is advisable to opt for slats in light tones, with discreet veins and knots. The sober and elegant gray floors are easy to combine with the rest of the decoration. Laminate Roble Bardolino Gris, by Egger (13.31 / m2, in Gabarró).
IN THE KITCHEN
The large slat formats welcome wide spaces to show off their warmth and nobility. They are usually chosen with the idea of achieving an effect of continuity between environments, although they are also combined with other materials for zoning. That is what the Reforminthouse team did in this house: they alternated an oak flooring with Caprice porcelain by Nais! To delimit the kitchen.
RESISTANT AND SUFFERING SOILS
This is the Intenso Original Roble Obelisque Natural laminate, from FINfloor (17.99 / m2 in Leroy Merlin).
THE MIX ENRICHES
A very decorative idea, with which visual dynamism and greater impact is generated, is to combine porcelain pieces in different tones. And, if they are placed in a herringbone, the result will be even richer. Most of the collections of ceramic materials include different shades to alternate different ranges and thus reinforce the appearance of natural wood, which is characterized by not finding two identical slats. Cava Verdejo porcelain tiles, by Grespania.
CERAMICS THAT IMITATE WOOD
From Roca: on the floor, Indiana Roble porcelain, in 19.5 x 120 cm (42 / m2), and on the shower wall, Suite Indiana Roble white body, in 40 x 120 cm (42.77 / m2).
SAME AS THE FIRST DAY
How to take care of your wooden floor so that it looks perfect for many years? Tarkett, the firm to which the Noble Oak Scandinavia Basket Weave parquet that accompanies these lines belongs, recommends cleaning it with specific products and avoiding aggressive ones so that its shine lasts. It is also important to act immediately against stains as they appear, to prevent them from drying out and being easy to remove.
AN ALTERNATIVE TO NATURAL WOOD
Rectified porcelain Lenda Chevron Cream, by Keraben, in 150 x 75 cm (72.60 / m2).
WIN WITH OPTICAL ILLUSIONS
Large format slats are an ideal resource to achieve visual breadth. As we find extra-long wooden boards, the ceramic pieces are also manufactured in an XL version, which allows the number of joints to be reduced – if there are many, they dwarf the spaces. They should be placed in the direction of the entrance of the light to achieve depth. Alpine glazed porcelain, by Gala, in 19.5 x 120 cm (32.55 / m2).
WOOD FLOOR INSTALLATION SYSTEMS
A solid wood floor requires a different procedure than multilayer parquet. The first sticks to the ground or is nailed on battens. In the second, the installation is floating – as in this room, decorated by the Architecture Studio 2 Architects with oak wood – either with sheets glued together or with an assembly system.
ECOLOGICAL WOOD FLOORS
Make sure the wood flooring comes from sustainable forests. Like the Habitat collection, from the Kährs firm. The Linnea range is only 7 mm thick – compared to the standard, 15 mm – which allows to renew the floor in the homes without producing unevenness in height in the meeting with other rooms, which would force to cut the doors underneath . Despite being a multilayer floor, the size of its boards, 180 x 15 cm, gives it the appearance of a solid floor.
FLOORS WITH TIMELESS DESIGN
If you like to be fashionable, you want the floor to fit with furniture of all styles. The absence of knots and the delicate veins of the White Oak model, from the Perspective Wide series, offer a surface suitable for rustic, romantic or designer settings. In addition, subfloors can be installed underneath that mitigate the echo of the steps inside the room and the sounds of the neighbors. In sheets of 138 x 19 cm. It is from the firm Quick Step.
PERFECT FLOORS IN SUNNY HOUSES
The direct incidence of the sun’s rays on the wood can discolor it over time. If the floor of your home receives a good daily dose of sunlight, congratulations! But you should choose a suitable alternative to prevent it from deteriorating. The Tundra laminate, from Ikea, has a white melamine finish that reflects the luminosity but remains unaltered by the wear of the sun. It is installed with a click system.
WOOD FLOORS FOR A LIFETIME
If you want the soil to still be in good condition when your children grow up, look for a model with a guarantee. Quick Step Polar Oak planks are made with three layers of wood plus a 7-layer varnish finish that resists wear, scratches, water and household chemicals. Here the wood is brushed and has a matte varnish, but it is also available with a silky and satin varnish. In 182 x 14.5 x 1.4 cm The best? It has a lifetime guarantee!
WOODEN FLOOR WITH LONG BOARDS
Long boards accentuate the sense of depth. If you are interested in enhancing this effect, place the slats in the direction of the entrance of the light. Choose a model with beveled sides, like this smoked oak flooring: with the joints marked, you will make the space appear more elongated. In areas such as kitchens and bathrooms, it is essential that the wood has a water-repellent treatment – which means that, if it swells, its volume does not increase above 18% – so that it resists humidity and possible water leaks.
HOW TO CARE FOR WOODEN FLOORS
A doormat will prevent the grit from your shoes from eroding the wood. Protective felts under the furniture legs will prevent scratches. And if you have beveled edges, like this Pergo Winter Oak laminate, after wringing the mop, dry the floor with a mop, so that no water remains in the joints.
SOIL FOR THE CORNER OF THE HOBBIES
What are you most passionate about: painting, DIY …? You need a resistant floor, capable of following your creative rhythm. Laminates combine a solid core with successive layers in the finish you want, which implies greater resistance than wood and easy cleaning. The Expression Roble Natural model, from Pergo, combines layers using heat and pressure to obtain a resistance similar to that of titanium. If while you work it gets stained with tar, pencil, ink or ash, you can clean it with burning alcohol, acetone or white spirit.
WOOD FLOORS FOR THE BEDROOM
Let no noise take your sleep away. Cork floors are excellent acoustic insulators, since they reduce the transmission of sound to the building structure, which dampens slamming doors and shocks that even take place on other floors. The Alaska Oak model, by Wicanders, belongs to the Vinylcomfort collection: a cork floor topped with a vinyl sheet in a wide range of finishes.
CLEAN THE WOODEN FLOOR
A wooden floor is to live it: so enjoy it! Fruit or milk stains can be removed with a wrung out mop and mild soap; and those of ink, with a soft cloth soaked in alcohol. Mini scratches are concealed with a special wood marker. A putty is applied to the deep ones, which is then sanded and covered with a varnish of the same tone. Everything in Leroy Merlin. Bedroom decorated by the Laura Ashley firm: furniture, Etta Geranio wallpaper and curtains with Giselle Geranio fabric.
WOODEN FLOORS FOR OUTDOORS
Wood with a heat treatment will not mold or rot. Unlike those that are impregnated with chemicals to withstand wind and rain, this procedure is environmentally friendly. Thermory solid ash wood slats undergo this thermal process. And as they come from sustainable North American forests, they are an ecological alternative to the exploitation of tropical woods. Available in 95 x 20 cm and 132 x 20 cm boards. From Gabarró.
