[-GT-]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

OK, but that's not wood, which is what you wanted in the first place.

I don't like this sort of stuff at all, and whatever the claims, I have never felt convinced of its durability.

Sorry to be negative. Maybe someone will be along to put the balancing point of view!

I agree with you completely. I hate the feel of plastic laminates - like you said - it is simply not wood.

Wooden floor (not necessarily solid wood, but even a parquet with the natural wood ply surface) gives a beautiful cozy feel; one can only try to match the appearance with plastics (or with any other artificial material), but can never get there to match the "feel" of wood.

Let me put one simple thing straight - a wooden flooring will always have just the right temperature (which is why these are cozy) whereas the 'plastic laminated' floor can never ever have this quality.

I agree with Steeroid - go for vitrified ceramic floor - nowadays you get some really good stuff back home - instead of plastic laminate flooring. Guess what, you can get vitrified floor materials that also have wooden 'appearance'. At least the vitrified floor tiles are way more durable than the plastic laminate flooring.

Sorry - I have some pretty strong opinions. At the end of the day, all these things are quite subjective.

[mmmjgm]

Hi,

This reply may be late for you none the less, having worked for years in a company manufacturing and exporting rubberwood products to Europe, the best solution if your house is owned. (why owned ? because the wooden flooring will outlive your lease)

Here's the choices and the reasons behind the choices

1) All teak in India is imported. You will get CP grade but that's horrible, very young teak trees are used to make this lumber. It's very young wood and not dark in colour like a matured tree should be and whose lumber is the best.

2) Imported teak is okay, do your research in the market, do not trust the lumber seller until you know him like your brother (this sounds weird but this is a fact here in Bombay).
There are exceptions - B F Wadia & CO in Mumbai. Honest and dependable.

3) Seasoned wood is your best bet. Wood is seasoned in an impregnation chamber where it is treated with chemicals (human friendly chemicals not copper chrome arsenic).

4) The seasoned wood is then given a treatment to dry it. Post the drying it will not have more than 10% moisture.

5) Any hardwood you use has to be coated by veneer/varnish before you lay it. Exposed wood to moisture and water will ruin it in no time.

6) Best lengths of hardwood flooring are 3ft and above no more than 5ft by 3" with half an inch thickness or 12mm (you wont get five feet and above at an economical price, higher the lengths more the price). This will help you find a replacement if you have to and would turn out to be cheaper.

7) Last but not the least expect the flooring (unfinished or without polishing/coating) to cost around 400-500 rupees a square feet for a good quality hardwood flooring (Teak & Ebony). Please note Rubberwood is cheaper but is guaranteed by companies. I've worked with the largest co manufacturing rubberwood. The company's name begins with the name of a chemical and is located in Bombay.

Ebony is the best wood you can find, locally people call it by the name of babool or something like this I may be wrong, but african ebony is the best wood you can use, once treated it can go on and on for life.

Hope this gives you a perspective to wood and I hope i have not sounded like the ICE gurus. :-)

Cheers
MM

[iraghava]

Originally Posted by mmmjgm

3) Seasoned wood is your best bet. Wood is seasoned in an impregnation chamber where it is treated with chemicals (human friendly chemicals not copper chrome arsenic).

It's actually chemically treated to make it averse to termites and the like before it is sealed in the chamber for seasoning. The seasoning process consists of the wood being steam dried at a set temperature for a period of about 30 days. The steam can be produced by two methods, one using an Electric boiler & two, using a steam boiler fired by wood (which mostly uses the waste wood of the same factory).

The steam boiler system is usually the more preferred process.

Originally Posted by mmmjgm

4) The seasoned wood is then given a treatment to dry it. Post the drying it will not have more than 10% moisture.

The correct & acceptable range is 8-12% moisture. Anything above or below is rejected under international quality standards.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Ebony for a floor would surely be for princes and kings!?

Unseasoned wood should never be used: it will warp and twist. I have trouble with improperly seasoned wood provided by our builder: one door warped two inches out of shape; he replaced it, but I don't think the replacement is any better!

The other thing about getting the feel of wood, is that it defeats the object if you cover it with thick layer of resin varnish. It will make maintenance much easier, but it still hides away the wood.

Proper teak, ideally, should be oiled only. It is hugely resiliant. Consider that expensive yacht decks are laid in strips of teak. Some sealant may be soaked into the wood, but it is not varnished. It survives being washed over with the sea and requires no more than a scrubbing with fresh water! It is expensive.

My feeling for a Chennai floor is that a suitably satisfying luxury feel is better obtained with tiles, and I suspect that even real granite or marble would be cheaper than teak!

There are some excellent composite tiles that are very like real stone (a brain cell suggests 'Marbonite'?) and even carry the colour all through, so in the unlikely event of damage it is less visible.

But yes, that means the mess of removing the existing tiles :(

[-GT-]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

My feeling for a Chennai floor is that a suitably satisfying luxury feel is better obtained with tiles, and I suspect that even real granite or marble would be cheaper than teak!

A good Granite stone is pretty expensive, but yeah - probably cheaper than solid teak wood flooring (of course, more the thickness, more the expense).

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

There are some excellent composite tiles that are very like real stone (a brain cell suggests 'Marbonite'?) and even carry the colour all through, so in the unlikely event of damage it is less visible.

"Agglomerate" stone tiles are generally very dense, less porous and less moisture absorbent (relatively than most marble stones) and make a pretty resilient flooring.

However, the very purpose of wanting a wooden flooring is quite something else! It is not just the luxurious look, but the feel - the feel of timber flooring or even a parquet flooring is something that cannot be expressed in simple words.

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

But yes, that means the mess of removing the existing tiles :(

Not really - most floor finishes can be laid on existing tiles with adhesive base and not the cement sand mortar base.

However, any new flooring laid on existing floor finish presents an unique problem; this is best seen at the doorways where even a very thin flooring laid on existing floor becomes an issue with the door height and the door under cut not being sufficient to get the door to open or close.

[Thad E Ginathom]

I had thought of that, but thought that the un-even hight issue would put most people off. If there are those old fashioned doors, often double, with a timber across the bottom, the name of which I forget, it might not even notice. In fact one could put such a timber!

'parquet' flooring, at least in my youth, was timber, or at least about half-an-inch thick pieces of it. I remember the bits coming loose in school halls, village halls, etc.

I do agree about the feel of wood, as I said earlier. Of course, I grew up with wooden floors. No, lived most of my life with them! Even though we tend to cover them with carpet in UK.

[dkarthikkeyan]

Hi ram,

Finally what you have decided? did you go with the laminated wood flooring or any other thing? can you provide the contact details of the ambattur factory or the person from whom you got the proposal.

Any other view or point of contact is welcome.

Thanks

[RaSing]

Guys

I have to get flooring done for my flat . This is a ground floor flat and has a 20 yr old mosaic flooring done which is in some what sad state as some(minor) water patches have comeup(water seeping in through the floor). The approximate area to be covered is 900 square feet.Now i am a little confused as which flooring will be the best mainly a choice between vitrified tiles or marble.

*Since i plan to do some modifications to the structure after a few years and the difference between the cost of marble flooring and tiles for this area is around 50K i was a little inclined towards vitrified tiles

People suggest that flooring using vitrified tiles is done better(long term life) if the earlier floor is broken and removed Also using a plain chemical may lead to the tiles loosing their original fix.Whereas a shop owner suggested that if you go for a good quality chemical , it will have no problems later.

I need your suggestions for the below concerns

1 Should i go for marble or vitrified tiles(considering the case in * above )

2 I fear that the tiles are much more slippery than a marble(is it?)

3 If i go for vitrified should i get the original floor removed

4 Any other suggestions/expereinces

[vivekiny2k]

@Rasing, first thing you should do is locate the source of water and fix it, or seal the floor well.

I am going to install laminate myself this summer in one room after removing the carpet. (all other rooms already have hardwood). Purely because of ease of installing.

How to Install A Laminate Floor - YouTube

Another floor I am interested in for the basement is vinyl planks because of water issue. probably later in the summer.

How to Install Surface Source Floating Vinyl Plank Flooring - YouTube

[vinit.merchant]

Hello Guys,

I am reviving an old thread here.
I have almost finalised on a new house. Currently it is fitted with Spatek(?) tiles.
Now, I am getting 400 sqft of Laminated flooring free of cost, along with the skirting and other fittings. One of my uncle bought a new house and did not want the builder specifications in the bedroom. So he asked the builder to not install the Wooden flooring that he was providing and opted for Italian marble instead. The builder did not reduce any price for this and has delivered the entire 400 sqft of wooden laminated flooring to my uncle. I can utilise this. Both my bedrooms can be covered with this.

But I have no clue about how good the Laminated flooring would be. The name of the company is "Haro" and it is made in Germany. Would anyone know of this brand, how good is the brand and also what are the biggest worries while going in for laminated flooring?

Your responses will be highly appreciated.