Home & Lifestyle Autumn 2020

The Upside of Technology By Guy Thornycroft

N ot all technology translates to better products for customers. Often it is used by manufacturers to use less material and save on production costs and at times this means lower quality. An exception to this trend is in the flooring world. A challenge with solid timber is its inherent instability resulting in the need to season it on site for two weeks (time consuming), before nailing and gluing it down (expensive), planing, sanding (dust), sealing and varnishing (toxins). Technology has continued to improve Engineered timber flooring resulting in a stable floor that is timber all the way through, albeit different species. This created stability means the floor can be factory finished with

scratch’ surface, laminate stands up well to sand and we all love the beach! In addition to the authenticity, laminates are now being produced with waterproof properties so some of the new ones can even be steam cleaned or laid in wet areas. If you have been looking at flooring you will have heard of the new Hybrids. The draw back in traditional vinyl is any abnormality in the subfloor shows up on the surface of the vinyl sheet or planks. To overcome this, Hybrids have been developed. Essentially still a vinyl floor, but with a hard core and built in underlay. ProFlooring at 258 West St, Umina is open to offer you advice and help to make your job easier.

7-8 layers of a ceramic varnish and is thus more consistent and hard wearing. The dress layer provides nearly as much chosen timber as a solid board would, up to the locking mechanismwhich is as far back as you can sand a solid timber board anyway. In effect this saves 65% of a solid timber board being thrown away once it is sanded back to the tongue and groove. This is far better use of natural resources while not compromising the look, feel or performance of your floor. The next major winner in the technology upgrade is in the authenticity of laminate. The texture and look of the new laminates make them very hard to differentiate from the real thing. Laminate is particularly well suited to the Central Coast. Because of its ‘hard to

Quality

Oak, Timber & Laminate Flooring

Large Showroom Free Measure and Quote www.proflooring.com.au

258 West Street, Umina Beach P:4342 6666 | email:info@proflooring.com.au

11 Home & Lifestyle Magazine | Autumn 2020