Maintenance Friendly & Practical: reasons 28 - 40

Wooden flooring belongs to the 'hard' floor coverings, no dust or dirt will penetrate the surface.

A soft broom is all it takes for normal day to day care - easier done than dragging your (sometimes smelling of dust) vacuum cleaner out of the cupboard. And: clean is clean - no hidden dust or dirt like you can have with carpets.

Spillages, little accidents are wiped off, cleaned off in no time at all without having to turn to chemicals, calling for a carpet-cleaning company or getting so frustrated with a persistent stain that the only option would be to replace the carpet or place an extra rug on top of it. (And knowing Murphy's Law - those accidents always tend to happen just before you're about to entertain the largest crowd ever in your home.)

Even if a spillage goes unnoticed for some time it is still much easier to remove: most times all it takes is a gentle rub with steel wool 000 and some polish or wax.
(Ask us for our stain removal leaflet to find out how easy it is to remove stains like wine, gum and cigarette burns.)

No floor covering is easier to clean than natural wooden flooring. Long gone are the days of polishing a wood floor on hands and knees or seeing 'skid-marks'. The modern finishing and maintenance materials have taken care of that.

Liquid polishes have taken over from the 'hard-wax' products: just sprinkle the product on the floor, spread out with an applicator, let it dry (which only takes 10 minutes) and your job is done!

Regular maintenance (only once every 5 to 6 months) will keep your floor healthy and even better protected against dirt and drips.
Plus there is another well known fact: this is the only robust floor covering that becomes more beautiful over time! Every bit of TLC you spend on your natural wooden floor will increase its beauty, its lustre, its durability - it's as simple as that. Compare this with a carpet of only one or two years old and you'll see the advantage wooden flooring gives you immediately.

Wooden flooring is an ideal floor covering when you have pets, as one of our clients discovered:

"I still don't know how I coped before with the moulding periods of my cats and dogs when we had carpets! Since we have wooden floors it takes no effort at all, just one simple sweep of a broom."

The surface of especially pre-oiled wooden floors are, contrary to believe, not slippery. It gives your pet a sturdy surface, easy to walk on and because most floors are made of hardwood the surface won't easily damage from paws or claws .
If you opt for a brushed surface the softest part from the surface are already removed and gives your pet (lively dogs and cats come to mind) an even more sturdy and almost impossible to damage surface.

Property managers: some tenants are just not careful enough with property belonging to someone else - a known fact. Another known fact is that dirty surfaces attract more dirt, or in other words: once a carpet looks worn, slightly damaged and dirty nobody is really going to care if it gets even dirtier or more damaged.

However, a floor covering that always looks clean and from which spillages are easily removed tend to bring out the feeling of "ownership". Your tenants will take better care of "their" lovely wooden floor than they will with a carpet. So no more need to replace the carpets every year, saving you a rather lot of money, grievance and aggravation in one simple go.

Natural wooden floors are NOT slippery, but come with the extra advantage of having a smooth surface on which furniture can be easily moved around. Adding protective felt-guards to legs of the chairs or tables don't make them slip away underneath you, but eases the effort when moving them.

Many elderly and physical impaired clients have remarked happily on this fact. Since installing wooden floors heavy chairs - or even normal dining chairs - are no longer an obstacle for them. They just 'ease' away when vacuum cleaning the room, when sitting down for breakfast, lunch or diner.

Property managers: the "grey-generation" will live independently longer and longer. When 'down-grading' in property, because their own house is becoming too large to handle easily, an increasing number will be looking for luxurious, comfortable living accommodation.

Making their daily living circumstances easier by installing wooden floors to your property adds to their comfort, allowing them to stay independent for even more years and hence renting your property for a longer time.

If you are one of the lucky ones who can enjoy an open fire during the colder seasons, you know that no matter how well you try to prevent sparks or spitting of logs, some will find their way through the fire guard. And sometimes even beyond the hearth tiles.

If they then land on modern synthetic carpet you definitely end up with a scorched or singed spot. No such thing will happen when you have a wooden floor. It takes rather long before a spark or spit scorches or singes a hard floor covering. Our own open fire spits and sparks frequently but our wooden floor in front of it shows no single blackened spot, not even the tiniest.

We've indicated it before: wooden floors can be installed, restored and repaired not only by professionals but also by those comfortable with DIY-projects.

Small damages to the surface or finish of your wooden floor can sometimes be repaired even without the need of sanding - a job preferably left to professionals who have the better equipment for this. And when your floor is maintained regularly the need for major maintenance = resanding and applying a new finish won't hardly ever be needed. Most modern maintenance products will take care of that.

Wood on its own has tremendous character. It will always show its best side, no matter what time of day. It even seems to change colour and displays softer tones in the evening when you switch on your lighting features.

It also reflects the colour of your walls. So if you want a subtle change in design without having to change everything in a room: colour your walls differently and your wooden floor will change gently/subtle with it.

Just note the difference between the Oak Rustic floor in the picture above reflecting the red wall - where the same Oak Rustic floor in this "dining room to be" reflects the green walls in the picture below.

No matter what your design or even house style, there is a wooden floor for all of them. Rustic or extra rustic Oak wide floorboards for Country style, Prime or nature grade Oak for more minimalistic preferences. Oak can be stained to suit any design without loosing its own character and tropical wood-species add warmth of their own to your style, from fierily Tarara Amarilla (see above), blood-red Padouk to pitch black Wenge.

Plenty of choice. And then we haven't even mentioned the large choice in widths, lengths in boards or the countless design patterns.