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May 2004
Australian Ironwood Antique Timbers Pty Ltd
88-90 Lilyfield Road, Rozelle NSW
TEL: 02 9818 1166
Know your flooring finish options to ensure the best results
In this month's newsletter I have included a link to a piece of detailed research that we have completed on flooring finish options.
The information is regrettably in the form of a pdf file in order that we protect our copyright, but please don't hesitate to download the pdf file. It's only 83kb.
Most architects and people I have already shown this article to, find it very informative and useful. It covers a range of technical aspects and contains some simple and practical advice for those people who do not want to get too involved with this subject.
It has been written to provide a layman's understanding why certain floor finishing products are best suited to different Australian hardwood species - and makes a few 'Ironwood recommendations'. It also gives a rough indication of how durable the different flooring finishes are in a household situation and an indication of how the different types of product are likely to age.
I believe this type of flooring advice is long overdue. A lot of people who visit our showrooms focus an inordinate amount of time and effort in selecting the colour of their floor, yet most of them seem totally oblivious to the nature of their flooring finish options and what they mean to the end result.
Put simply, different finishes and different manufacturer products totally change the colour of a floor. Some finishes are very complimentary to certain timbers, yet they can totally wash out and / or ruin the natural colours of another species. We have dark timbers that are pink when coated with a certain product, yet are dark red when coated with another. Blackbutts are golden when coated with most polyurethanes, yet remain a clear white floor when coated with an acid cure system - and so it goes on.
We have therefore completed this research to cover this void and help our clients with their selections. We have also expanded our showroom to show-off the alternative finishes and now have a number of different timber flooring finishes on display. (I think our displays are unique in that regard.)
It's therefore not so important for our showroom customers to understand all the technical aspects - because they now have an option to just look at the end finished product, tell us what they like and we will tell you how to achieve 'the look'.
Shopping for floors has never been this easy.
Keith Mackenzie
Managing Director
| Species |
Colour |
Hardness Rating |
Durability Rating |
Strength Group |
| Alpine Ash # |
Light straw |
5 |
4 |
SD4 |
| Mountain Ash # |
Light straw |
4.9 |
4 |
SD3 |
| Blackbutt |
Pale yellowish brown |
9.2 |
2 |
SD1/SD2 |
| Box - Grey |
Dark browns & reds |
13.1 |
1 |
SD1 |
| Brush Box |
Pinkish grey / reds / browns |
9.1 |
3 |
SD3 |
| Ironbark - Grey |
Dark browns & reds |
16.3 |
1 |
SD1 |
| Ironbark - Red |
Dark reds |
14.0 |
1 |
SD3 |
| Kauri - N.Z. |
Pale pink / reddish brown |
3.3 |
4 |
SD8 |
| Karri -W.A. |
Pink / dark reddish brown |
9.0 |
3 |
SD2 |
| Mahogany - Red |
Dark red |
12.0 |
1 |
SD3 |
| Messmate |
Yellowish to greyish brown |
7.1 |
3 |
SD3 |
| Pines - Baltic |
White / pale yellow |
2.5 |
4 |
SD8 |
| Pines - Cypress |
Pale/dark yellow |
6.6 |
4 |
SD6 |
| Spotted Gum |
Pale to dark browns |
11.0 |
2 |
SD2 |
| Sydney Blue Gum |
Dark pink to red brown |
9.0 |
3 |
SD3 |
| Tallowwood |
Yellowish brown / olive tinge |
8.6 |
1 |
SD2 |
| Turpentine |
Dark pink to reddish brown |
12.0 |
1 |
SD3 |
# These Ash varieties are collectively and commonly
referred to as Victorian Ash. Tasmanian Oak is a combination
of these and other distinctive ash varieties found
in Tasmania.
## When it comes to structural beams and posts, strength,
toughness, elasticity, shrinkage, weight, stability,
lyctid borer susceptibility, edge splintering all
need to be taken into account. Further details are
available on the internet.
### Ironwood's feature beams and posts are old timbers
that have usually been modified in their previous
fitting. We therefore do not provide ratings on these
timbers as they are sold purely for aesthetic purposes. |
Our warehouse and display rooms
are conveniently located in Rozelle (near the ANZAC Bridge). Come
in and visit us, we are open Mon-Fri 7:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. and
Saturday 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m
©2003 Australian Ironwood Antique Timbers Pty Ltd. All rights reserved.
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