Oak Wood Flooring

[Eurypylus 0]

My dad visited his designer's friend house and advise me that oak wood flooring is very nice.

Then my contractor sounds so scary when I told him that's what I want.

He make his disclaimer that he can guarantee if things screw up later, due to the possibility of wood shrinking issue.

Anyone else here use oak wood for flooring?

I understood that they are 3' by 1-1.5ft variable length.

[Christopher 0]

My dad visited his designer's friend house and advise me that oak wood flooring is very nice.

Then my contractor sounds so scary when I told him that's what I want.

He make his disclaimer that he can guarantee if things screw up later, due to the possibility of wood shrinking issue.

Anyone else here use oak wood for flooring?

I understood that they are 3' by 1-1.5ft variable length.

Solid wood will face expansion and contraction issue in our weather due to our high humidity level. opt for smaller piece to control this

[ciligaz 0]

How about termite (if i spell correctly) ?

Was told parquet is still better in terms of termite resistant, not sure how true

[Eurypylus 0]

The 3" width is fixed, and its termite resistance is high.

The contractor still sounds very scary.... Either I've to find a way to convince him its fine, or he'll have to give me a good reason otherwise.

[Eurypylus 0]

Now its the door maker turn to freak out when I told him I want solid wood door. Guess I really need to give it a second thought ...>_<....

Anyone here use oak wood for flooring please do give me some advise.

[ciligaz 0]

The 3" width is fixed, and its termite resistance is high.

The contractor still sounds very scary.... Either I've to find a way to convince him its fine, or he'll have to give me a good reason otherwise.

I will think the contractor could be reluctant to do Oak flooring since they might already have good contact for parquet (more common choice) which

give them better rate/margin.

Its just like when I told my contractor bamboo or maple wood flooring, they will start gives all sort of reason to put it down.... do you have pictures

of Oak flooring ? I'm also looking for timber flooring and was hoping to find alternative to parquet as i prefer lighter shade of wood.

[Eurypylus 0]

I will think the contractor could be reluctant to do Oak flooring since they might already have good contact for parquet (more common choice) which

give them better rate/margin.

Its just like when I told my contractor bamboo or maple wood flooring, they will start gives all sort of reason to put it down.... do you have pictures

of Oak flooring ? I'm also looking for timber flooring and was hoping to find alternative to parquet as i prefer lighter shade of wood.

I gave up the ideal and now opt for parquet. My contractor told me he can't guarantee oak flooring, and the door maker which is my dad's friend, told him oak look nice when new, but will turn dark later on. Goggle american white oak.... that was my initial choice.

[Christopher 0]

I gave up the ideal and now opt for parquet. My contractor told me he can't guarantee oak flooring, and the door maker which is my dad's friend, told him oak look nice when new, but will turn dark later on. Goggle american white oak.... that was my initial choice.

American white oak is nice, price also nice hehe.. parquet can be nice too but quite common (Indo teak or Burmese teak). All are solid wood after a period there will be scratches and turn dark for sure. That's the time when u will need to re-sand, per round of sanding will be approximately 5mm down so commonly 2 times or 3 times the whole flooring is as good as gone.

[JeanL 0]

Sometimes, it is also the expertise. The main contractor would sub-contract the works to a sub contractor who do not know how to do it well. Especially renovation contractors, to make the margin, they go for people that give them cheap rates, but may not necessary know the work. So even if you get the best materials, without the correct people, you are simply wasting your money.

[Eurypylus 0]

Sometimes, it is also the expertise. The main contractor would sub-contract the works to a sub contractor who do not know how to do it well. Especially renovation contractors, to make the margin, they go for people that give them cheap rates, but may not necessary know the work. So even if you get the best materials, without the correct people, you are simply wasting your money.

Agreed After weeks of checking around I've learn the lesson that HDB renovation standard can never be as good as landed property.

My dad is a retired carpenter that use to work on landed property most of the time, so he have seen all the high end stuff, contact his friend in the field, not many are willing to take up project in HDB, the few that are willing to do so quote me twice as much as an average HDB contractor. Today I get my contractor to quote me a 4m+ frameless glass door and he end up giving a reasonable quote for something like 10mm glass... when I told him my dad suggest something at least 1" thick... he laugh and told me its a five figure thing, and he don't even imagine anyone who live in HDB will use it.

Got to admit no $ cannot ask for too much

Edited September 25, 2010 by Eurypylus

[JeanL 0]

Agreed After weeks of checking around I've learn the lesson that HDB renovation standard can never be as good as landed property.

My dad is a retired carpenter that use to work on landed property most of the time, so he have seen all the high end stuff, contact his friend in the field, not many are willing to take up project in HDB, the few that are willing to do so quote me twice as much as an average HDB contractor. Today I get my contractor to quote me a 4m+ frameless glass door and he end up giving a reasonable quote for something like 10mm glass... when I told him my dad suggest something at least 1" thick... he laugh and told me its a five figure thing, and he don't even imagine anyone who live in HDB will use it.

Got to admit no $ cannot ask for too much

Ya, no choice, if we want it cheap, this is the standard that we will get. The majority of the contractors in the renovation industry is just not there yet.

[xcqckng 0]

found this laminated flooring is reliable and wont cost arm and leg

http://www.robinaflooring.com/

[Eurypylus 0]

found this laminated flooring is reliable and wont cost arm and leg

http://www.robinaflooring.com/

Thanks for the ads, there's no way you can compare real wood flooring to laminate lol

[vinljp 0]

Have anyone heard of Engineered Wood?...It is suppose to be natural wood & yet environment friendly as it only uses a slice of it rather than the slab?