London Climate Makes This Choice More Important than you think
Peckham does not have a theatrical climate. None of that permafrost, none of that monsoon, none of that dust storms blowing in on a desert. What it lacks is an odd mixture of wet winters, dry centrally-heated interiors, and humidity levels that vary more drastically than most residents of this area ever realize. It is that swing that makes the decision between solid and engineered wood one of the most important in the flooring project. This is the question that Wood Floor Fitters London professionals hear all the time – and the answer is more complex than a mere suggestion.
Best Flooring Fitters London has more than 20 years experience in fitting solid and engineered wood within South London. This is what that experience really teaches you. Herne Hill, Oval, Brixton, Streatham – we have seen how various products work in actual properties within actual years.
What Movement Means in Practice
Wood is hygroscopic. It takes out and gives out moisture to the air around it. It takes out and gives out moisture to the air around it. As it absorbs moisture it swells a little along its width. It shrinks when it gives out moisture– in a warm room in January. This isn’t a flaw in the material. It’s just what wood does, and it has done it for as long as people have been using it in buildings.
This is a problem when such movement is too much or unpredictable. These aren’t catastrophic failures. Board separation during winter. Boards rubbing together in the summer and bending a little in an upward direction. Cupping – The edges of a board are raised higher than the centre – due to dissimilar exposure of moisture to the surface above and below. But they are offensive, they have an influence on the appearance of the floor and in extreme cases they turn out to be structural issues.
London exaggerates this issue. The older housing stock that is prevalent in the city, the Victorian terraces, the Georgian conversions that dominate Peckham, is likely to have patchy insulation, older single glazed windows in some rooms, and heating systems that turn on and off instead of keeping the house at a constant temperature. The outcome is greater humidity fluctuations than would be experienced in a new building with good insulation. That is crucial to flooring selection.
Case of Solid Wood It is still Real
The list of true merits of solid wood is long and cannot be overlooked in the stampede to prescribe engineered. It can be sands and refinishing many times throughout its life – a well-maintained solid oak floor today may be 80 years old and still in service. It is not a marketing statement, it is a piece of history. There are 1800s original solid timber buildings in use in London with original timber floors.
The touch of the ground is also different. The density and resonance of solid wood is one that engineered products are trying to approximate and fail. Tap it and it sounds different. When you walk on it you can feel the thermal mass different, warmer in summer, a little cooler in winter. These are minor details yet they are important to individuals who are concerned about their floors.
Thicker boards, 20mm, 22mm, also can be made of solid wood and offer a more prominent visual edge profile at thresholds and doorways. That thickness translates as quality in a manner that thinnitles do not always achieve in a period house in Peckham where ornament is a consideration.
The straight truth: solid wood needs more management of the environment than many properties in London are inclined to provide. The target humidity is 40-60%. The air blown out of the building by central heating to 30 percent humidity in January, plus draughts through the sash windows and uninsulated floors below, is a gapper. Not calamity– but discontinuities.
The reason why Engineered Wood was designed to be used in this very scenario
The construction of engineered wood is specifically aimed at solving the movement issue. The cross-ply core resist the lateral expansion and contraction which causes the movement of solid wood. The cross-ply core – layers of timber arranged in opposite ways – resist the lateral expansion and contraction which causes the movement of solid wood. The physics are straightforward: a layer attempts to move but the layer next to it resists it. The overall effect is a flatter and more stable board over a broader humidity range.
This is indeed important to Peckham homes. The movement is less and slower, and is less likely to cause noticeable gaps or distortion of the surface. A board with a quality that is rated at 30-65 humidity will be able to withstand season change in a Victorian terrace much more easily than solid wood of the same species. The floor does not stop moving, as does all wood, but the movement is less and slower.
Engineered wood also leaves possibilities that solid timber seals. It can pass over underfloor heating, which solid timber cannot. It is floating and not glued or nailed, and installation is quicker, and provides the floor with a certain amount of flexibility that is better suited to older buildings with slightly uneven subfloors. And it may be utilized in the below grade work – cellars, ground floor extensions, where solid wood is too susceptible to ground moisture.
Engineered wood would be nearly always a more reasonable technical decision in properties in Stockwell, in Elephant and Castle, and Streatham where ground floor rooms are prevalent and subfloor conditions can vary. It is the correct solution to the circumstances. It’s not a compromise.
Not sure which is suitable to your property? Find out the real deal with those who have fitted both in all varieties of South London houses. Get a free consultation by calling Best Flooring Fitters London on 020 3322 7001, we will measure your area and provide you with a straight up answer, not a sales pitch.
Species is More than People Think
Oak is the most popular engineered and solid wood floor in London, and rightly so, it is dimensionally stable compared to most hardwoods, is commonly available, and is suitable to a wide variety of interior styles. Not every oak acts so.
Quarter-sawn and rift-sawn oak are cut at an angle other than that of plain-sawn material. The consequence is a board which travels much less in its width- about 40-50 per cent less than plain-sawn boards. In a Peckham house where humidity regulation is less than perfect, such difference is manifested in the form of smaller winter gaps and fewer seasonal creaks. The boards are more expensive. It is justified in the majority of cases in the performance.
Bigger boards roll farther than smaller boards, no matter the species. It is elementary physics, but it is a discussion that is too frequently overlooked when selecting a product in flooring projects. A solid oak board, 200mm wide, in a draughty Peckham flat will show more noticeable season movement than a 120mm board of the same material under the same conditions.
Exotic hardwoods such as jatoba, merbau, bamboo composites may be alluring aesthetically or in terms of sustainability. Acquire actual technical information on dimensional stability of the supplier before committing to anything other than the common oak, ash and walnut. There are those that manage humidity variation. There are those who are really ill adapted to Peckham. This information will be shared by a good wood floor installation services provider and not requested twice.
Acclimatisation: The Process that is Overlooked
No matter what product is selected, there is no bargain when it comes to acclimatisation. Solid and engineered boards require time in the room where they will be installed – at the real ambient temperature and humidity – prior to installation. In the case of solid wood, 5-7 days is average. In the case of engineered, 48-72 hours will be adequate.
By fail of this step, the floor is being installed in a condition which does not represent its in-service condition. The movement will occur as gaps or distortion instead of silently in a pile of boards against the wall. It will acclimatise after fitting, but it will be as a fixed floor.
It is among the most overlooked processes during the budget flooring installations in Peckham. A fitter who does not make reference to acclimatisation as a part of the process specification is a fitter who cuts corners. Inquire of them. How they work you know a lot by the answer.
When Laminate Is the Honest Answer
The following is what is not said enough when discussing solid versus engineered: in many cases of London homes and budgets, the best option of the three is the premium laminate. It is free of movement problems. It does not mind the changes in humidity. It does not require acclimatisation in this manner. And upper end modern laminate is literally hard to tell the difference between engineered wood in normal room conditions.
With rental accommodation in Peckham, with young children and pets, with anyone who has to run a renovation budget and has to do a whole room in laminate, quality laminate fitted correctly by a skilled hand-yman will result in a floor that looks good, wears well, and costs a fraction of either wood choice. A floor that looks good and wears well.
Best Flooring Fitters London offers and installs low-cost laminate flooring in all ten South London neighbourhoods. The standard isn’t different. We treat a laminate job as we would a solid oak installation – take the time to prepare it, make sure the expansion gaps are right, use the right underlay. The product is different.
Verdict Peckham Properties
Solid wood is perfectly possible and will work well in a well insulated, humidified London house – modern new construction in Elephant and Castle, recently refurbished apartments in Clapham North. The material will act predictably due to the predictable conditions.
Engineered wood is the more prudent technical decision where the heating is variable, the windows are drafty, or there are moisture issues in the basement, i.e., which characterizes a vast percentage of the housing stock of South London. It copes with the conditions without compromising the appearance or the feel of natural timber.
And in any endeavor where cost is a real concern or the dwelling is a rental, premium laminate will provide a result that is more affordable than either of the alternatives without noticeable loss in appearance. There is no one correct answer, which depends on the property rather than preference. Our twenty years of experience in fitting floors throughout London has taught us that there is no one correct answer.
People Also Ask
Will the weather in Peckham cause wood floors to expand and contract significantly? Yes–more than most homeowners anticipate. The mixture of humid autumns, dry centrally heated winters and warm humid summers in London produces true seasonal change in humidity which influences all wood floors. This movement is most noticeable with solid wood and the little gaps that appear in winter as wood dries out and shrinks. The cross-ply construction of engineered wood is more relaxed to handle the same conditions and it is therefore the material of choice in most period properties around Peckham.
Quality laminate is also a serious consideration to homeowners in Peckham who want the appearance of real wood but are not concerned with the seasonal movement. Give us a call, have a candid talk and receive a floor that fits your unique house and not a blanket suggestion. Best Flooring Fitters London has more than 20 years of experience on what to recommend when the appropriate product is needed to suit the conditions of Peckham – and install it when the decision has been made.
Ready to make the right call to your Peckham home? Don’t let the solid vs engineered debate stall your project. Book your free survey with Best Flooring Fitters London now; serving Peckham. Call 020 3322 7001 or visit https://flooringfitterslondon.org.uk/ to book your free survey.