Browse Forums Flooring & Floor Covering 1 Feb 13, 2010 3:47 pm Hi, My hubby and I have finally agreed that we will rip up the 10 year old carpets in our bedrooms and replace with wooden flooring. We managed to agree on the Tassie Oak but I understand that this is a relatively soft wood - and am now wondering if we should consider Blackbutt instead which is a *similar* colour but much harder. We have kids so it will need to be able to withstand some rough treatment! Does anyone have Tassie Oak Floors + kids? Thanks! Re: Wooden Floors - How important is the hardness rank? 2Feb 13, 2010 7:49 pm firstly, tassie oak is pretty expensive so if you have kids (e.g scratches, spills etc) it might be a costly for repairs etc. In these terms, sure hardwood is better for static and dynamic loading but for the everyday loungeroom it shouldn't matter too much. If you want looks, definitely go for Tasmanian Oak Re: Wooden Floors - How important is the hardness rank? 3Feb 13, 2010 8:37 pm Thanks for that - I must admit the quote was higher than I was expecting - so maybe it is the fact that we chose Tassie Oak - I might get a quote for Blackbutt which I quite like too and take it from there! Thanks again Re: Wooden Floors - How important is the hardness rank? 4Feb 13, 2010 8:45 pm I have found Tassie Oak to be a cheaper hardwood to buy - have a look here for a rough comparison. http://www.a1woodfloors.com.au/content/pricelist/pricelist/5 Quote: Blackbutt: $50 - $120m² Tassie Oak: $50m² Re: Wooden Floors - How important is the hardness rank? 6Feb 13, 2010 10:37 pm OH! Cheers for the heads up Re: Wooden Floors - How important is the hardness rank? 7Feb 13, 2010 10:48 pm Actually its a hardwood, but there are 3 species that might be confusing you ads ...one might be Radiata pine AKA Pinus radiarta as some people refer to tassie oak, but wrongly http://www.tastimber.tas.gov.au/species ... soakV4.pdf Where you are coming from is where you are going to... Re: Wooden Floors - How important is the hardness rank? 8Feb 13, 2010 11:10 pm Hi Sarad, When it comes to picking a timber floor I think there are two things you need to consider: -Firstly the hardness of the wood itself; will it dent easily from high heals or scratch when people slide out their dining chairs? -Secondly the product used to finish the boards; will it be easily damaged, warn, scratched, and it's recommended life span. If you chose a timber with a higher janka (hardness) rating then it would stand up better than one with a lower rating, and this could make a big difference overtime when it is subject to everyday family living. As a comparisons Tasmanian Oak has a janka rating of about 5.5 and Cypress Pine is rated about 6. Cypress (in my experience) does not wear well at all, and I would certainly not recommend it to my clients. Strand woven bamboo flooring on the other hand can be sought with a janka rating of 15+. Love the look of Tassie Oak mind you Re: Wooden Floors - How important is the hardness rank? 9Feb 13, 2010 11:12 pm Which tassie oak species are you talking about II? There are a few (sub species) but only 1 is for timber floors Edited for accuracy soz Where you are coming from is where you are going to... Re: Wooden Floors - How important is the hardness rank? 10Feb 13, 2010 11:20 pm Quote: Which tassie oak species are you talking about II? There are a few but only 1 is for timber floors I was of the impression that eucalyptus delegatensis, obliqua, and regnans were used collectively in when marketed as Tasmanian Oak for flooring? Re: Wooden Floors - How important is the hardness rank? 11Feb 15, 2010 12:18 pm There are two things to consider - hardness and durability. The most popular measure, Janka, looks ONLY at the ability of timber to withstand penetration damage - i.e. jumping on the floor while wearing heels. Durability class is concerned with overall hardness of the wood. Speaking of your timbers, Blackbutt has Janka of 8.9 and class 1 durability meaning medium penetration resistance and more than 40 years "life expectancy" when used above ground. With Eucalyptos Obliqua (also known as Messmate) Janks is 7.4 and durability class is 3 meaning medium penetration resistance and expected life of 7-15 years. I personally would not have gone with any of these. Blackbutt could be a compromise however, its tangential shrinkage is quite high meaning it is very sensitive to changes in the level of moisture. Should not be a big problem upstairs. Question about scratches is not really a timber related but the coating. The solvent-based coating have the highest scratch resistance but at price. In this very forum I shared an archive full of timber-related texts that help to clarify a lot of questions. ... built a Promenade with Clarendon. viewtopic.php?f=31&t=25104 20-10-09 - excavation and piering completed ... 12-04-10 - Basins fixed. Connecting to the electrical grid 23-04-10 - PCI 07-05-10 - HANDOVER! Re: Wooden Floors - How important is the hardness rank? 14Feb 15, 2010 2:46 pm Sarad Does anyone have Tassie Oak Floors + kids? Thanks! me me me!!! we've had our tassie oak flooring for over a year now and don't regret it at all. My kids are now 21 months and 4.5yrs and there have been a few marks from throwing things down in middle of tantrum, but not as many as i had expected (I learned of the janka rating only after i chose it and initially wished i'd chosen something harder, but not now). We do have soft felt sticky thngs under every item of furniture, and we don't wear shoes in the house, and I think these two factors help immensely in the floors care, not to mention cleanliness (esp with the shoes - on the odd occasion someone has come in with shoes it needs a mop straight away!) We have high gloss finish and when the floor is freshly mopped it looks absolutely gorgeous and brand new, you really can't notice the few gouges/scratches here and there. Only because I know they are there would I even look for them, and even then I have trouble finding them. So I would say go for the tassie oak, they are beautiful floors and I don't regret our choice at all "Your emotions are the slaves to your thoughts, and you are the slave to your emotions." — Elizabeth Gilbert Living in our new house. Currently scaping the land. Re: Wooden Floors - How important is the hardness rank? 15Feb 15, 2010 3:43 pm we went for the starnd woven bamboo and when we move in I will tell you all about it the reasons we went with the bamboo is we could get it in a darker colour, its a lot harder and wears much better and it was basically the same price as tassie oak. I would have loved spotted gum but was just too much of a stretch on the budget. Oh you can get light coloured bamboo if thats what you like colour wise Blog: http://funmore-residence.blogspot.com/ Forum: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=21109 Construction Start - 19/09/09 Slab Poured - 21/10/09 Frame Completed - 25/11/09 Lockup - 22/12/09 Fixing - 22/02/10 Handover & Moved In 30/04/2010 Re: Wooden Floors - How important is the hardness rank? 16Feb 15, 2010 3:51 pm got brushbox & bamboo. Given another go I would have strandwoven bamboo everywhere. definately does not scratch as easily as the brushbox. progress viewtopic.php?f=31&t=20401 sculptures viewtopic.php?f=36&t=26607 pole trouble viewtopic.php?f=3&t=25988 Re: Wooden Floors - How important is the hardness rank? 17Feb 17, 2010 4:52 pm If you don't like scratches and dents - don't buy a timber floor. You don't have to "wish" for them as such, but they are going to get damaged, dented, darken with age and age along with you. Thats the beauty of them - that most people miss. If you want a "perfect" (rather than natural features), hard wearing, scratch and dent resistant floor - you need a laminate. It's easy for me though - I LOVE old world, beaten up, characteristic flooring - thats hard to get in OZ, but easy to get in the US. I am building soon and have to buy a featured tassie oak, shot blast it with ball bearings and drive a couple of trucks over it randomly, then stain it chocolate - but I am in the industry so I have to have a unique floor (like your hairdresser with the crazy hair cut). Good luck. Old Home Restoration / Renovation To reduce noise transfer without compromising the aesthetic of your exposed I beams, consider filling the 100mm gap between the I beams and the floor above with dense,… 6 9147 The worst thing you can do is sign a building contract without a pre contract review. Over the years many people have come to me with disputes where they just signed… 0 8339 2 4681 |