Browse Forums Flooring & Floor Covering 1 May 06, 2010 1:07 pm Hi all, I am trying to work out which timber to go with for my floor and would appreciate your advice. I have found a small place that offers a very low price for Blue Gum solid timber - the price is equivalent to what other places are offering for floating floor. They claim that the timber is sourced from Australia but made oversea. I have been told by other places that timber made oversea are not climatised for Australian climate and does not meet Australian standards. So my questions are: 1. Has anyone run into problem with imported timber, or Australian timber manufactured oversea? 2. With the low price, what things should I look out for? (I am inspecting a job they did for a customer later today). Your advice would be much appreciated! Thanks, Bernado Re: Import or Australian made solid timber? 2May 06, 2010 2:44 pm I never quiet understood this. You are talking about about timber like its a man made product. Are you sure it real blue gum. Also raw timber costs about the same some floating floors because you still have to sand and polish it and this brings the cost up. or are you saying that the solid timber floors costs the same as floating fully installed?? Re: Import or Australian made solid timber? 3May 06, 2010 3:56 pm Sorry if I am using incorrect terminology but I mean the actual pre-finish floorboard with the tongue-and-groove thing. Yeah the price they gave me for solid timber fully installed is roughly the same as floating fully installed at other places - and by your reaction I guess it seems ******* already . Is it real blue gum? I don't know.. how can I tell? Re: Import or Australian made solid timber? 4May 06, 2010 8:57 pm First I would begin by asking if you dont mind how much is he charging you per meter fully installed for the blue gum. Also what method is he going to use to install it. Is it direct stick or nailed on to pywood or perhaps 19mm boards onto battons?? To install solid timber flooring properly would probably cost around $50 per meter in labour only by the time installation sanding and polishing is included. So something seems wrong here because even if the timber was for free it would be more than what floating timber cost ( i think) as floating timber ranges in price significantly. Re: Import or Australian made solid timber? 5May 06, 2010 9:55 pm At initial discussion I asked about Spotted Gum (solid) and they said ~$75/m2 + ~$10/m2 for plywood + $30/m2 for labour = ~$115/m2 fully installed. They said installation is by secret nail to plywood. They said the timber is pre-finish, so there will be no sanding or polishing afterward. I came back second time asking about Blue Gum and they took my plan to do a quote - but they haven't gotten back to me yet - but earlier discussions indicated that the price difference will not be much betweeen the 2 species. I went out tonight to have a look at a friend's place who got their floor supplied and done by this place. I could feel the floor moved when I stumped my feet in some places. There are some small gaps between the strips in some places. My friend got bamboo however, and she said that they came from China. Neither my friend and I know how bamboo are installed so I don't know whether the movement would be less with solid floor where it is nailed down to plywood (or is the movement in my friend's place is purely due to poor installation)? Any advice? Re: Import or Australian made solid timber? 6May 07, 2010 8:54 am bambo always comes from china typically. Australian hardwoods like spotted gum always comes from Australia. Hence the term Australian hardwood. Spotted gum is more expensive but is a nicer and better spec timber. I would suggest that what ever timber you go for that you go for a system that is glued and secret nailed to plywood and then sanded and polished after. I have this is my house and it is the best feeling ever to walk on. Re: Import or Australian made solid timber? 7May 07, 2010 9:09 am Just a quick point, around 15% of Bamboo flooring sold in Australia is actually Bamboo that was grown in Australia. A further 45% is grown in Vietnam, India and Indonesia. Also, Bamboo is one of the strongest and quietest timber species out there. It is very price competitive and less prone to movement than most other timber species. Always go for Timber grown in Australia if you can as the climate has the biggest effect on Timber once it is installed. If it was grown, prepared and installed all in Australia, you have less of a chance of it moving or cracking as the climate stress on the timber is minimal (unless of course it is still green). "I never learned a thing until I finished school" - Unknown "You can get anything accomplished, If you don't mind who gets the credit" - Ned Hay Re: Import or Australian made solid timber? 8May 07, 2010 9:13 am I dont doubt your comments kid81. However what are the chances of the bambo sold for flooring in shops is from Australia? Bambo is hard like you say. However in my opinion what makes Aussie hardwoods spectacular is the variance in grains color and features. This si something bambo lacks and I find it to consistent. Re: Import or Australian made solid timber? 9May 07, 2010 9:42 am So what do you think about the quotes I have been given from this place? Too good to be true? You seem to be saying that sanding and polishing is required afterward - but I was told that pre-finish products don't need this - and could it be that this is what making the price difference? Re: Import or Australian made solid timber? 11Sep 13, 2010 3:59 pm u991386 Hi all, I am trying to work out which timber to go with for my floor and would appreciate your advice. I have found a small place that offers a very low price for Blue Gum solid timber - the price is equivalent to what other places are offering for floating floor. They claim that the timber is sourced from Australia but made oversea. I have been told by other places that timber made oversea are not climatised for Australian climate and does not meet Australian standards. So my questions are: 1. Has anyone run into problem with imported timber, or Australian timber manufactured oversea? 2. With the low price, what things should I look out for? (I am inspecting a job they did for a customer later today). Your advice would be much appreciated! Thanks, Bernado u991386 Hi all, I am trying to work out which timber to go with for my floor and would appreciate your advice. I have found a small place that offers a very low price for Blue Gum solid timber - the price is equivalent to what other places are offering for floating floor. They claim that the timber is sourced from Australia but made oversea. I have been told by other places that timber made oversea are not climatised for Australian climate and does not meet Australian standards. So my questions are: 1. Has anyone run into problem with imported timber, or Australian timber manufactured oversea? 2. With the low price, what things should I look out for? (I am inspecting a job they did for a customer later today). Your advice would be much appreciated! Thanks, Bernado Hi I just read this post as I'm researching on my flooring options now. I'm looking for a good quality solid timber floorings and the products I've seen and like are imported. I don't quite understand how if the wood is sourced from Australia but manufactured overseas can impact it's ability to climatise? Anyhow, i'm just wondering if you've gone ahead with the flooring and how it turned out? Appreciate your sharing. Cheers Re: Import or Australian made solid timber? 12Sep 13, 2010 4:11 pm dreamland u991386 Hi all, I am trying to work out which timber to go with for my floor and would appreciate your advice. I have found a small place that offers a very low price for Blue Gum solid timber - the price is equivalent to what other places are offering for floating floor. They claim that the timber is sourced from Australia but made oversea. I have been told by other places that timber made oversea are not climatised for Australian climate and does not meet Australian standards. So my questions are: 1. Has anyone run into problem with imported timber, or Australian timber manufactured oversea? 2. With the low price, what things should I look out for? (I am inspecting a job they did for a customer later today). Your advice would be much appreciated! Thanks, Bernado u991386 Hi all, I am trying to work out which timber to go with for my floor and would appreciate your advice. I have found a small place that offers a very low price for Blue Gum solid timber - the price is equivalent to what other places are offering for floating floor. They claim that the timber is sourced from Australia but made oversea. I have been told by other places that timber made oversea are not climatised for Australian climate and does not meet Australian standards. So my questions are: 1. Has anyone run into problem with imported timber, or Australian timber manufactured oversea? 2. With the low price, what things should I look out for? (I am inspecting a job they did for a customer later today). Your advice would be much appreciated! Thanks, Bernado Hi I just read this post as I'm researching on my flooring options now. I'm looking for a good quality solid timber floorings and the products I've seen and like are imported. I don't quite understand how if the wood is sourced from Australia but manufactured overseas can impact it's ability to climatise? Anyhow, i'm just wondering if you've gone ahead with the flooring and how it turned out? Appreciate your sharing. Cheers Naa I ended up tiling the whole area as it was too much headache and the cost was getting high. One of the things I have been told that could affect "climatisation" is how long the timber is held in the warehouse before it is laid. Apparently the timber should be held in the warehouse for a period of time (few months?) to enable it to adjust to the climate. But i'm no experts - so pls do more research . Re: Import or Australian made solid timber? 13Sep 14, 2010 5:13 pm The vast majority of pre-finished solid hardwood flooring - including Aust. hardwood - is machined and finished in China Whether the timber has sat in a warehouse in Sydney for 5 years or straight off a boat from China is completely irrelevant as far as acclimatistaion goes ACCLIMATISATION ONLY OCCURS IN THE HOUSE ITS BEING LAID IN - otherwise it is not being acclimatised Re: Import or Australian made solid timber? 14Sep 14, 2010 6:58 pm Quote: Whether the timber has sat in a warehouse in Sydney for 5 years or straight off a boat from China is completely irrelevant as far as acclimatistaion goes ACCLIMATISATION ONLY OCCURS IN THE HOUSE ITS BEING LAID IN - otherwise it is not being acclimatised Friends are getting blackbutt flooring laid next week and they were told that the timber was already acclimatised so it could be laid straightaway. We were told by a different company that the timber would need to be in the house for a week before being laid in our house. Re: Import or Australian made solid timber? 15Sep 14, 2010 7:43 pm Yes it will be acclimatised to the pack in the warehouse its sitting in - not to their house where it counts. People seem to get very confused about the definition of acclimatisation - it means adjusting to the specific climate. A climate in a warehouse or a mill or anywhere different to the house its being laid in is exactly that - DIFFERENT Re: Import or Australian made solid timber? 16Sep 14, 2010 8:23 pm That was what I thought - that the timber needed to acclimatise to where it's being laid. I thought it was a tad strange what they were told. Re: Import or Australian made solid timber? 17Sep 14, 2010 8:40 pm kid81 .............Also, Bamboo is one of the strongest and quietest timber species out there........ I know this is an old thread, but I think one misnomer that gets around a bit is the hardness of bamboo. The hardness of of Bamboo comes from the formaldehyde resin used to bind the bamboo strands together - not the bamboo itself. Engineering timber is certainly a less fuss option, times cheaper to supply and install and better withstands humidity. 1 15905 If this is a custom build then I would expect the builder to set out the door frame closer to the wall to avoid the gap between architrave and the wall and or specify… 9 8306 i imagine you also have another contract with an architect? and yeah, whatever other's said about special conditions and appendices 16 16001 |