Just wondering if anyone can help. We are thinking of putting a spotted gum or ironbark real or engineered timber floor in our open plan living area.
This is a huge area with hydronic inslab heating and a wall of glass (3 metres high by 6 metres wide) facing north.
We have been told that
Hydronic heating will significantly vary the moisture content of the wood and result in gaps, possible cracking. The timber also acts as an insulator and will not be as effective as tiles in conducting the radiant heat from the slab
That the north facing glass will fade and possibly crack the timber from exposure to intense light. (We live in the existing house on our block now and the flooring near the north windows does get very warm)
We really want the timber floor but not if we a pouring $11-14K into something that will be ruined in 5 years. Our other options are grey 950x450 rectified tiles or hydronic panel heating in living areas and inslab in other areas.
Grateful for opinions and advice.
cheers
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Browse Forums Flooring & Floor Covering  27 Aug 2007 663 Gold Member Re: Timber flooring - fading, cracking etc 2Apr 08, 2008 9:36 am The timber will get slightly darker not lighter. And it won't ruin it as such, there are floors in heritage house that have had sun forever.
One assumes in summer, you will have shades for the north sun, so it won't be as bad as you think. Yes you are right, timber will insulate the floor, so heating will be pretty wasteful. As for cracking and moisture, I would guess it would dry the timber more? and make it crack. But hydronic isn't that hot is it? Re: Timber flooring - fading, cracking etc 3Apr 08, 2008 1:48 pm We initially considered hydronic heating and several people told us to avoid wooden floors ... not only the wood but the surface polish can be affected by changes to floor temperature.
The other issue is that tiles/cement have better thermal properties so you would be reducing the effects of your underfloor heating by putting down wood. We couldn't find hard evidence either way, but we decided not to take the risk and opted for cement floors. Of course now we have traditional heating and have gone back to the wooden floors. Such is life  .Hi, I had a barrier reef pool installed less that 2 years ago and the gel coat is already fading. The colour is electric grey shimmer which isn’t available… 0 1608 Engineering timber is certainly a less fuss option, times cheaper to supply and install and better withstands humidity. 1 2646 id suggest getting an engineer to give you an opinion rather than a builder. 1 2117 |
