Best Hardwood Floors

Wood floors come in a variety of styles, grains and colors. The look of your floor will depend a great deal on the species of wood you choose.

Merbau is an imported exotic hardwood that grows in Indonesia, the Pacific Islands and Australia. Its dramatic dark brown-red tones make it popular in flooring and paneling. It’s also known as Tat-Talun, Lumpha and Vesi in various parts of the South Pacific.

Here are some specifics for Merbau wood floors:

Color: As with most woods, there’s a distinct difference in color between the heartwood and the sapwood. The heartwood is dark gold to orange-brown when freshly cut, but ages to a deep red brown akin to mahogany. The sapwood is pale yellow-gold or honey toned.

Grain: Merbau has a straight or interlocked grain that is wavy and coarse in texture. The patterns of the grain are very distinctive, and grow more so with staining and aging.

Properties:

Strength: Merbau is strong and very durable, comparable to hickory, though not has dense or heavy. Its hardness can make it difficult to work with. In use, it is considered to have excellent dimensional stability, though there is some significant movement and shifting in actual use.

Flexibility: Merbau shifts and moves with use, and is often used as a direct floating installation over a good sub-floor.

Stain-ability: The wood is relatively impermeable, and water-based stains are suggested. Merbau stains black in contact with iron or moisture.

Hardness: Wood hardness is measured using the Janka scale, a test that measures the force required to embed a steel ball into a sample of the wood. It’s an excellent measure of the durability and ability of wood to withstand everyday wear and tear. It’s also useful in determining how difficult it is to work with. Merbau measures 1925 on the Janko scale, one of the harder woods used in flooring. It can be difficult to saw, and will dull cutting edges. Most experts recommend carbine tooling. It does sand easily, and withstands a lot of abuse.

Merbau, with its distinctive grain and dark coloring, is an excellent choice for formal rooms. It is often used in parquet and pieced floors, or in mixed wood floors to add drama to the design. Because of its durability and relative ease of maintenance, it can be an excellent option to add a touch of elegance to a shop, office or cozy restaurant. The natural rich coloring of the heartwood is the perfect floor in a room with light, neutral colors and natural textures, but it can take on a formal look and feel in a traditional Continental style room.

As an added side-note, Merbau is naturally resistant to termite infestation.

Buying wood flooring online

Online wouldn’t be the first place most people would go to look for wood flooring, but now it’s essential to look online. Why? Simply because online prices are so competitive.

Think about it. An online store doesn’t need to position itself where it attracts local traffic, so it can house itself and store it’s products in low cost locations, thereby keeping costs down. That’s why online stores are so competitive. But make sure you look for a large reputable store.

LumberLiquidators.com is the biggest online flooring store. If you’re looking online for flooring you’ve got to check them out!