Having a solid and stable surface in your garden where you can relax, share a moment with friends either over drinks or dinner is a great addition to your home. The whole notion of outside living is growing in practicality as the years go by, thanks to inventive patio heaters and hot tubs that create real, all year round interesting outdoor places to be; so it’s easy to see why more and more people are in the market for exterior wood flooring.
When you’re looking for exterior wood flooring in London, you need to shop around carefully to make sure you make the right decisions for your particular project. However, doing your research can be so time consuming and confusing that many people give up and end up getting forced down a specific route by pushy sales people.
At Wood and Beyond we think that’s a real shame, which is why we invest in giving you the right information so you can make well informed choices. In this article we’ll explore the different kinds of wood you can use for exterior wood flooring as well as why we think some are better suited to the great outdoors than others. Thereafter, we’ll take a quick look at the latest fixing trends, so you can make sure your exterior wood flooring is ahead of the pack.
Wood is generally split into two different types: softwood and hardwood. In very simple terms, the difference between the two is the amount of time it takes the tree they come from to grow. Hardwood timber, comes from slow growing trees that more often than not have broad leaves. Softwood timber on the other hand comes from evergreen or coniferous trees that grow relatively quickly.
Although hard and softwood trees are both perfectly suited to outdoor life when they’re growing, once they are lumbered, they behave quite differently in outdoor environments. Hardwood flooring is tough, will stand up to pretty much whatever weather conditions nature throws at it and will look better as the years go by. So, although softwood solutions might be tempting because they’re cheaper, you would definitely be better investing more and getting a great long term solution by opting for hardwood.
Teak is the hardwood the most commonly associated with exterior wood flooring, thanks to traditional decks being made of this material. All of that said, teak is taking second place today to many of the alternative solutions that are available today.
Ipe is a relatively new kid on the exterior wood flooring block and typically hails from the South American continent countries like Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia and Peru. Unusual because of its beautiful olive colour, it’s naturally very resistant to infestation and fungi. A wood that darkens as the sun makes its effect felt, it’s really hard wearing and tough, so is perfectly suited to even the most challenging of outdoor environments. You can see the ipe exterior floor range we have in stock here.
An African exterior wood floor solution, Iroko has a highly irregular grain and a coarse texture. Getting more attractive as it gets older, this exterior wood flooring solution is perfect if you’re looking for an option that’s full of charm. Again tough and resistant to harm from moisture, this option will stay looking good for a very long time. Here are the iroko timbers that we have in stock at this moment in time.
This highly stable wood is arguably one of the best exterior wood flooring options because of its immense stability and the silvery hue it adopts as time goes by. Also highly resistant to fungi, decay and insect attack, when you choose balau, you truly do get a whole lot of bang for your buck. You can see our whole balau range here.
When you fit an exterior wood floor, you may decide to butt the floor up against your house to create a patio type effect or you might decide to identify a spot in your garden where you want a hard surface. No matter whether you go for a patio or an island, your main choice of fixings will be between hidden or screw.
As the name suggests, hidden fixings are where you see your flooring, but the fixings aren’t visible. Screw down is where each board is screwed in place with a sunken screw. There’s no getting away from the fact that hidden fixings look great. The end result is a smooth overall look that holds no danger for people walking on the floor, no matter their age. Well worth the extra effort, the bonus you get when you opt for hidden fixings is that when the time comes to re-sand and re-finish your floor you don’t need to worry about counter-sinking screws to avoid damage. That way, the time you invest at the start is paid back later – now that’s what we call win:win!
If you’re in the market for an exterior wood floor and need some help to make sure you make the right decisions, why not get in touch? At Wood and Beyond we have a team that together has decades of experience and we’d be delighted to help you make the very best choices.
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