If you’re in the process of planning a new wood flooring project, then the chances are you’ll be trying to decide whether to plump for a glossy finish or a matt finish. When it comes to wood flooring there are a growing number of finishes that you can choose from. Finishes such as oil, will create a natural, matt look, and lacquer or varnish will create a more hard-wearing, glossy finish.
Which you choose will depend on a host of considerations. Here are five ways to help you decide:
Is your room likely to have heavy traffic or wear and tear? If your room is likely to suffer from a lot of footfall or rough and tumble of family life, then there’s no getting away from the fact that a glossy finish will protect your floor better than an oiled finish. That said, glossy finishes have a tendency to show scratches more than matt finishes, so it really is a case of weighing up the advantages over the disadvantages for your particular circumstances.
How important is ease of regular maintenance? Again, if quick and easy regular maintenance is high on your agenda, a glossy finish will enable you to simply pass the hoover over the floor when it’s needed and then follow up the vacuuming process with a moist mop. This maintenance will be all that’s required on a regular basis. On a housekeeping front, the other advantage of any glossy finish is that any accidental spills or accidents are more likely to stay on the surface during the short time it’ll take for you get what you need to mop it up. With a matt finish, the risk is that any spills or accidents could sink into the wood and may ultimately cause a stain.
Do you have pets? If you have pets, then there are pros and cons of both glossy and matt options. A glossy finish is more likely to show signs of scratching from little pads and paws, but it will be easier to keep clean if there are ‘little accidents’ or if your pets come into your home wet from outdoors.
How about repairs? The great thing about wood flooring is that it can be re-sanded and re-finished during its lifetime, which means it can be brought back to new-looking time after time. With both matt and glossy finish wood flooring, you’ll be able to remove the finish with a light sanding and re-finish the floor a few times during the life of the floor, but matt floors can often be more successfully spot-repaired than glossy floors.
What sort of look are you hoping to achieve? If all else fails and you don’t mind about wear and tear, maintenance or pets, the answer to whether you should choose matt or glossy flooring simply comes down to personal taste. In the same way as some people like patent leather and others prefer suede, some people like matt flooring and some people like glossy!