Soundproofing Wood Floors
A lot of people think that wooden floors
are very noisy and cold. The cold is thought
of when remembering the original wood floor
boards in the house where the cold breeze
from the cellar or basement void would come
through. Before central heating this
flooring could make the house very cold.
New floorboards are neither cold or noisy.
The flooring sold now comes tongue and
grooved on all 4 sides which means the
boards slot firmly together without leaving
large gaps for the breeze to come through.
This immediately eliminates any drafts from
below the subfloor.
Even when laid directly onto joists, the
insulation is very good and no cold can be
felt coming through the joints.
The noise of wood floors is also minimal
when fitted properly. When laminate floor
had just come out this was often fitted
without any or adequate underlay. This made
the flooring very noisy as there was a
hollow void between the existing sub floor
and the new laminate floor. Due to laminate
flooring also being made of hdf (high
density fibreboard) rather than real wood,
the noise was louder than that of real wood.
It would often sound very hard and noisy
with the taps of steps heard constantly.
Wood floor has more natural sound insulation
and when installed properly the sound is
minimal.
When using an engineered board the most
common method is to float the floor by
gluing the tongue and groove. As this
creates a gap between the two floors it
needs something in between to soak up the
noise. This is where the underlay is used.
The underlays range from a basic 2mm foam
which can soak up the majority of the sound
to the high density underlays which have
been proven to have high acoustic properties
and keep the noise to a minimum. Generally
the price dictates the quality of the
underlay but be careful to choose a wood
floor underlay rather than a carpet underlay
as these are not suitable for wood floors.
With solid wood floors, the boards are
installed by either gluing down directly or
by nailing down to the existing sub floor.
Due to this, the boards do not have the void
between and are therefore not noisy.
Written by Ruth Shann – for professional
advice on wood floors contact Real Oak
Floors
London builders:
History of a bathtub
The bathtub is known
for more than one thousand years. The most
ancient baths, discovered during excavations
of Cronos’s palace on Isle of Crete, date
back to III century B.C. The ceramic baths
discovered by archeologists were 2500 years
old, but they were very similar to modern
ones. By the way, one of the first bronze
baths was discovered during excavations at
Pompeii. At that time the baths were made of
marble and terracotta. We also know that
rich citizens of Greece and Rome had silver
and even golden pools.
During excavations in one ancient city in
India the archeologists discovered baths
which age was more than 5 thousand years!
Those “washing containers” were in each
house of that city and its water facilities
were very circumspect.
So even in old time people have appreciated
curative properties of water. There is
another historical fact. 2 thousand years
ago sacred Hindu books “Science of life”
contained the following phrase: “The water
current is curative; water cools the fever
heat and cures any illness”.
Culture of washing and stance on cleanliness
of human body during different ages were
reflected in design and accessories of
bathrooms. One would think that Spartans,
bent on religion of strength and health, did
not know anything of bathrooms. Besides,
they washed only in cold water because they
feared to run into a sin of delicacy.
Read More
The Features of a
Cork Floor
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When getting
a new floor
for your
house, you
must be
considering
a variety of
factors to
make the
most of your
investment.
And on that
count, cork
floors score
pretty high.
In this
article we
will discuss
some of the
special
features of
cork that
makes it a
truly unique
floor. And
you can use
it both for
your house
and for your
office.
Appearance
With a wide
variety of
patterns and
colors
available,
cork looks
great on the
floor. And
the variety
allows you
to have
floors that
suit your
style and
taste.
Durability
The life of
a cork floor
can last up
to
centuries.
And there is
proof of
that. Both
the Library
of Congress
and the
First
Congregational
Church of
Canada have
cork floors
that are
well over a
hundred
years old.
So when you
install a
cork floor,
you are
assured a
lifetime of
peace
regarding
flooring
issues. Such
durability
of cork can
be
attributed
to its
cellular
composition.
Even in case
of friction,
cork is much
less
affected
than other
hardwood
floors or
tiles or
even
laminates.
Liquid
Resistant
Cork
flooring
contains an
intrinsic
waxy
substance,
Suberin.
What it does
is it makes
cork
impermeable
to liquids
and gases.
So there are
very minor
chances of
cork
actually
rotting. In
fact cork is
considered o
be one of
the best
seals
available
and is still
used today
to seal wine
bottles, a
practice
that has
been going
on for
centuries.
Resilience
Due to its
cellulite
structure
cork also
has
tremendous
resilience
built into
it. So when
pressure is
put on a
cork floor
it will bend
but as soon
as the
pressure is
released the
cork floor
snaps back
to its
normal
position.
This is
because on
application
of pressure
the cells
are
compressed
while on
release they
regain heir
shape. So
walking on a
cork floor
with a high
heel shoe on
is not an
issue.
Insect
Resistant
The
composition
of the cork
ensures that
insects,
even
termites,
cannot cause
any harm to
the floor.
The floor
acts as a
kind of
natural
barrier for
them. Even
microbes
cannot set
up colonies
in the cork
floors. Thus
it is kind
of germ free
too.
Value
Cork
flooring
also wins in
value when
compared to
other
floors.
Priced
affordably,
cork can
come at
almost half
the cost of
some other
kinds of
flooring
available.
And then it
has all the
features
which make
it truly one
of the best
flooring
options. |
|
Tania
Penwell
provides
information
on
cork
flooring
and other
DIY topics
for
A1 Wood
Flooring
- your guide
to finding
and caring
for
beautiful
wood floors. |
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