Engineered wood flooring

[chriselevate]

I have Elka Engineered "Truffle Oak" flooring fitted which has a "UV brushed & oiled, smoked finish". The product is on this page: http://www.elkaflooring.com/index.php/our-floors/14mm-real-wood-engineered

The data sheet for the floor is here: http://www.elkaflooring.com/downloa...14mm_Truffle_Oak_Data_sheet_2015_Complete.pdf

Is there an expert on Engineered wood flooring that could help me with these four issues that I'd like to see if I can sort...

1. I'd like to lose the amount of "shine"/"lacquer" on the surface of the floor. I've seen a friend who's engineered flooring looks more "matt" and "natural" than mine and I'd like to achieve something similar.
2. I'd like to make the "smoked" finish a bit less as it's almost making it look a bit "faded" and it's not faded.
3. With the finish (UV brushed & oiled) giving it a bit of "sealed" and "shine" you can't really feel/see the "grain" quite as well as I'd have hoped.
4. Any "knocks" or "scuffs" that I currently get show up really easily. Again I think this is due to the finish. If it was more matt and natural I think the knocks would give more character to the floor and allow it to age with time rather than stick out like a sore thumb. My friend has 3 kids and theirs looks great 5 years after it was fitted in their lounge, kitchen and living area.

The reason I'm posting on here is I'd like to keep the flooring if possible and flow some more of it into another room rather than start again. As it's engineered wood that can be sanded/refinished I wondered if there were any suggestions I could try with some of the offcuts I've got in the garage as an experiment to see if there something I can do to achieve what I'm looking for.

Or would you suggest pulling it up and fitting something else?

 

[chriselevate]

Does anyone have any advice on this please?

 

[Doggit]

If you don't like the finish, then you need to sand it down, and reseal it. If you've got some off-cuts, then you could sand them down with a palm sander first, and then try different oils or varnishes. Have a look at Osmo top oil, as it a quick method, and they have several different finishes.

 

[chriselevate]

Perfect, thanks Doggit. Would sanding it down lose the "grain" in the wood? Is there a way to make sure it doesn't end up looking like a flat, polished surface without the look and feel of the grain?

Thanks.

 

[Doggit]

That my friend, is a million dollar question. In Many ways, if you don't take the indentations out and take back to a smooth surface, you'll get the old colour in the indents, and if you use Osmo top oil, that needs a 120 grit finish to soak into the wood. And as it was brushed and oiled, then it might not take a varnish coat where there's still oil in the grooves. It's a suck and see job I'm afraid, but have you got enough offcuts to make a few test on.

 

[chriselevate]

Ok, so I've got some off cuts yes. 120 grit with something like this should work yeah? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Makita-BO4...F8&qid=1511038611&sr=8-5&keywords=palm+sander

And then using Osmo top oil I see they have 3 options... Natural, Acacia and Clear Matt - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Osmo-3058-...=1511038458&sr=8-1&keywords=osmo+top+oil&th=1 - if I want a very dull, waxed, satin, matt finish would you suggest clear matt being the best one?

Is there no way to "distress" or bring out the grain in the wood prior to oiling? I know I can experiment and try it but I was just wondering if there was a way I could get the grain back after sanding.

Thanks

 

[Doggit]

Yes, yes, and no. Brushed wood is distressed to bring up the grain, so you won't be able to replicate that I'm afraid, as you need to run each board through a machine with a metal brush system running on top of it.

 

[chriselevate]

Ahh ok. So the distressed grain is brushed using a machine with a metal brush. So there's no way to get a similar sort of finish or a tool/machine to hire in order to get a similar effect?

If I replace my elka boards with something else, could you suggest another product that would similar to what I'm looking for? I want a natural oak finish, matt, plenty of grain and character to the board. The elka I've got almost looks like laminate as it's quite flat and shinny. There's plenty to knots in it and it's got a great character though. I also like the fact that elka us the uniclic system making it easy to fit and not stuck down.

Thanks again.

 

[Doggit]

The Elka links didn't work for me, so I can't comment on them, but if you're going to replace it, then you just need to ring and ask for samples. A lot of engineered wood is T&G, and you'd glue the top edge and the top of the tongue using an (ideally) waterproof PVA glue. They don't need to be stuck down, and are happy as a floating floor over XPS insulation or fibre board.

 

[chriselevate]

Yes it looks like the elka site is down at the moment. Great timing. So you say that t&g boards don’t get stuck to my concrete floor but they float? And you drop an underlay down first.

You mention gluing the top edges? Does that mean the top edge of the tongue and the groove? Could I be sure that there wouldn’t be any creaking from the boards as I hate that.

Are there brands you can recommend or that you can suggest I get samples from please? Thanks.

 

[Doggit]

I think the last lot I got was from woodandbeyond.com, and it was 18mm oak brushed and oiled, and I think 14mm too thin and cheap. Now it's not as hard wearing as lacquered wood, but easier to deal with if scratched, and kitchens tend to fare worse than living rooms. It's okay to just glue the tongue (or should I say the groove), but I glue the top edge that pushes together and the glue squeezes out of the top, and you get a better seal in case of any water leaks. You'll get creaking boards if your floors not level, but not otherwise.

 

[chriselevate]

Perfect, I’ll take a look, thanks. Yes I think 18mm will feel better once laid. So the two main finishers for boards are lacquered or oiled I’m guessing? You suggest that oiled is easier to deal with if scratched. What would you do to deal with a scratch for example? What the difference between the wearability of a lacquered and an oiled floor?

Thanks

 

[Doggit]

A lacquered surface is much more hard wearing, but once it gets scratched you either live with it, or have to strip the whole lot off, and then varnish it. When they send you a sample, try scratching it, and then re-oiling it to see the difference. it's much easier to lightly rub out a scratch and on an oiled wood, and then redo it.

 

[chriselevate]

Ahh perfect. I'm pretty sure I have brushed and oil down at the moment but I'm guessing they must have used a fairly "shiny" oil as it's got quite a shine to the finish. I'll order up some samples as see if there's anything I like. I guess moving from 14mm "uniclic" to 18mm T&G will be absolutely fine and shouldn't cause me any concern as long as the tongue and groove are glued correctly and the subfloor is level. You mention the underlay... what do you recommend XPS Insulation board for this?

 

[Doggit]

Fibre board is normally 5 or 6, and I find that sufficient. Woods warm, and even on a concrete floor, won't get that cold. The XPS boars are good to work with, but will get knee indentation marks if you don't use a board to kneel on. 6mm should be sufficient, or 10mm if the heights still okay. If you use fibreboard, wipe the edges with a damp cloth, and when dry, use duct tape to (vaguely) keep them together.