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Extensive renovations to an Edwardian home in the fashionable Melbourne inner city suburb of Prahran have transformed the small cottage into a large two storey home with a solid timber floor that has become a talking point.
In keeping with the brief to maintain the Edwardian style, while adding a contemporary feel, wide board American Oak was originally specified for the floor of this stylish renovation. However, when the global financial crisis began to influence consumer confidence, a cost effective alternative needed to be found.
Australian-grown New England Oak in classic grade, 85mm x 19mm Boral solid strip flooring was recommended by Tony Pepper from Tait Flooring in Melbourne as a substitute to the imported species. Due to the value of the Australian dollar at the time together with a more cost effective species choice, the new flooring specification saved the developer almost half the cost of the hardwood timber flooring for this job.
Specifying a local species also reduced the carbon footprint of the job with New England Oak only having to travel from New South Wales as opposed to American Oak, which would have to be freighted from the USA. New England Oak is as hard a species compared to it’s American counterpart.
New England Oak is a beautiful species with some light pink tones. With the species’ high feature grain and a uniform colour, it is ideal to stain, transforming it into a rich colour that highlights the timber’s interesting grain.
This floor was coated with Bona “traffic” in Jacobean, a product that is applied straight from the can. The stain was ragged on and then off the timber, soaking into the grain and replicating the look of American Oak. There is a variety of stains on the market that can transform and enhance New England Oak to provide versatility to any project. |
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