WHEN IT COMES TO FLOORING, WOOD REMAINS ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR CHOICES, PRIZED FOR ITS WARM AND INVITING FEEL. WORD OF WOOD'S GENERAL MANAGER MOHAMMAD ZAIN ABDUL HAMID - WHOSE 15 YEARS IN THE BUSSINESS INCLUDE PROJECTS LIKE MARINA BAY SANDS, WESTIN HOTEL JW MARRIOTT HOTEL - HIGHLIGHTS WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR
WHEN IT COMES TO FLOORING, WOOD REMAINS ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR CHOICES, PRIZED FOR ITS WARM AND INVITING FEEL. WORD OF WOOD'S GENERAL MANAGER MOHAMMAD ZAIN ABDUL HAMID - WHOSE 15 YEARS IN THE BUSSINESS INCLUDE PROJECTS LIKE MARINA BAY SANDS, WESTIN HOTEL JW MARRIOTT HOTEL - HIGHLIGHTS WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR
WHAT’S NEW IN WOOD FLOORING?
Homeowners are moving towards engineered wood flooring, consisting of panels with a top layer of solid wood and a bottom layer of plywood. Each piece can be up to 7m in length because the plywood stabilises it. This is difficult to achieve with just solid wood as it is dimensionally unstable. As a long piece tends to bow or buckle due to Singapore’s humidity, the longer it is, the thicker it has to be to compensate for lost stability – a costly and ineffective measure. Engineered wood flooring is more cost-effective and looks grander as each piece is much longer than expected.
HOW DOES WOOD FARE IN SINGAPORE’S CLIMATE?
We have to acclimatise the wood to compensate for the humidity here. If we bring in wood from a drier country and install it immediately, there will be shrinkage and gaps between the panels. We put the wood in a vacuum oven with increased humidity for about a month. The wood is still dry, but has more moisture in the fibre. Additionally, we check how dry the rooms will be before installing to avoid minor gaps from appearing in the floor. This would be for rooms that have 24/7 air-conditioning, such as hotel rooms.
WHAT’S THE BEST WAY TO CARE FOR WOOD FLOORING?
