A Complete Guide To Wide Plank Flooring
If you’re looking to replace or install new flooring, wide plank flooring could be an excellent option. Wide plank flooring has been growing steadily in popularity in recent years, and it comes in a wide variety of flooring materials. This article looks at the advantages and some of the drawbacks of utilising wide plank flooring in your home or commercial space.
What is Wide Plank Flooring?
As the name suggests, the term ‘wide plank flooring’ refers to flooring sold in planks that are notably wider than traditional boards. Wide planks are generally considered to be any board with a width between 13-35 centimetres. However, wide planks have no universally agreed on parameters, and sellers may use the term for a variety of sizes. Wide planks tend to have longer lengths than standard sized planks as they are sourced from longer trees.
At Back to Timber, we have a variety of plank widths available in timber, hybrid, and laminate flooring. Check out some of our wider ranges (186mm – 260mm) below.
Advantages of Wide Plank Flooring
Space
Whilst we can’t change the size of a room once it has been built, the way the room is decorated, such as flooring choices, wall colours, and furniture choices, change the way we perceive the size of the room. The grandeur of wide plank flooring makes the room feel larger than it is. This is due to minimal joins in between the boards compared to narrow boards that are usually around 55mm wide. The fewer seams or lines the eye can see, the larger the room will appear. Interior designers and homeowners use this illusion of space to create a grander and more luxurious-looking space. Wide planks emphasize large areas and can make small spaces appear larger.
Aesthetic Appeal
Wide-plank flooring is perfect for creating an open and airy feeling in your space. With open-plan living and smaller housing on the rise, it’s no surprise that wide plank flooring has become very popular. The fact that older-style, traditional wooden floors are synonymous with thinner planks adds to the contemporary feel and rarity of wider planks, making them more desirable.
Wide plank flooring is able to capture more of the innate beauty, and grain detail found within the timber. Seeing more of these natural patterns, knots and swirls found within the wood, adds character and is soothing to the eye.
Installation
If you’re looking to save time on installation, whether it be DIY or a professional flooring installer like Back to Timber, wide planks are often the quickest plank option to install. Wide plank flooring is so quick to install because in comparison to conventional narrower planks, one wide plank can cover the same width as up to four traditional narrow planks. Although some specific aspects need more attention when installing wide plank flooring, it is generally still faster than installing narrow boards.
The installation team at Back To Timber have many years of installation experience and will get you walking on your new floors with as little disruption to your household as possible. Below are some of the wide plank installations completed by the Back To Timber crew. Click on each image to see the full gallery.
Disadvantages of Wide Plank Flooring
Expense
The cost of wide plank flooring per box is generally slightly more expensive than narrow plank flooring per box. This is due to the fact that there is usually more square meterage of flooring per box in the wide plank flooring, in combination with the fact that the installation time is generally quicker.
Timber wide plank flooring can also be more expensive because it is harder to cut wide planks from the raw lumber as splitting and large knots are naturally present in the lumber. Only trucks are used for wide planks, meaning limbs, sometimes used for narrow boards, are not an option.
Warping and Cupping
When looking at solid timber wide plank flooring options, warping and cupping can be an issue if the flooring is not installed or maintained correctly. As with all flooring options not rated to be waterproof, cleaning spills as soon as they are noticed is essential. With the larger surface area of the boards, there are fewer fixings per square meter than narrow boards. If spills are not cleaned up promptly or the floor is exposed to repeated high moisture levels, this can sometimes lead to warping or cupping of the timber boards.
Be sure to check out our guide to taking care of your timber floors which includes correct cleaning procedures to ensure the longevity of your flooring.
If you have any questions about the large range of wide plank flooring options that Back To Timber has on offer, our helpful team can be contacted here. Alternately, feel free to pop into one of our Sydney showrooms so we can help answer any questions you may have.
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