Solid Wood Floors Comparison

This section is designed to make you an informed buyer of hardwood flooring. These are the facts as to how wood floors are made well and how they are made badly. These are the facts as to where they come from and how long they are likely to last. Finally these are the facts to make sure that when you venture out to buy a floor that you will be happy with it for years to come, and don't end up with something that will disappoint.



	Ted Todds Wood Floors Solid Wood Floors	Low quality/inferior version Solid Wood Floors
Length	Nested packs 400-2400mm long. Average guaranteed 1500mm+Long Length Packs 400-3000mm long. Average guaranteed 2100mm+	200 to 900mm long No average length guarantee, but usually only 600mm Can find that all lengths are 200mm long
Thickness	21mm	18mm usually 17.5mm after prefinishing
Width	100, 120, 140, 160, 180, 200, 220, and 260mm	90, 110, 120, 130 sometimes 150 or 180mm (150/180mm are not even dimensionally stable when only 18mm thick)
Profiling	Pre-planed and then accurately machined to tongue and groove profile	Machined only once on old machines
Width variation	Precisely machined to +/- 0.25mm	Sold as +/- 1mm - i.e. can have 2mm gaps between boards and still be within manufacturers parameters
Wear layer	7mm of hardwood above tongue	3.5mm of hardwood above tongue
Drying	Air dried for 6 months Slowly kiln dried 8-10% to British Standard BS8201	Under dried from freshly cut logs to 12% moisture content Very prone to shrinkage once installed
Oil Finish	Two coats of natural oil, properly dried between coats	One coat of a petro chemically derived oil Difficult to clean and attracts dirt that becomes ingrained
Lacquer finish	Eight coats of non-toxic lacquer, applied and dried on modern coating line Built up with proper basecoats for extra wear protection Light natural appearance with high durability	Usually applied with a basic curtain coater. This pours lacquer on to the board rather than applies monitored quantities. No sanding or drying between coats producing heavy lacquer with poor scratch and impact resistance. Lacquer splits rather than folds into dents. Once the oak is not fully protected from dirt/water it then turns black.
Other treatments	Textured lacquered in 5 colours, matt lacquered, neutral lacquered,antique distressed, brushed and oiled, limed, fumed, and double fumed.	Narrow range of options.
Type of Oak	True European Oak - Beautiful bright wood with proper oak characteristics of grain and knots.	Might be called oak, but apart from it being a similar colour to European Oak, it shares no other properties - it is softer and a dull grey colour, and looks lifeless with no nicely formed knots and no attractive grain.
Source	National forests of France, Germany, Austria and Hungary; from managed forests that undertake an active and responsible approach to the farming of woodland. Many of these forests are now FSC® or PEFC certified and this is clearly detailed on each product.	Arrives from the port of Felixstowe in a white box. Where it has actually come from is anybody's guess. To be able to sell for such low prices, most of the raw material that goes into these products is all allegedly stolen from Russia, Africa, South America, Indonesia and Burma. (See environmental section for list of CITIES listed timbers used in wood floors.)
Certification	Professional and legal approach to documenting where timber comes from with far-reaching consequences for organisations that flout the rules.	Many sellers claim to be FSC certified or PEFC certified – demand a copy of their FSC certificate or PEFC certificate – if their name is not on the certificate, they are not certified’ and ‘Insist that their delivery and sales documentation clearly specifies whether a product is FSC certified or PEFC certified
Energy	Energy produced to kiln wood, heat warehouses (often also to produce electricity) from recycling wood waste.	Inefficient coal-fired power stations used to produce power for drying, heating and running machinery.
Road Miles	By truck from Europe 700-900 miles	1000 miles from Northern province by truck to Chinese port 3000 miles by container ship and then from Felixstowe to your supplier and then to you
Human Resources	Properly paid employees, with proper holidays and working in good conditions.	Labour rates from $50 per month, 15 hrs per day, 7 days per week, 51 weeks per year
Service	Our products are continually available, even with special finishing or grading requirements. If you buy a floor and need some more this will never be a problem.	With 12 week delivery times and manufacturers closing down every day, continuity of supply is a major issue. Product specifications continually change and if no stock is available the wait can be long - even if you only need one pack!
Cost	With the cost of the Euro increasing, purchasing your wood floor from this source is more expensive, but if you want a real wood floor made in a traditional way, from trees that have been harvested from people who care - this is the floor for you.	With a total disregard for the environment and a focus on doing nothing more than turning our worlds forests 'resources' into cash, this product cynically purports to be a lifelong investment, when it is nothing of the sort. If you are happy to turn a blind eye to purchase a product you know is poor quality and will not last for long, then at £18m2 this is the floor for you!

At Ted Todd we are clearly committed to supplying wood floors that will last a lifetime and that do not have massive hidden environmental costs. We believe that our wood floors are the very best type of floor covering, they are beautiful to look at, warm to walk on and last for generations. You will never regret buying such a floor.