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Teak Flooring: General Info
Anyone who has ever lived in or visited a house with stunning teak floors has more likely than not been completely enchanted by that special something that they add to every room. It is nearly impossible to put ones finger on the exact way that teak flooring changes a home or even a workspace, but the result is generally a more ‘homey’ feel. Before deciding to make the plunge on upgrading, it is important to learn more about teak flooring.
Before exploring the benefits and myths of teak flooring it is worth spending a few moments understanding its history. The very word teak may have its origins in the native Indian language Malayalam where the tree is referred to as thekku.
The teak trees themselves are native to areas of south and southeast Asia with endemic variants in several regions such as the Philippines. Mature teak trees take several decades to reach their full growth, and typically measure approximately forty meters in height. Due to the limited areas of the world in which teak trees have historically grown paired with the traditionally high demand for teak, the resultant heavy forestation nearly decimated the entire teak species, known by the Latin name of Tectona.
The demand itself is quite understandable. Teak is easy to work with, lovely to behold, strong, not very heavy despite its strength, and very resistant to fungus and insect infestations. Teak plantations have sprung up around the world in order counter the dwindling supply and meet ever increasing demand for teak.
The first thing to know about teak is that it offers coloration ranging from a rich but mellow gold to an attractive brownish-red hue. The grain is packed quite tightly as is common with most hardwoods.
No matter what color of teak is chosen one needs to understand the myth surrounding the alleged imperviousness to water that many flooring and furniture manufacturers claim their teak products possess. The truth of the matter is that older slow growth teak trees do in fact have natural oils which effectively seal the internal layers of wood as the tree grows. This effectively protects older teak to a large degree even without treatments and varnish. Younger teak trees which are commonly grown in plantations don’t have the same level of durability and must be dried in a kiln to even reach a rough parity with wood cut old growth teak trees.
The problem is that old growth teak trees are rapidly disappearing and only affordable by a small percentage of the people on the planet. Most people seeking to enjoy teak flooring will have to make do with kiln dried plantation variants.
The bottom line is that teak flooring still needs to be properly sealed to ensure its longevity. It is also easily cleaned.
Another important thing to no about teak flooring is that it is hard with a capital H. If one is looking for an extremely durable floor that would be perfect for an active family, perhaps even one with a few large canine members, there really aren’t too many flooring choices that are harder than teak and still practical; steal and diamond are just too expensive these days.
To measure this toughness one must use the Janka scale, which describes the amount of force necessary to damage the flooring material. This is measured by pushing a steel ball measuring 11.28 millimeters in diameter to its widest point in the floor, thus creating a measurable dent 100 square millimeters in area. Wood surfaces are generally tested both on their sides (perpendicular to the grain), the tree’s rings (tangentially), and on the ends (radially). The side hardness is generally speaking the single most important figure because it is the side that becomes the surface area of the floor.
Teak wooding scores very high on the Janka scale in general. For example almost all forms of teak are measurably harder than almost any oak tree samples. Again, the older slow growth teak is generally harder once it has properly dried than the rapid maturing plantation variants.
As more consumers become environmentally aware they also begin worrying about purchasing flooring made from trees cultivated in rainforests. This shouldn’t be a concern when buying teak which is, in fact a dry weather deciduous tree that does not grow in rainforests.
In short teak flooring is an excellent choice for almost any home. Teak flooring can’t offend even the most staunch environmentalist and it can tolerate nearly any kind of abuse that an active family can throw at it with aplomb.
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