Allowing For Wastage

Before you investigate the type of solid wood flooring you would like in your home, the likelihood is that you have measured the area that it is to cover. However, this could lead to the biggest mistake that most people ordering solid wood flooring make – not ordering enough flooring to cover the area in question. There is nothing worse than having laid 95% of the flooring only to discover that you no longer have enough to be able to finish the job.

Running out of solid wood flooring is a nightmare because you have to go through the process of ordering and acclimatizing all over again and that could cost you valuable days as well as money. The latter concerns not only the extra expense for the flooring but also for a contractor to lay it if you are not doing it yourself. This is why you should always consider the wastage factor when ordering solid wood flooring.

The wastage of solid wood flooring is a few additional metres that are ordered alongside enough flooring to fit the measurements of your room. You may consider it to be over ordering but it acts as an insurance policy against the above. This is because solid wood flooring would need to be cut in certain places to fit your room exactly. As such, you may not be able to use certain pieces of board if they have been cut. As this is then unusable, you would not have enough to cover the floor unless you have ordered a little extra.

An additional problem that is associated with real wood flooring if you have to order a second batch is that it may not come from the same production line as the former. Solid wood flooring has a lot of character purely and simply because the flooring for one room should come from one batch. Reordering does not guarantee that you will get this effect so wastage will help you to achieve the effect that you want and need.

Finally, if you over order solid wood flooring to allow for wastage then you also have a little extra wood as a back up just in case any of the boards you lay should ever get damaged. Having that little extra means that you do not need to hunt around hundreds of stores before you finally find a little wood that matches or have to settle for wood that stands out like a sore thumb.

As a result of all of the above, we recommend that you order 10% more solid wood flooring than you anticipate you need.