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All over the world you’ll see engineered wood floors in bars, homes, hotels, offices … even palaces. It’s the most popular type of wood flooring. Design technology has opened up exciting new innovations in dimension, style and finish, to keep engineered wood one step ahead.

In essence an engineered wood is cleverly layered and designed. It offers a formidable proposition of high performance, lasting wear and aesthetics for your interior. In short, a smart choice.

The multi-layered engineered wood design creates ‘one’ super resilient board making it ideal for high-traffic areas and naturally versatile for underfloor heating. The top ‘solid wood’ wear layer at either 4mm or 6mm thickness creates a neat bond with other layers; either being a multi-layered plywood or a sandwich filled with softwood or hardwood.

However well protected or cared for a solid wood floor is, it is susceptible to changes in humidity which can cause gaps between planks or effects such as warping and bowing.

Engineered wood goes toe-to-toe with solid wood flooring in performance terms with some impressive advantages:

• It has superior stability to solid wood flooring withstanding loss of shape, as well as offering interior design versatility through greater width options
• It’s much easier and far quicker to install
• With few exceptions, engineered wood fits and sits perfectly above underfloor heating
• It has a naturally more sustainable profile

All in all, engineered wood is a fantastic choice.

Choosing one of our oiled finished floors is a smart move. The oils we use seep right into the depth of the wood and accentuate the striking looks of a beautiful wood floor.

You’ll find that after installation most oiled floors will benefit from an additional application of oil or hardwax oil. The stain resistant and water repellent properties this gives; protects against coffee, fruit juices, milk, tea and wine spillages.

Wood grades help signal the organic features a wood flooring has in abundance as a natural material. Depending on the natural surface make up of each wood board (in terms of knots, sap and tonal variance), a grade is given.

Prime grade
If you are after a clean beautiful look and feel, prime grade is the perfect choice. With a lot less knots and colour variation, it will give the most uniform aesthetic for your interior.

Character grade
If you are after a more characterful wood, Character Grade is full of personality. Typified by a wider spectrum of colour variation, it has a greater presence of heartwood and sapwood with knots being more prominent.

We would always recommend a skilled professional installer is commissioned to install a Notch floor with specialist wood flooring expertise.

Most engineered wood boards are ideally suited for installation with underfloor heating in situ. The Notch team recommend you check in with us first before specifying any wood intended to be used with underfloor heating.

Being a natural material predisposed to changes in moisture retention, wood flooring is susceptible to seasonal variations in humidity and temperature levels. When these levels are higher, wooden floors will retain moisture from the air, creating some expansion. Similarly, when these levels are lower there may be some slight contraction.

The expansion gap accommodates these seasonal nuances, taking them in its stride and preventing any tension from the wood nudging up to door frames, piping and walls.

Our wood floors can be directly stuck to the subfloor or fitted over an approved underlay using what is commonly known as a ‘floating floor’ system.

The method of installation is often determined by the environment in which it is being fitted.

The floating floor system is not suitable for all installations. Herringbone and chevron designs should be directly stuck.

Please refer to your installer to discuss which technique is most suitable for your installation.

When installing wood planks, we suggest a provision of 8-12% waste, and for patterned designs such as chevron and herringbone 15-20% waste. It’s always a wise move to reach out to your appointed installation professional who will be able to advise you more precisely of the wastage element. An allowance for wastage should always be factored in.

With the provenance of wood being a natural material, and with each tree being unique; there will of course be variations in colour and grain composition. There are a number of factors that determine colour variation such as age, climate, exposure, soil and many other contributory elements throughout the life of the tree. Please always remember that colours will vary from batch to batch.

Absolutely. You can book a consultation (via zoom, google meets) with one of the team. We will be happy to learn more about your interior project and discuss the flooring element of your design scheme.

Alternatively, we would be delighted to meet you at your studio/office for a face-to-face consultation.

To order a free Notch sample please browse our collection of woods and simply click add ‘Samples’. We’ll whizz them over to you within a jiffy.

As soon as your flooring has been made with all its finishing touches and checked prior to delivery, we will have it with you shortly afterwards, at a pre-arranged time that suits you. This will usually be Monday-Friday between the hours of 9am – 3pm.

It’s easy to look after an oiled wood floor with a little tender loving care. There are though a few differences when it comes to residential and commercial flooring maintenance.

For everyday cleaning at home, simply using a vacuum cleaner, dry mop or soft brush is all that’s needed to take care of dust or dirt. For a deeper clean, please take a look at our aftercare section for more specialised advice and recommended use of Osmo products.

Where there is a greater footfall in public places, damp mopping may be done on a daily basis, with regular treatment of a maintenance oil or wax oil. At your discretion this may be applied to the area of heaviest use or to the whole space using an electric buffing machine.  For residential wood flooring a maintenance wax is only necessary if the wood starts looking a little worse for wear.

Please take a look at the Notch aftercare section on this website and the recommended use of Osmo products to give your floor the very best care.

A professionally installed and maintained wood floor should last for many happy years bringing people positively together whether at home, in a hotel or a workspace. Notch has a collection of diverse engineered wood products, offering specifications for varying interior spaces and use.