RESILIENT TILE: WOOD FLOORS

The wood floors encountered in industrial use may be either softwoods or hardwoods in a variety of width, thickness and designs.  Strip flooring is generally affixed to a wooden sub-floor by means of nails, while the square block type (parquet) is generally laid directly in mastic on top of the subfloor, often a concrete  slab.  With changes in moisture content, the flooring will shrink or expand.  Wood that expands too much can warp and shrinking too much creates cracks that are open to moisture.   The most common seals used for wood are SOLVENT based.  Because they do not contain water, the wood is not affected.  Both gloss and durability are excellent while application and discoloration detract from their overall performance.  Today a new generation of water based seal are becoming popular.  Initially developed as a response to regulatory VOC compliance issues, water based sealers for wood have steadily improved in performance. 

CAUTIONS

• Avoid excessive use of water.  Wood flooring, especially in an unsealed or poorly sealed condition is susceptible to dimensional change  (shrinking and swelling) through contact with water.  In cases where wood is bonded to a sub-floor with mastic, water may penetrate between the boards and weaken the bond, causing an ultimate loosening of the floor. Properly sealed wood floors can be maintained easily with specialized water emulsion coatings, however:  never set up maintenance procedures including the indiscriminate use of water (flood rinsing, wet mopping, autoscrubbing).