If you’re at the beginning of your journey, you’ll know there are a lot of floors to choose from, and it can get very confusing. At Kite, whilst we only work with natural products (so no LVT), we still cover a wide range of products. At an affordable price point, we have oak floors that are manufactured in Asia, and then oiled in Belgium (where you can control the quality). At the next level, we have European made floors, with simple, good quality oils. After that the floors start getting more complex, with staining, bleaching, reactive stains and texturing so the price goes up.
Normally, our engineered floors use Oak veneers, but we’ve recently started working with European Elm.
Is Elm flooring hard-wearing?
Elm flooring is not as common as Oak (UK Elm was decimated by Dutch Elm disease over the last 100 years), but when combined with good quality oils, it’s easily strong enough for almost all residential projects (in days gone by it was used to build ships!!).
Is Elm flooring expensive?
The good news is European Elm is available, and from a price point it’s only marginally more expensive than Oak. It’s definitely a special floor, so more suited to high-end residential, and forever homes, rather than investment properties. Prices start from around £110 + VAT per m2.
So why do we love Elm flooring?
The grain, the grain, the GRAIN!!
Think swirls, cathedrals and knots you could stare at for days. Elm is available in a clean grade (so very few knots), and then a more rustic option. We try and keep the finishes simple (as it’s the material that’s the star..), so normally go with either light or dark oils. As with most of our Kite floors, we make them to order, so they are available in almost any width or length.
To make an Elm floor your forever floor, or advice on any other wood species, get in touch – Book Online
Images are courtesy of our manufacturer – Belgiqa.
