Thread: Engineered Timber Flooring Quality/hardness issue

Normal? Or did I get a dud?

Is it Sydney Blue Gum or do they just call it that? I do a lot of work in Bluegum and unless your young fella has got a serious temper tantrum issue, this would not happen. Admittedly, SBG is not the hardest flooring timber but, it is plenty hard enough to withstand what you are suggesting.
I hate to think what a set of high heels will do.
By the way, those pictures don't look like SBG to me.

Be aware of that not all timber floor are dent resistant,engineered timber floor with a hardwood timber overlay only.Different timber diffrent hardness,some exotic timber like brazilian walnut are very hard,but ordinary wood like oak is medium in hardness,it's not so dent resistant,purticularly to high heel shoes.

On the other hand ,the finish on the timber floor surface is important,high quality aluminium oxide UV finish is much more dent resistant than ordinary ones.

I am complaining because I don't think dropping a toy car (size and weight of a computer mouse) would cause indentation like that...
I am not talking throwing the toy car on the floor but dropping from my kid's height (30-50cm)...

By the way, please take a look at this picture: Twitter / Ki Bae: Another picture http://t.c ...
Does this look Blue Gum to you?

I've been told Australian Blue Gum when purchasing. He didn't specifically mentioned it's SBG.

After bit more research, I found the flooring manufacturer is Universal and what I've got is Brazilian Blue Gum.

Is there a such species called Brazilian Blue Gum???

There are plantations of blue gum in Brazil, so different climate and soils will give a different look to the timber.

Some of the engineered timber floors only have a very thin layer of actual timber on top - have a look at some offcuts of yours to see how thick the top is.

It's 3mm.

would this be why it's so delicate?

Ah, now you tell us. They have been growing Aus hardwoods in Sth America since the early 1900's. The trees grow very quickly on the good soils and damp conditions. Like any timber, the faster it grows the softer the wood. As for colour there are many variables, but your last picture shows light colour which can also be attributable to fast growing. The local product would be a darker red than what that photo seems to show. As I understand it, this imported material is much cheaper than the local stuff and this may well be the reason why.

This makes a perfect sense...

When we bought our floor, the showroom had a sample that's quite red whereas what we got was pinky.

I guess this is why the showroom's sample had harder surface than ours.

Does this mean I would have a ground for a refund since the supplied good does not match with sample they provided at the store?

Just received a phone call from Carpet Call head office.

The gentleman tried to explain the difference between showroom sample and mine is normal since it's natural for wood to have different quality/hardness depends on which plank you pick etc etc.

I, however, opposed the idea because the level of denting varies too much from what it was at the showroom compared to mine... Showroom only left a tiny scratch on veneer whereas mine dented.

Is there any other blue gum (South American grown species) owner having similar issue?

God this battle sounds like it's going to be a long one...

BTW, would Intergrain Floating Floor Finish help me to strengthen the surface?

Originally Posted by baekjh

Just received a phone call from Carpet Call head office.

BTW, would Intergrain Floating Floor Finish help me to strengthen the surface?

I doubt it, not from impact/denting. It would only protect the surface from scratching. Being a water-based coating it may not even do that effectively. This product was ideally made to spruce up pre-finished floating floors and give them a bit more gloss without the need for mild abrasive sanding.

3mm is not that thick, but indents like that are down to the Janka rating, not thickness. SBG is mid-range to low in janka rating, but tougher than a garden variety timber like Tassie Oak. Brazilian Blue Gum...Never heard of it, so I'd go by Master Splinter's info and assume it's similar to Sydney Blue Gum, but grown in South America. The name is a bit misleading because most species starting with "Brazilian" (Cherry, Walnut...) are some of the hardest timbers around.

If you can prove that the timber quoted was different to the timber supplied then take 'em to the cleaners. Be prepared that they will use a "your word only" argument and suggest it wasn't a dropped toy, but claim that you were really moving a piano or dark matter or such like, and no floor can be expected to withstand that etc etc...

Many thanks for your reply.

The species is actually Sydney Blue Gum that's possibly grown in South America as other replier said. Got a confirmation from the manufacturer.

I, however, believe the hardness is not up to the standards for SBG.

Is there anyway I can conduct more scientific test myself on the floor to prove that the flooring does not have the right Janka rating. I don't mind 10-20% variance but I believe my variance is like 50%-70%... Only if I can scientifically prove this....

Hmm, not sure if you can do a test which would stand up to any scrutiny if you're chasing remedial action.

That said, the Janka test simply involves pressing a ball bearing into the timber with a predetermined amount of pressure, and recording the result. It's just that the test is obviously performed to a certain standard, peer-reviewed, and all that jazz.