Why Choosing the Right Coating for Your Timber Flooring Matters
It’s exciting to come home to a newly built home or work in a recently renovated office. However, it tends to come with post-construction hazards such as the off-gassing of pungent smells. Despite being natural, wood flooring can have detrimental health and environmental impacts from the coating applied to it. The strong odour that we smell in a freshly renovated home is the result of solvents and formaldehyde that are in most paints and coatings. These can give us headaches and sometimes, more serious health issues. Workers, plants, pets, and even your children may be harmed by long-term exposure to the fumes released from freshly painted walls, new furniture and, freshly coated timber flooring.
It is therefore important to carefully select the type of floor finishing used in your residential or commercial project. It can have a significant effect on the health and sustainability of your renovation and building. In this post, we’ll discuss the different types of timber floor coating, the value of selecting the most appropriate materials and products, and how Oslek Flooring can assist you in finding the right timber floor coating.
Explore the Different Types of Coating Available in the Market
If you look up timber floor coating, you’ll find a range of options, and most of them will claim that they are sustainable or eco-friendly. They might have their unique set of features and benefits; however, how safe are they? Most of these coatings boast their durability, ease of maintenance, or a specific aesthetic but do not specify VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) levels of formaldehyde concentrations. Some common types of flooring coatings are:
- water-based polyurethane
- oil based
- wax finishes
- varnish
- UV lacquer
Why Coating Is Just as Important as Your Flooring Choice
Choosing the right flooring material is undoubtedly the foundation of a great home. Equally important is applying the right coating. Wood flooring is vulnerable to warping, wear and tear, or external damage. Floor finish serves as a protective shield for your flooring, protecting it against wear and tear, stains, and environmental factors. It enhances the overall durability and appearance of your floors, making it an integral part of any construction project.
However, while you’re looking for a coating that would improve its durability, also ensure that the coating does not harm your health or the environment. The best floor coating is one that improves the durability of the floors as well as not having negative health consequences for your pets or children in the long run.
UV Lacquer VS LED Wax
UV Lacquer is one of the most common finishes for timber flooring. It’s a film layer that sits atop your floor, forming a protective layer. It’s known for its hardness, durability and ability to provide a glossy and polished look. However, once chipped, it is very difficult to spot-fix. Repairing these floors requires re-sanding and recoating the whole floor.
Additionally, exposure to the solvents used in the lacquer and the UV curing process can lead to various health issues, including respiratory problems and skin irritations. Prefinished boards coated in UV lacquer can take up to 6 months after laying to completely dry and finish ‘off-gassing.
LED Hardwax Oil, on the other hand, is an oil-based coating that penetrates the timber flooring to expose its natural beauty and nourish the wood. Its most remarkable quality is its VOC-free characteristic. This remarkable alternative boasts the advantage of emitting no VOC or formaldehyde from when it is applied in the factory to when it dries. It reaches your construction site ready to lay and doesn’t release any unpleasant odours. Even during the application process, you’ll notice that there is no smell. LED hard wax oil ensures a safer and healthier indoor environment.
Another significant difference between the two timber floor coatings lies in their interaction with the wood. LED hard wax oil penetrates the wood, creating a deeper bond and blending seamlessly with the natural grain. This allows for spot repairs if needed, without the requirement of redoing the entire floor. In contrast, UV Lacquer remains on the surface, offering a different aesthetic but lacking the same repair versatility.
How Off-Gassing From Floor Coating Affects Health
Off-gassing is one of the leading concerns when it comes to timber flooring coatings. Solvent-based timber floor finishes are proven to have implications for indoor air quality and health. When timber coatings are manufactured, they can emit volatile organic compounds. They are harmful when inhaled. These VOCs can usually contain formaldehyde, which is a potent irritant and can lead to health issues.
Statistically, the amount of off-gassing during the manufacturing process can vary depending on the type and brand of the coating. Some coatings are formulated to have lower VOC emissions, around 270g/L, while others may have higher levels, more than 500g/L. When these coatings are laid on your floors, some off-gassing may occur for at least a couple of months.
Exposure to VOCs is often accompanied by symptoms such as headaches, nausea, loss of coordination, and eye, nose, and throat irritation. While these symptoms are generally not life-threatening, they can be uncomfortable and concerning. More serious health effects like damage to major body organs, as well as certain forms of cancer, can occur with prolonged exposure to certain VOCs. It’s best to identify and reduce potential sources of VOCs in indoor spaces.
Oslek Flooring utilises Vesting’s LED Hardwax Oil. Formaldehyde tests conducted in the Netherlands, under French Standards, have shown formaldehyde concentrations less than 0.000003mg/L, resulting in an A+ rating under French VOC regulation.
Oslek Flooring: Pioneering Sustainable Solutions with LED Cured Hard Wax Oil
Our expertise lies in coating engineered floorboards with a groundbreaking solution—LED-cured hard wax oil. This technology allows us to harden the applied hard wax oil instantly. Traditional curing methods often involve lengthy drying times, which can be inconvenient and environmentally taxing. With LED curing, your floorboards are ready for use immediately after application, reducing downtime and inconvenience.
At Oslek Flooring, we are proud to introduce our innovative approach to sustainable flooring finishes. We use our very own Vesting Hard Wax Oil, originally sourced from the Netherlands and completely VOC-free. Unlike conventional solvent-based flooring coatings that can be harmful, we prioritise the use of more sustainable alternatives. If you visit our Oslek showroom, you will notice that though we coat our floors throughout the day, you will not be flooded with the smell of chemicals, unlike other floor manufacturing facilities.
Start your construction project with our floors—choose from our selection of timber flooring and coating solutions. Call us on 03 9877 1966 or email us at sales@oslek.com.au and let us know how we can help.