Engineered American Black Walnut Boards

A rough guide to choosing, fitting and looking after Engineered Walnut flooring.

Choosing Walnut Flooring

Last time I looked into it, Oak flooring in one form or another made up over 80% of the UK wood flooring market. I wonder if this still holds true given the recent surge of interest in Walnut Engineered  Wood Flooring. This wood itself is quite beautiful and my personal favourite - with increased competition, prices have fallen so it’s a good time to buy Walnut flooring.

Here are some of the factors to keep in mind when selecting an engineered Walnut flooring:

Grading - For engineered Walnut floors the choice is basically 'rustic' or 'prime' grades- the difference in appearance is perhaps more marked with engineered Walnut flooring than other species. The rustic grade can be expected to have stark differences in colour and include sap wood which in engineered American black walnut is very light and contrasts strongly with the rich, dark tones of the hart wood. The prime grade product includes only 'selected' planks with no sap wood and more limited variation. This is a more sophisticated looking Walnut floor although both choices are popular.

Board Size - American black Walnut trees are not as vast as mighty Oak trees and so it follows that engineered Walnut flooring is offered with narrower and shorter planks than we have got used to associating with the ever popular Oak floor.

Common widths are 125mm wide and 150mm with 170mm being about the maximum you will find. These relatively slim boards are in keeping with the elegance of engineered black Walnut. It’s about depth of colour and rich flavours with Walnut floors, not quantity!

What about thickness? As with other products, engineered Walnut flooring will usually be offered in 15 or 20mm options, with the latter offering a greater 5 or 6mm wear layer. Just remember that if you are planning to use your engineered Walnut as a 'structural' floor i.e. by fixing to joists - then you will need the 20mm engineered Walnut.

Price - Engineered walnut flooring is always going to cost more than Oak for example because the raw material- American black Walnut is more expensive.

Beyond this, the above factors or combination of factors are the main things affecting the price of engineered Walnut flooring in the market place. Consequently, a rustic grade floor in a narrow board with short lengths will be cheaper than a wide, prime grade engineered Walnut board in longer lengths.

Buying Walnut flooring

All the usual rules about 'getting what you pay for' apply with Engineered Walnut floors as much as with any product.

Flooring offered by specialists on the internet will certainly be very competitively priced – the task is more to discriminate between good and poorer quality and to buy the engineered Walnut floor you want in terms of widths, lengths and grade.

Always order a walnut floor sample before you buy.

Before you place an order, think about what ancillary products you might need to make a good job of your engineered walnut floor - for example underlays, adhesives or door thresholds

Always add 10% to your net measured area for cuts, selection and waste.

When arranging delivery of your new engineered Walnut floor, please remember that someone will need to sign for the goods.

Installation of Engineered Walnut flooring

Installing engineered Walnut flooring will require certain tools and a level of skill and knowledge. If you plan to do this yourself we are happy to advise and you might like to look at our instructional video or read the detailed information on our Installations page

There are several methods you could use to lay engineered Walnut flooring- the choice will largely be a matter of what subfloor you have.

Engineered Walnut boards as a structural floor.

By 'structural' we mean that the finished flooring- in this case engineered Walnut will form the structure of the floor i.e. there is no subfloor to provide strength. For this reason the Engineered Walnut board must be 20mm thick and the joist must be set at centres no greater than 400mm.

The Engineered boards are 'secret nailed' to the joists

As a floating floor

The term 'floating' refers to the fact that with this method the engineered Walnut boards would not be stuck or fixed down in any way but instead, glued together and laid or 'floated' onto an underlay.

Using this method it is relatively quick to lay an engineered Walnut floor but do note that for a good result the subfloor must be nice and flat.

By secret nailing

This is the best method for laying an engineered Walnut floor if you have an existing timber subfloor, for example chipboard or plywood.

The boards are fixed by serrated nails fired at an angle into the tongue of the board. The head of the nail is then hidden by the groove of the next board- hence 'secret nailing'.

A suitable nailed can be rented from your local hire shop but make sure you have the correct nails - this depends on the thickness of the engineered Walnut flooring. For 15mm boards use 38mm nails, 50mm nails for 20mm boards.

Stick down method

This method of fitting an engineered Walnut floor will often be used when you have a solid screed/concrete subfloor - the alternative is a 'floating floor' and 'secret nailing' is not possible.

We suggest using a method which combines a strong, flexible adhesive with an acoustic underlay – you can read more about this at Installations page or watch our video

One very important thing! Before you stick an engineered Walnut floor you must test the moisture content of the subfloor to be sure it is dry.

Looking after your Walnut flooring

Always wash your floor with specialist cleaning products, never use bleach or abrasive cleaners on engineered Walnut.

Before washing it is best to vacuum your Walnut floor.

Flat- bottomed mops are better than those with cloth 'strands' as they minimise the amount of water you leave on the floor.

Two buckets are better than one ! Have one bucket containing a wood floor cleaner, mop your Walnut floor, rinse the dirt from the mob into a separate bucket containing just fresh water before putting it back in the 'soap' mix and repeat.

Fit soft pads to the underside of furniture or chair legs to protect you engineered walnut from damage.

To find out more about our Walnut Engineered Wood Flooring call us FREE on 0800 028 7228 or email us.