Wooden floor
Wooden floor: which wooden flooring, characteristics and protections
What is meant, in clear and specific terms, by wooden floor ?
It is an absolutely legitimate question because recently the world of wooden flooring has been enriched with new wood species, which have expanded the range of choice, both in terms of aesthetics and the possibilities of use in various uses.
The new woods, in most cases coming from exotic countries, have sometimes been introduced with different trade names even though they belong to the same species. The reasons can be both commercial (launch of a new product, need to differentiate from competing products, etc.) and at source, following particular denominations attributed by the same suppliers in the country of origin.
On the other hand, knowing exactly the commercial name of the species in combination with its geographical origin is an essential condition for having certain information on the characteristics of the wood used in the wooden flooring for interiors and on its physical and mechanical behavior over time.
In addition to these aspects, there is a further one that covers a more strictly legislative area and concerns the correct information to the final consumer, required as an obligation, both in terms of guarantee and “product sheet”, by the entire regulatory system on the subject.
Law 129/91 on consumer protection, the related implementing decrees and, lastly, the Consumer Code issued in September 2005 oblige the producer to make the product placed on the market immediately and clearly recognizable, through a series of information ranging from the description of the product, its composition up to the instructions for use and maintenance. In this context, the correct name of the wood species of our wooden flooring also represents an important element of recognition, precisely for the protection not only of the end user, but also of all the other figures involved in the marketing and installation chain of the product.
Within the same wood species, a strong variability of characteristics can occur, depending, for example, on the geographical area of growth; it is therefore essential to know the properties of the wood used to be sure that the characteristics correspond to those known for the specific species and that these characteristics therefore make the product suitable for the intended use in the design, prescriptive or specification phase.