How to Anti-slip your Decking

Handy Garden Decking Tips for 2017

The most effective way to make your garden decking slip resistant.

During winter months wooden decking is prone to becoming slippery under foot especially in wet or icy conditions. I have recently come across a product that offers a solution in the form of an Anti – slip decking grip.

This product is designed to be inserted and glued into the groove of the wooden decking board.

Characteristics & Tips when fitting Anti Slip Decking Strips

• The product is packaged in a 25m kit form with an adhesive the deck strips are suitable for the majority of grooved decking boards.
• After sampling the grip strips we found that they were relatively easy to fit, however we advise using an old wood saw as the hard resin based surface on the deck – grip will damage your blade.
• Grooves need to be cleaned prior to application of  the adhesive.
• The Anti-slip decking strips have been given a five year manufacturers warranty they are fully tested and approved.
• They are suitable to both domestic and commercial projects and are more often than not used in high use areas such as walkways and areas around hot tubs. 

So what does the manufacturer say

Uniquely developed to create a professional anti-slip decking product, the inserts comprise of a universally shaped plastic T bar that holds a resin and aggregate formulation. When fixed into a deck board groove using the specially formulated adhesive, the insert sits a little proud of the timber deck and provides a reassuring grip. It is usual to apply the inserts to two grooves in each decking board for maximum effectiveness.

Once your timber decking has had the Anti-Slip inserts fitted, you can use it just as you intended. Standard tools will cut these anti-slip decking boards easily, giving you total flexibility with your measurements. Many of our customers have particularly remarked how easy they found it to use, compared to any other non-slip decking boards, saving both time and money.

The Anti-Slip decking is suitable for grooved composite decking in addition to timber decking. Composite decking can also become very slippery when damp or dirty and you can add the anti-slip strips to ensure that it is much safer for those that use it, whatever the weather.

Our opinion of the Anti-Slip Decking Grip strip

• This product does exactly what it claims to do. It will offer slip – resistance to existing or new wooden decking.
• If I had to be critical I would say that it would be very difficult and expensive to slip proof a very large deck so my advice would be to only apply the inserts on to the main walkways.
• Also only apply the strips in the dry as otherwise they are likely to work loose.
• This product comes a close second place to purchasing a new slip resistant deck board however the strips do give you the option of slip proofing your existing deck.

We will be posting articles over the next couple of months leading up to the decking season on Anti-Slip decking products that are available, along with relevant information on product Cost, Durability and overall performance.

 

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Laminate Flooring For the bedroom

What is Laminate Flooring

 

Laminate flooring is a hard floor covering that was first produced in 1977 by a Swedish company called Perstop, it was introduced into the European Market in 1984. Laminate flooring is a man made Floor covering which is then manufactured using an MDF or HDF core and finished with a Laminate surface. The surface is primarily designed to look and feel like Wood to give a wooden flooring effect.

What Laminate flooring should I use in a bedroom ?

So is there a specific floor that should be used in a Bedroom . The answer here is quite simple “ No “as long as the manufacturer is a decent producer of laminate flooring the majority of the products that they offer will be fine in a bedroom. Bedrooms tend to be the one area in the house that gets the least wear and tear.

Tips when choosing your new laminate floor

1. Speak to a reputable floor installer to ask their opinion of the brand of floor that you are considering purchasing.

Unfortunately poor quality laminate flooring products were produced in the boom laminate market between 2005 – 2010. A number of these companies are no longer trading however there are still products available in the market that are barely fit for purpose.

2. Look for reviews of the flooring on-line.

The Internet review sites are always a good starting point when looking for a quality laminate floor.

3. Ask for two sample pieces of the flooring to check the fitting mechanism.

By getting two sample boards it will enable you to check that the manufacturing of the boards meets the required standard. The floor is useless if you are unable to fit it.

4. Try to damage the floor as this will give you an idea of durability.

Take a knife or a set of high heels to your floor and see what happens.

5. Try to view the floor in a big area.

Don’t buy off a picture, quite often the images only vaguely represent the true nature of the floor.

• Ask to see the floor in situ. Any reputable flooring sales company will be able to guide you in the right direction.
• Beware of supply and fit deals as they can work out expensive in the long run– cheap products can often be disguised in this way.

If you follow these simple suggestions when picking your laminate flooring you wont go far wrong. As long as the manufacturer of the Laminate flooring has a good reputation my advice would be to go for the cheaper end of the product range.

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Wooden Flooring Trends 2016 to 2017

Are you bored of Oak Oak and more Oak Flooring ? Well don’t be. This particular species of timber flooring has been the floor of choice for the vast majority of British consumers for the best part of 15 years or at very least since the revival of hardwood floor coverings in the British home. In my opinion Oak still hosts the most favourable characteristics of any wooden floor product currently available on the market. Primarily down to its beautiful grain structure and diversity.

So what can we expect for 2017.

As an individual who has been a Flooring Retailer and an active member of the Wooden Flooring industry for the past 20 years i have come across a number of product changes & differing consumer trends within that time. So

What happened in 2016

Each year the manufacturers discard outdated product lines that have either fallen off a cliff in Sales or have not stood up to the test of time. Last year like many previous years before this was again the case.

Wooden Flooring Trends in 2016

 

It is apparent that the consumer is striving towards a longer wider flooring board with the traditional three strip flooring board being phased out due to its fall in popularity.

A number of the more obscure Wood flooring species which were once very popular such as Beech & Maple have been removed from the ranges. One of the reasons for this is the lack of furniture and door options that are available to compliment your wooden flooring. After all who wants a beech floor with an Oak door. ( Car Crash interior design ).

Lacquered finishes on floors are becoming less popular with a number of manufacturers now dropping the lacquered Hardwood Flooring designs from their ranges. These finishes are being replaced by Oiled or Brushed and UV Oiled.

Engineered Wooden flooring continues to gain popularity over the more traditional solid wooden flooring products that are available. This is due to Improved stability and ease of fitting.

We have noticed an upsurge in sales of the more rustic and vintage designed wooden floors. The heavily pitted and hand scraped floors are being installed equally in contemporary and Traditional houses. This is the most significant change in consumer trends in 2016. This change took us by surprise as up until 2016 sales of Distressed and Vintage floors were relatively flat.

Grey Wooden floors have hit the ground running in 2016. When our main supplier launched their new flooring ranges in 2016 we were aghast that so many of the floors being offered were Grey or variations of Grey. However we have eaten our words as Grey has become the new in fashion Colour. Will this trend continue or is it just a passing phase.

What to expect in 2017

If I were to take an educated guess I would say that Wide Long heavily distressed wooden flooring boards will continue to increase in popularity. As the manufacturers cotton on to this trend I think that we will see barriers and designs being pushed to the limit in attempt to captivate the market. However beware as Size costs more and with the huge amount of turmoil that is current within the uk short term prices are likely to be on the rise.

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