Research meets experience in flooring performance

Key technical and quality aspects of the potential for cocowood flooring are being addressed by bringing an industry specialist into the cocowood team.

For quality performance in cocowood flooring it is essential to use the most appropriate processing and installation techniques.

Mr David Hayward, Technical Director of the Australian Timber Flooring Association, was invited to discuss design, installation and performance issues relevant to high value flooring products with DPI&F’s timber researchers.

Team Cocowood: (from left) Dr Henri Bailleres, Principal Senior Scientist (DPI&F), Raphael Tschupp Technical Assistant (DPI&F/ Bern University of applied Science, Switzerland), David Hayward, Technical Director (Australian Timber Flooring Association) and Gary Hopewell, Senior Technician (DPI&F).

Mr Hayward has extensive technical experience in the Australian flooring industry and has inspected hundreds of timber floors during his career. His expertise is often called on to report on the causes of poor performance or failure in a range of flooring systems.

“Timber floors are here to stay, no matter which fashion trends come and go” says David. As consumers become increasingly aware of the environmental credentials of forest products for construction, the market share of timber flooring will be retained or even grow. “Unfortunately, though, if the product has been poorly processed during the machining, drying, bonding or finishing stages, the material may not perform in service.”

Understanding the qualitative and technical requirements at each stage of processing and at the time of installation, are critical for satisfactory performance. Mr Hayward relayed the details of a range of problems encountered with timber and bamboo floors and advised the cocowood team about key issues with problematic flooring systems.

This information will be a valuable asset to the team’s research in cocowood processing and product design.

More than 8 m³ of sawn, seasoned cocowood boards are being used in several processing trials at the DPI&F’s Salisbury Research Centre in Brisbane, Australia.