The most dramatic hardwood floor in Queensland. Spotted gum swings from pale biscuit to deep chocolate board to board, and the whole job is about handling that variation instead of fighting it.
No two spotted gum boards match. In one room you will see pale greyish-brown, warm mid-brown, red-brown and near chocolate, sometimes in adjacent boards. Buyers occasionally ring us worried that their floor is faulty. It is not: that range is the defining characteristic of the species.
It also has a wavy, interlocked grain that produces a shimmer, a fiddleback figure, when the light comes across it at an angle. A good finish makes that figure appear and disappear as you move through the room.
Spotted gum is hard, around Janka 11, and the interlocked grain means the fibres run in different directions within a single board. That makes it prone to tear-out if the abrasive is dull or the machine is pushed. It is a timber that punishes rushing.
We cut it through a full grit sequence with sharp paper and finish finer than we would on a softer floor, so the surface is closed enough for the coating to sit evenly across boards of very different density.
A clear water-based coat keeps the variation crisp and cool and is what most modern Gold Coast homes choose. An oil or a burnishing oil deepens everything and makes the dark boards go properly rich, which is the most spectacular version of this floor.
Limewash on spotted gum is a specific look: the pigment lodges in the grain and the result is a soft, dusty grey-brown, nothing like limewashed oak. Some of our best-looking floors are exactly that, but see a sample on your own boards before you commit.
Very hard wearing, and the natural colour variation is astonishingly good at hiding day-to-day marks and pet scratches. Of all the timbers on this site it is probably the most forgiving in a busy family house.
That is normal and expected for the species. It comes from where in the tree the board was cut. It is not a grading fault and it cannot be sanded out.
Only with a heavy stain, and it will still show through. If you want a uniform floor, spotted gum is the wrong timber to start from.
Yes, though a dead flat matte can slightly mute the figure. We usually suggest matte-satin so the fiddleback still catches the light.
That is what the free in-home estimate is for. We will look at your timber, show you samples on it, and tell you honestly what will work.
Tell us about your floor and we will get back to you fast, usually the same day, to book a free in-home look and an honest price.
Local timber floor sanding, polishing and restoration across 97 suburbs - from the Logan line and the hinterland to the NSW Northern Rivers. View all areas we service
Fine FinishedFloors
Floors worth showing off - cut back, stained and finished by Gold Coast specialists since 2010.
22 Springsure Drive,
Mudgeeraba QLD 4213
Monday to Saturday, 7am to 5pm
Servicing the Gold Coast, Logan fringe and Northern NSW to Ocean Shores. Free, no-obligation in-home estimates.