Spotted Gum is the most popular of our exotic Australian flooring timbers, and for very good reason - it's beautiful.

I can still remember the first time I ever sanded a Spotted Gum floor and I must say I went into it with some trepidation.  When we sand a new timber species we never know how it's going to respond.  Will it gum up the sandpaper?  Will it dull the sandpaper quickly?  

Well, with the Spotted Gum I needn't have worried, it sanded brilliantly from the very first pass with the big sanding machine - then once we got to the 'superfine' sanding it took us to a whole 'nother level of sanding pleasure. What we quickly learnt is that Spotted Gum sands as good as any timber out there in the market place, and because it sands so well it also stands to reason that it takes on the finishing coats brilliantly.  All up we give Spotted Gum an A+

Twenty to thirty years ago we did a lot of high gloss Spotted Gum floors, but nowadays, with the lower sheen finishes being so much better than they were in the past we find ourselves doing a lot of matte and satin finishing over the Spotted Gum.  It looks absolutely brilliant, as it highlights every individual twist of grain, change of colour and depth of character.

If you happen to have a Spotted Gum floor you can consider yourself very lucky. It has a colour found nowhere else in the flooring world, and a hardness only found in some of the most exotic timbers overseas.

If you're building a new home be sure to put 'Spotty' high on your shopping list. You'd never regret it.

The following pics are links to pages showcasing the entire sanding and finishing process involved with creating an outstanding Spotted Gum floor. I hope it provides some inspiration with your own flooring.

Clint.