Advice for flooring?

[LFS19]

Just to pick up on "remedial work on the joists" and what it meant for me.

I laid a new floor in our dining room, which had one end about 2" lower than the other. I lifted the old boards, then cut long, tapering wedges ("firring pieces") to bring the tops of the joists up to a consistent level. (I used a laser level to mark them.) I glued them onto the joists.

I then screwed down 9mm plywood and laid a floating floor, on insulating foam. I think it's doable by anyone with reasonable diy skills and a methodical approach.

If you are paying for someone else's time it might be quicker to rip out the joists and lay new, level ones. My time is cheap and I didn't want to disturb the ceiling on the room downstairs.

I see.
So if there's a similar problem with the joists might a floating floor be the best option or could I still go for board on joists relatively easily?

Cheers

 

[AndyT]

You could do either - we'd decided on a floating floor anyway. Still looking good!

 

[meccarroll]

Engineered flooring (oak laminated ply strips)

This type of flooring needs a good sub base as it is not made structurally strong enough to be laid directly on floor joist. To lay this type of floor you would need to make sure the sub floor and covering is even fairly uniform over the top surface with no lips or excessive gaps also that structural joist are in fair condition too. If the general condition of the floor is sound but uneven on the top surface you could lay something like 9mm ply over the top and glue and screw it to the floor surface.

Once you hace a suitable surface that is even you can then think about laying an engineered floor on top. These are very popular and look very nice once laid.


Solid Flooring:

I would think about this option as an alternative to an engineered floor only if you need to replace the existing floor covering. The reason I would think about this option is it is still a natural floor (wood) and may work out less expensive than an engineered floor. It's a matter of cost, finish and what is acceptable to you and your budget.

You could look into taking up your existing top floor covering and replacing it with a flooring grade chipboard (interlocking type) then lay an engineered floor on top of that.

I am not sure as to the size of your room but I would take the measurements and obtain some prices first before making any decisions.

Mark

 

[Alexfn]

Bamboo is odd stuff - I had my kitchen done in it and made a kitchen table from some remnants. When making the table I would show the bamboo to the plane and the iron would wilt ... but it still blooody scratched when on the floor.

thats because bamboo flooring is made with large amounts of glue, the bamboo is shredded mixed with glue them compressed in molds until it drys/cures

I know it's compressed with resin, but I doubt it's shredded - the fibres, growth patterns and nodules are all still clearly visible. The actual finish is extremely hard - I had to use a scrub plane to get under it - good quality 40 grit would blunt before it stripped its own surface area. :shock: A square foot of paper wouldn't strip a square foot of bamboo, in case there was any doubt there. Also, thinking about it, the stuff is manufactured in layers like engineered wooden flooring, not as a homogenous piece - if it were totally artificial there'd be no point in making it in tiny pieces just to make them back into bigger ones.

There are different types. The type that is more common/popular now is the shredded type.

 

[Alexfn]

Engineered flooring (oak laminated ply strips)

This type of flooring needs a good sub base as it is not made structurally strong enough to be laid directly on floor joist. To lay this type of floor you would need to make sure the sub floor and covering is even fairly uniform over the top surface with no lips or excessive gaps also that structural joist are in fair condition too. If the general condition of the floor is sound but uneven on the top surface you could lay something like 9mm ply over the top and glue and screw it to the floor surface.

Once you hace a suitable surface that is even you can then think about laying an engineered floor on top. These are very popular and look very nice once laid.


Solid Flooring:

I would think about this option as an alternative to an engineered floor only if you need to replace the existing floor covering. The reason I would think about this option is it is still a natural floor (wood) and may work out less expensive than an engineered floor. It's a matter of cost, finish and what is acceptable to you and your budget.

You could look into taking up your existing top floor covering and replacing it with a flooring grade chipboard (interlocking type) then lay an engineered floor on top of that.

I am not sure as to the size of your room but I would take the measurements and obtain some prices first before making any decisions.

Mark

Some engineered is structural. It depends on how its made and the thickness.

Most solid hardwood you can buy these days isnt suitable for being nailed directly to the joists as its not supplied in long enough lengths

 

[meccarroll]

Engineered flooring (oak laminated ply strips)

This type of flooring needs a good sub base as it is not made structurally strong enough to be laid directly on floor joist. To lay this type of floor you would need to make sure the sub floor and covering is even fairly uniform over the top surface with no lips or excessive gaps also that structural joist are in fair condition too. If the general condition of the floor is sound but uneven on the top surface you could lay something like 9mm ply over the top and glue and screw it to the floor surface.

Once you hace a suitable surface that is even you can then think about laying an engineered floor on top. These are very popular and look very nice once laid.


Solid Flooring:

I would think about this option as an alternative to an engineered floor only if you need to replace the existing floor covering. The reason I would think about this option is it is still a natural floor (wood) and may work out less expensive than an engineered floor. It's a matter of cost, finish and what is acceptable to you and your budget.

You could look into taking up your existing top floor covering and replacing it with a flooring grade chipboard (interlocking type) then lay an engineered floor on top of that.

I am not sure as to the size of your room but I would take the measurements and obtain some prices first before making any decisions.

Mark

Some engineered is structural. It depends on how its made and the thickness.

Most solid hardwood you can buy these days isnt suitable for being nailed directly to the joists as its not supplied in long enough lengths

Not sure why you point this my way as I'm not asking the questions but as you are maybe you could expand a bit so we can all have a bit of your insight:

Some engineered is structural. It depends on how its made and the thickness

If you say you know some engineered boards on the market are structural then I'm sure they are but I am not aware of any engineered flooring that has a manufacturer approval and suitability for nailing directly to and spanning floor joist, any chance you can give a link to the structural engineered boards you mention so we all know where to obtain them?

Most solid hardwood you can buy these days isn't suitable for being nailed directly to the joists as its not supplied in long enough lengths

I don't think I mentioned solid hardwood flooring on this thread but if I was to consider it I would obtain the manufacturers guidance for laying it. Not sure what you mean by "not long enough to be nailed directly to joists" , can you say how the flooring is laid and supply a link?

My reply on this thread in relation to solid wood flooring was specific to softwood T&G boarding, which can be obtained in lengths long enough to span most average size rooms but can also be cut and but jointed on joist to form longer runs. I have not mentioned laying solid hardwood flooring myself but I know some on here are looking at this option and my advice in relation to laying this type of flooring has been to obtain the manufacturers guidance.

Look forward to your reply, Alexfn

Mark

 

[skipdiver]

I had some oak floorboards machined in long lengths at a local workshop for an extension we built and it was fixed to joists with tongue tite screws. The customer wanted it doing that way. Looked the biz when laid and finished.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

There are different types. The type that is more common/popular now is the shredded type.

I've seen loads but I've only seen the one.

 

[Alexfn]

Ok so this forum is pretty tough going sometimes. Im no master carpenter but i do have about 20 years experience of working with wood. For over 6 of those i owned and ran a specialist hardwood flooring company.

You try to offer sound advice on here and will often get cheek and snide comments in return.

Im not going to bother entertaining it anymore. Everything i said can be checked with google in seconds. Try google structural engineered oak flooring.

Or call atkinson and kirby and ask them for specs

In reference to the soild wood comment. Unfortunately in order to meet competitive pricing a lot of the solid hardwood flooring sold is made up of boards mostly between 300mm to 700mm in length try nailing that to joists.

So if you want solid hardwood flooring for directly nailing to joists then you are going to have to google that too

On the bamboo. Again google bamboo flooring types i can assure you theres more than one.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I didn't say there weren't - I said I'd only seen one.

 

[meccarroll]

Ok so this forum is pretty tough going sometimes. Im no master carpenter but i do have about 20 years experience of working with wood. For over 6 of those i owned and ran a specialist hardwood flooring company.

You try to offer sound advice on here and will often get cheek and snide comments in return.

Im not going to bother entertaining it anymore. Everything i said can be checked with google in seconds. Try google structural engineered oak flooring.

Or call atkinson and kirby and ask them for specs

In reference to the soild wood comment. Unfortunately in order to meet competitive pricing a lot of the solid hardwood flooring sold is made up of boards mostly between 300mm to 700mm in length try nailing that to joists.

So if you want solid hardwood flooring for directly nailing to joists then you are going to have to google that too

On the bamboo. Again google bamboo flooring types i can assure you theres more than one.

Alexfn, I've read your early post and there is nothing wrong with it only thing is you did not explain why, in your opinion, you need ply for solid hardwood flooring but you seem to have now cleared that up with your reply above. Some people on here do not have your expertise so need to keep asking questions, because there are numerous options available regarding flooring types and a bit of expert advice is very helpful. You seem like a decent bloke so to help people out why not stay with it.

Mark