Flooring opinion/advice please

[NikNak]

Hi guys & gals

We're just in the process of redecorating the dining room (hammer) and decided to put a new 'floor' down while we're at it as the 'old' one has been down now for 11 years.... nothing wrong with it, just want a change.

So.... we've been all over the place and looked at all sorts...

and think we've narrowed it down to either a Quickstep engineered board (via B&Q) http://www.diy.com/nav/decor/flooring/w ... g-12608661

or a 'solid' oak floor from Topps Tiles
http://www.toppstiles.co.uk/tprod4450/s ... t-Oak.html (this isn't the actual one, cant find a link to the one we like, but is almost identical except its 15mm thick not 18mm, and priced at £34.99)

Both are 'click' systems, and both are a similar price.....

Any thoughts both for and against are welcomed. And any other suggestions too would be great.....


Cheers


Nick

 

[AndyT]

I embarked on a similar project about ten years ago and did our kitchen and dining room, followed by the hall, then the basement stairs, to use up the offcuts. I looked at similar products to you but chose an oak engineered board by Kahrs, which I bought online from 1926 Trading. This was a top layer of 4mm oak, over a softwood base, with a finished thickness of 15mm and a quick lock joint. It's lasted really well and still looks good. All the joints are nice and stable; laying it was pretty straightforward too.

I can't see from a quick glance at your links what the thickness of the top wood layer is on the B&Q, but it makes a real difference. Going for a thick layer means that the grain pattern looks like solid where something with a thin, rotary peeled veneer will look wrong and not last so well. Also, a thick layer can stand knocks and dents from dropped cutlery etc and could be re-sanded one day if needed. Would solid wood be better? I don't know, but the composite construction is designed to be more stable than solid wood and has stayed completely flat. I've not regretted using a click-together system.

The other thing that makes a big visual difference is the width of the planks and how the ends line up. The cheapest ones have several narrow strips whose ends all coincide at the end of a plank. Yours look better than that! I do think that the width of the strip needs to suit the size of the room.

 

[Bluekingfisher]

I have no experience of the engineered boards ,except comparing them against solid hardwood, but I understand, providing the sub base (usually plywood) is sound (there are varying grades used), multi layred hardwood ply, rather than the soft wood is far superior and the veener provinding it is at least 4mm (so it can be sanded if needs be) as a Andy says should last for years.

I have just this weekend finished laying a solid hardwood floor (90mm x 18mm pre finished Birch T7G planks) I now have five room finished with it. The first of which I layed 3 years ago and still looks like new.

I have two bedrooms left to finish, the Birch I bought as a job lot 3 years ago is now £60 sqm.I was in Carpets4less on Monday looking for bargains and noticed they had packs of 90mm x 18mm solid oak T&G planks (which require a bead of glue and are T&G on all edges) It came in 1.98m packs at £24.99 a sq m. It may be worth popping in to see if they have any of those packs left. They may have them in your branch? I can't fit them untill the summer. The guy has even let me store them there until I can collect.

The hardwood planks go down easily and have not shrunk, warped or twisted, just be sure to lay a really good quality hardwood/laminate underlay, usually about £5 sqm. I have both wooden and concrete floors and neither have given me any trouble.

 

[Waka]

Both of the products you have chosen appear to be OK.

I have been laying solid oak flooring in my house (room by room) for the last 12 months, and have just ordered for the hall (it arrives tomorrow).

My choice has been solid Oak T & G flooring 150mmv x 18mm with varying lengths and the bevel edge, really looks nice when its laid. For some reason the engineered flooring always smacks to be of laminate but slightly thicker, thats just my view.

I have been getting my flooring from a company called flooring Suppliers, always had an excellent service from them and delivery is within a couple of days of ordering. They do all types of flooring, even if you don't use them they are worth a look.

Hope this helps.

 

[NikNak]

Thanks for the replies so far.....

Andy... i hear what you're saying re the width of the plank.... we've been looking for the widest v's 'niceness' v's cost, as i don't want anything that will end up looking too 'planky'.... plus of course there's a lot less joins (to see and keep clean). The one that's (just been taken up) is 190mm wide... the Quickstep one is 145mm and Topps is 125mm.

We've got 4 other rooms with Quickstep in one form or another (the latest being the kitchen which looks like 400mm sq black slate tiles.... VERY NICE..!!) 2 bedrooms with an engineered oak board (can't remember make, but Kahrs is beginning to sound familiar :? ) and the hallway, which was already there when we moved in, approx 16sq mtr with an engineered oak 3strip floor... no likey.. too strippy

I s'pose i should have said its on a concrete floor. Currently the laminate that's down in the dining room is on the 7mm fiberboard stuff.... yeah yeah i hear what you're all gona say... "it needs to be on a waterproof membrane...".... but seriously for the life of me cannot go along with that. IF the concrete floor was to even get slightly 'moist' then if i were laying carpet they'd be going mouldy wouldn't they..? And for all the 10 years the current 7mm laminate has been there, not the slightest hint of warping, lifting, twisting, shuffling, dancing.... you name it... nothing...

Anyway the intention is to lift the fiberboard and put some 1mtr x 2mm polyfoam sheeting under first to help with thermal properties, then put the boards back on top.

The top layer on the Quickstep one is stated as 3mm. We've stood a fair way back and looked at them from across the showroom and none of them look 'plasticky' or 'laminatey'.... but i know what you mean, if that makes sense..?


Nick


Oh.... just out of interest... i sanded the hall floor about 6 or 7 years ago due to small dents marks ect. then re varnished it. Shame it didnt keep the lovely light colour after sanding but prior to re-varnishing.....


Edit.....

OMG..... !!! i've just read here... http://blog.flooringsupplies.co.uk/accl ... important/ that real wood flooring needs to be left up to 14 days to acclimatize before laying... :shock: really...? i think the Quickstep is starting to nudge in front....

 

[AndyT]

Nick - it sounds like you're well set up!

I used two different makes of foam sheet to go underneath our flooring (which was all onto timber) - they both came with a damp-proof layer attached. One ("Cush n Wood") even had an extra strip of it along the edge for overlapping if you needed to use two strips. I'm sure they would be fine on your dry concrete.

 

[chippy1970]

Do yourself a favour and avoid b&q and topps .

I would recommend a Boen floor they're very good quality and their click system is way ahead of any other flooring. Do a google if you need to know more.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

:!: Have you thought about leaving the fibre board floor down, and flooring over it?.........just a thought....extra insulation on a concrete floor....

 

[dickm]

A comment and a query:
1. There was solid oak flooring throughout the house when we moved in. No idea what the previous owner had used to seal it, but in the kitchen it's been a disaster, stains badly and a nightmare to keep clean. So if anyone is going down the solid wood route, make sure it's properly sealed and maintained from day 1.
2. Having had the kitchen extended, we need to look at a replacement floor. SWMBO fancies something that looks like tiles, but isn't freezing to the feet like ceramic. There seem to be a few laminate products (QuickStep, Krono and a few others) that fill the bill, but can't really find out anything other than seller's comments on these. I know it's not really a woody question, so shouldn't be here, but any advice from flooring professionals?

 

[eribaMotters]

I laid a Kahrs engineered oak floor over floorboards in my lounge and hallway 15 years ago. It is on top of a 3mm foam underlay with a dpc barrier built in. I was a little unsure about doing so, as my last house built in 1932 had a solid oak floor from original build. Since fitting I have been very pleased. The laquer finish so no signs of wear, even in the hall, and it has remained stable across the approx 16' x 16' area. Infact when I fitted it I was told to leave larger gaps around my radiator pipes and I forgot. The 15mm o/d pipes are still in the centre of the 18mm holes. I would happily fit another one.

Colin

 

[redmoorphil]

Hi NikNak, Have you considered bamboo?
Made out of compressed fibres certain types are much tougher than hardwoods. We bought it for our kitchen just before christmas and it looks fantastic.
Got ours from the following company in Leicester as it wasn't far to visit and pick up what we wanted but they send samples.
http://www.bambooflooringcompany.com/
Phil

 

[Phil Pascoe]

My kitchen's bamboo - it's now seven years old, and fit for a bonfire. The next one'll be quarry tiles.

 

[No skills]

The bamboo that was sold where I worked years ago (possably bamfox, cant remember exactly) looked quite nice but had the scratch resistance of a new bently in brixton.
The displays looked like poop after a few months, hopefully other bamboo products are better or have improved.

 

[Water-Mark]

We put bamboo in the bathroom 5 or 6 years ago and this week I had to replace three planks due to be too lazy to fix a leak from the shower.
Good as new now though.

 

[redmoorphil]

As with everything there are different grades and strengths.
Get the right one and you shouldn't have any problems.
Avoid Wickes, B&Q etc and you should be OK but its not cheap.
No problems at all with ours, we went for the bona strand woven, despite wet dogs and messy children but I suppose only time will tell.