Tips needed for fitting flooring in house.

[Markymark]

Hi

We have aquired a old 1930's house and the previous owners have stripped and polished the floorboards downstairs. The problem is that the floorboards seem to be just that, boards on the floor. They look like good quality pine but with no T&G. The problem is that it is blowing a gale between the gaps and now that it is winter the Central heating has caused the boards to shrink back further.
My question is I want to overboard them to get rid of the draught. I would like to insulate before hand as the exsisting floor is well ventilated with air bricks.

I have a large Labrador, 3 Boys.

My questions are:-

1, Do I choose a engineered wood floor or a solid wood floor?
2. What underlay do I use to give an insulation.
3. How do I lay them to ensure I dont end up with a slither of wood floor at one end of the room?

Any more hints and tips would be gratefully received.

Mark

 

[jaffajim0]

Do you mean laminate when you say "engineered"? If so I wouldn't bother with it when solid wood flooring doesn't have to cost a fortune.
B & Q has a good range and they invariably have sales where it is a third off. I know you can get some laminates for tuppence ha'penny but this really is one of those areas where you get what you pay for.

I can't help with insulation much. I have laid laminate in my bathroom and used the thin foam sheet that you use with that. I also laid solid wood flooring in 2 rooms downstairs. In one I had a concrete floor which I laid battens on and put old carpet between. I have since been told that mites and the like can breed in that environment so maybe that's not a good idea.
The other floor was like yours, existing floorboards, and I just laid directly on that with no problem. It has been down for about 4 years now with no problem.

One piece of very important advice, MAKE SURE YOU USE THE RIGHT NAILS!!!!! I used brad nails with my air gun and both floors creak like a haunted house I will have to get round to taking it all up and re-laying it properly :roll:

As for the laying issue you won't have a problem. If you have a thin board at the end what's the big deal, It's at the end so no one will see it. when you look at it the skirting will cover part of the last board so even if your last bit doesn't look like a sliver before the skirting is back it may do so after.

Cheers, James

 

[Markymark]

Thanks James


I am a bit of a Luddite when it comes to flooring. From what I have seen on websites there seems to be three distinct types. Solid, Engineered, Laminate. It seems that engineered is in between laminate and solid in quality. The benefits seem to be the lack of expansion across the grain of any manufactured products but if you need to sand it down it seems to be a problem.


Thanks for the tips

Mark

 

[jaffajim0]

D'oh!!! I have a memory like a sieve. I remember now that engineered is basically a board that can be sanded down a couple of times as it has a thick-ish layer of real wood on top of a soft wood base. Better than laminate but not as good as real wood. The big thing is that you can really feel the difference when you walk on real wood flooring. It has that solid feel to it that I don't know if you get with engineered and definitely don't get with laminate. You can sand real wood down if you need to but I think you would have to sand the whole floor down as you would struggle to get a match if you just did a patch on a floor that has been down a while so I am not sure of the benefit in practice. Maybe real wood is just a luxury but if you don't pay full price then why not? I don't know if it ages differently depending on the thickness, i.e. engineered versus real would be only about a third of the thickness.

 

[Russell]

I have just put down 18mm solid oak floor down on thermal wood floor under lay. I had the same problem with drafts on a windy day the carpet would raise in the middle :lol: I paid around £19.00 per square meter for a rustic board knots and burrs etc. Very please with it but you will need to put glide pads on your dinning chairs and furniture that children will drag rather than pick up. And you will need to keep your dogs claws manicured or get it to wear socks :lol: Other than that it was the best move I have house is now alot warmer.

 

[The Bear]

Mark

I also have solid pine floor boards without tongues/grooves.

I lifted the whole lot to reveal the joists and the earth below. Then put 75mm Celotex between the joists. This does 2 jobs, insulates the floor from the ground and if well fitting stops the drafts. Then put the original boards back down on top using those old fashioned square nails. Mine has been done about 4 years and am very pleased with it. No drafts, no damp as far as i can tell and a room that is warmer than it was when it had carpet on it. You need to keep the air bricks clear to keep it ventilated.

Also in my opinion old characterful boards laid and finished well dont look as bad with a few scratches from the dogs claws as a highly engineered ones.

Mark

 

[Markymark]

Great replies Thanks

Mark. I feel insulating the existing Floorboards with celotex in between the joists would be a mammoth task. I do like the idea though. I feel the rustic Oak would allow for a few more scratches from heavy wear.

Where is the best to buy these oak boards??

How should I fit them when the room is out of square??

Mark

 

[Shrubby]

Mark
I've laid lots of solid oak for my sis (interior designer type fusspot) the character grade oak looks like real wood and ages well. The last room was badly out of square. Our solution was to choose a feature the eye is drawn to - doors at the end of the room leading to the garden, square the boards to this wall, the run out on the edges is largely hidden by furniture along the walls.
Old boards were belt sanded flatter and vacuumed to remove grit etc
The boards were secret nailed with a Portanailer(excellent). first and last few rows screwed and plugged
Matt

 

[Shrubby]

Mark
I've laid lots of solid oak for my sis (interior designer type fusspot) the character grade oak looks like real wood and ages well. The last room was badly out of square. Our solution was to choose a feature the eye is drawn to - doors at the end of the room leading to the garden, square the boards to this wall, the run out on the edges is largely hidden by furniture along the walls.
Old boards were belt sanded flatter and vacuumed to remove grit etc
The boards were secret nailed with a Portanailer(excellent). first and last few rows screwed and plugged
Matt

 

[NewtoWood]

I have just replaced my laminate flooring with engineered beech flooring and have two dogs and kids who let them in without drying their feet and needs regular cleaning.

The installation was the same as the normal laminate but I had difficulty in joining the boards without fine gaps.

The wear factor is noticeable in the engineered floor in that it shows all the scuffs and marks that the laminate did not. The engineered floor was finished in a satin finish which I am going to replace with ronseals hard floor varnish in a hope it will be more hard wearing.