solid wood floor

[Aqua Tiling]

hi all, ive been asked to lay solid wood floor, the floor is quite large. never laid one before, i dont think it can be that hard, but before i go to see the ladie, is there advice or tips on how to lay, prep work, which is a good wood/bad wood, any reccomendations on varnish orthat
cheers

 

[Brinkley]

specialist thing real wood floor does your customer know you have never laid one .
ask sandy but be carefull **** it uprep on the line.

 

[Ian]

I've seen a few go wrong especially with the solid woods, bowing from expansion and contraction. The best I've seen is the engineered planks that deal with the expansion/contraction much better. It also makes a difference if the floor is left floating or glued to the substrate. There is alot to consider so be careful.

 

[tfs]

As mentioned already bowing, expansion etc are unavoidable so this must be catered for during installation. Different species of timber react differently to different environments.

In my experience I believe that glueing gives the best results. Like tiles, substrate needs to be solid, overlaying chipboard is a must as the nailes will blow the chipboard and the floor will eventualy start to lift with no secure fixing. Even over tradtional flooring I preffer to sheet over.

I recently used tongue tite screws on an oak floor with reasonable results.

Tips

*remove all skirting
*undercut facings and rebate into door lining if required
*go over the floor with staright edge checking for dips etc and fill these prior to installation
*leave expansion around permiter of everything e.g. walls, radiator pipes etc
*if using fixings fix through ends of flooring aswell as side
*table saw/ chopsaw with fine blade
*in addition to using fixings I like to apply adhesive/ mastic to the underside of every plank to help eliminate any bounce occuring at a later date.
*If laying onto concrete you may need to use a DPM (chemical dpm would be my prefference)
*glue will be essential if laying onto concrete (trowel, not no nails etc)
*Spend time getting the first row right, you may need to scribe to the wall
*Get door bars to match the timber or try planing a chamfer on the edge of a plank to give you a finished edge to meet the floor (block plane or electric plane will work)
*If fitting a plank with cut edge facing external door be sure to seal the cut edge
*Set out in such a way that you wont have a silly cut when installing final row.

Wooden floor can be an easy job in a sqaure small room but like tiling guys make a career out of this so dont underestimate how complex it can be!

 

[hillhead]

Two years ago i seen a solid oak floor laid, it was stuck down with mastic too but 2 days later a few of the short length boards had an echo under them.
Nightmare for the fitter as the customer used black permanent marker to mark the ones with echo.
Timber is not like tiles as it changes with temperatures.

 

[Rob Z]

Hi Mark, we do wood floors sometimes, and this book is one of the best, in my opinion. If you can get this sent to the UK, you would be well-served to read it before starting to install wood floors. THis author is well-regarded and his book is what helped me to get started.


Amazon.com: Hardwood Floors: Laying, Sanding and Finishing (0094115391627): Don Bollinger: Books

 

[user123]

I just joined the flooring forum, this might help you, too... want some help as to what floor would be best in my living room. There maybe some wood flooring people to help you? Noticed Sandy Floor is there...

 

[SandyFloor]

I think I heard my name being mentioned. Aqua/Mark you're perfectly correct in it can't be that hard laying a solid wood floor .....if you know what you're doing!!! ( did you notice a bit of attitude there? :lol

If you think a failed tiled floor is a mess you should see a failed oak one. They frequently look like the Himalayas and can't be repaired. You know how frustrating it is when a builder fancies himself as a tiler well they sometime like to lay solid wood floors too. There are cheaper ways of buying firewood.

The major difference between solid wood and tiles is solid wood is massively affected by temperature and moisture. It cannot be laid floating by glueing tongue and groove because there needs to be movement as each row of planks expands/contracts differently as it is a natural (previously living) product with varying densities. Product acclimatisation is essential. The sub floor needs to be checked for moisture including wooden ones. Expansion needs to be taken into consideration.

What is the sub floor?

 

[Rob Z]

Sandy, as you mentioned, leaving an expansion gap around the perimeter is essential. A buddy of mine called me over to his job last year to check out a floor that he had subbed out to "the pros". These plonkers had installed nail-down maple T&G on an entire floor of a town house, and they cut and fit nearly every piece as tightly as possible!:yikes: I kid you not when I tell you that it sounded like a popcorn popper in that house, as the wood was creaking and moving and snapping. A total disaster.:mad2:

 

[SandyFloor]

Even more of an issue where you are, Rob, due to a lot of the houses being timber too.

 

[Rob Z]

Sandy, I think my buddy Jason made an audio recording of the popping and cracking. If I can get it from him and figure out how to post it, I'll put it here for your amusement.

 

[Scott the tiler]

B4 becoming a tiler, wood flooring is my trade and boy have I seen some horrendous installations!!! Expansion gaps are the most important aspect of any floor. A minimum of 8 mm gap is required around everything ie. walls, rad pipes, bottom steps etc. If you are installing in a large area take the total m2 and x by 1.5 ie 80m2 x 1.5 and remove the zero (80x1.5=120-zero = 12mm) this gap is to be applied everywhere NO EXCEPTIONS.
If you are gluing solid boards directly to the floor a 3mm gap is needed every 50cm across (use stanley blades as a guide) as in a few weeks time this gap will almost disappear. Dont forget the perimeter gap too!
All cement based sub-floors must have a DPM either a plastic sheet taped together for floating floors or a liquid DPM for stick down.
Most clients ask for the floor to be continuous through all rooms but you must resist and inform them that each room has its own temp and humidity when the door is closed and this WILL affect the floor. Install matching wood threshold profiles.
The product needs to be left in the room to be installed for a min 3 days prior to installation to acclimatize.
As I stated above I have seen and had to repair some disgraceful installations and met some very upset customers over the years so take your time and remember if you are unsure always ask for advice.
My preference is oiled floors opposed to laquered.
When I lived in the UK my company was the registered installer of Junkers flooring in and around Berks and unfortunately for the clients but fortunate for us we were also recommended to rectify junkers installations.