Just finished laying 21 sq m of 125mm solid (golden aged) oak made by Elka and bought from Home Depot for £72 for a 2.2m pack.
Product
The wood was straight, the tongue and grooves clean, the lengths were a bit dissappointing since 80% were 400-800mm, very few (maybe 1 piece per pack was over 1200mm).
No knackered bits, none rejected due to poor finish, very little varation in colour.
The fitting system
Tongue tite screws come with a screw driver / star hex head. You get one with each box of screws. 800+ screws every 200mm or so were required and the same head lasted the whole job.
The screw setting angle needs to be 30 deg, if you go to 45 deg the tongues start to deform.
Method
3mm thermal under layment to absorb minor defects in old pine floor (less than 1mm defect per 2m measure).
Boards installed at 90 degrees to old floor and in keeping with the natural light source.
Screwed every 200mm
Very little material waste, maybe 3% at a push
Installation
One man 2 x long days including fitting a 25mm x 6mm flat oak bead to perimeter.
The bead was stained and Danish oiled to brighten it up and complements the floor well. With a 16-18mm expansion gap the bead was pinned down with 12mm pins, the bead and floor was pre drilled with a 1mm steel bit to prevent splitting the bead and to ease the hammering process.
That proved to be essential since the pins can't easily cope with the oak flooring hardness / density.
The door achetraves and frame bases were undercut with a dremel ! Took an hour, but looks very nice and was a tidy cut.
Would you like some pictures ?
Product
The wood was straight, the tongue and grooves clean, the lengths were a bit dissappointing since 80% were 400-800mm, very few (maybe 1 piece per pack was over 1200mm).
No knackered bits, none rejected due to poor finish, very little varation in colour.
The fitting system
Tongue tite screws come with a screw driver / star hex head. You get one with each box of screws. 800+ screws every 200mm or so were required and the same head lasted the whole job.
The screw setting angle needs to be 30 deg, if you go to 45 deg the tongues start to deform.
Method
3mm thermal under layment to absorb minor defects in old pine floor (less than 1mm defect per 2m measure).
Boards installed at 90 degrees to old floor and in keeping with the natural light source.
Screwed every 200mm
Very little material waste, maybe 3% at a push
Installation
One man 2 x long days including fitting a 25mm x 6mm flat oak bead to perimeter.
The bead was stained and Danish oiled to brighten it up and complements the floor well. With a 16-18mm expansion gap the bead was pinned down with 12mm pins, the bead and floor was pre drilled with a 1mm steel bit to prevent splitting the bead and to ease the hammering process.
That proved to be essential since the pins can't easily cope with the oak flooring hardness / density.
The door achetraves and frame bases were undercut with a dremel ! Took an hour, but looks very nice and was a tidy cut.
Would you like some pictures ?
