Solid wood floor - width query

Hi all,

I've read on here already about laminate, engineered, real wood etc, but having now looked to source something for my home, I have seen some solid wood oak in 18mm thick x 83mm wide (various lengths). Is this width of 83mm unusual?! I haven't seen this anywhere else... generally more like 120-150mm wide.

Does floor with boards this 'thin' (in width, not thickness/depth, terms) cause any problems or is this just personal preference of the look it will achieve?

Cheers

narrow oak planking is generally cheaper, wide planks are the most expensive as they are formed from the widest usable part of the trunk, which is limited, so oak planking gets cheaper as you work your way down in width

however, if paying for a fitting service, with narrow planking there are going to be more individual planks to lay to cover the area width, so the fitting takes longer and will cost more - of course if you are doing it yourself you don't need to worry about labour costs

Thanks for the feedback chkee.

What are the issues with thickness in solid wood boards? As above, one I have seen is 18mm but I have seen some at 15mm and some up to 20mm plus too.

I'm looking at laying the 18mm thickness I have seen in a living room floor of a 2 bedroom apartment on the second floor of a block. It would be going on to a concrete floor and I was planning on putting down combi-lay (which I was advised to use) to damp and sound proof and installing it 'floating'.

miwinter said:

I'm looking at laying the 18mm thickness I have seen in a living room floor of a 2 bedroom apartment on the second floor of a block. It would be going on to a concrete floor and I was planning on putting down combi-lay (which I was advised to use) to damp and sound proof and installing it 'floating'.

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You can't really install floorboards that narrow with the floating method I'm afraid. Your boards have to be at least 100mm wide for this.
Your best bet is the glue it down to the concrete - if your concrete is sound and level.

To answer your question miwinter:
Thickness = higher moisture content. The thicker and wider the planks the higher the moisture content and therefore greater post fitting movement.

Glued or nailed?
The old rule is that engineered can be glued and solid wood cannot, solid wood should be secret nailed (always nails, never screws, explained below).

The reason for this is that solid wood has a higher moisture content ability than engineered and is therefore going to expand and contract. Nails allow the natural minute movement of each plank. PVA glues (and screws) hold the wood rigid, and PVA is usually 'stronger than the wood itself' (to quote evostick) so this does not allow for any movement, resulting in risk of the wood bowing or even splitting.

However, with narrower and thinner planks, I would advise maximum size of up to 85mmx13mm, you CAN get away with gluing as these narrower and thinner planks have a lesser amount of moisture content. But the caveat I apply is that this is dependent upon the moisture content of the room you are installing in.

Concrete Floors

As far as concrete floors are concerned, I dislike solid wood planks fitted directly to concrete. When I say directly I mean over a type of membrane, bare concrete releases moisture continually so you must ALWAYS fit a suitable membrane even if fitting a battened floor.

If you are investing in solid wood planking you want to feel its benefits over engineered.

Firstly, being that it has more compression and so feels softer underfoot. Solid wood laid directly onto concrete loses some of this as there is no flex compared to when fitted over joists or battens.

Secondly, conduction of heat. Natural wood feels warm to the touch, but when laid onto concrete its overall temperature will drop and it will feel colder underfoot.

The risk is that the end result of solid fitted directly over concrete is that you may as well have fitted less expensive engineered wood.

Battening

Be aware when laying battening, enough so you don't experience bounce, but not too many or the floor will be rigid.

Spacing of the battening is dependent on size and thickness of plank, thinner / narrower planks will flex more than thicker / wider planks and will require more battens.

Thanks guys.

So it sounds like I might be better off not using solid wood on a concrete floor then after all (colder feel and less flex)? Would I be better off going with engineered instead? My only concern with engineered is over the real wood top layer you get, and spot repairs to this should any damage occur. From reading on here so far, it seems this is the downside of engineered.

miwinter said:

Thanks guys.

So it sounds like I might be better off not using solid wood on a concrete floor then after all (colder feel and less flex)? Would I be better off going with engineered instead? My only concern with engineered is over the real wood top layer you get, and spot repairs to this should any damage occur. From reading on here so far, it seems this is the downside of engineered.

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That is down to personal choice, as I said - I don't like solid wood laid directly onto concrete but plenty of others do.

If you can afford to lay the battening AND flooring without causing height issues with doorways etc and you don't already have too low a ceiling height (taking into account total thickness of battening plus plank) you can still have a solid wood floor.

You have to ask yourself what is the likelihood of damaging engineered in your home, how careful are you, do you have lots of kids, will you be installing felt runners on all furniture.

Most engineered has a 6mm top layer which means light damage can be repaired, the hardest part is getting the lacquer finish to match that applied in the factory, if it is a light coloured wood and high gloss finish that will be very hard to match in. Not as difficult if you choose an oiled finish.

I prefer engineered flooring as it is much more stable than a solid and if you buy a good quality product, you WILL NOT be able to tell the differnce between the two.

You can glue a solid to a concrete subfloor with no problems if you follow the rules. The only problem is people dont follow the rules which will result in total failer of the flooring.

First and most important is you need a working DPM and the moister content in the concrete slab needs to be correct. British Standards states 75% RH and below for subfloor moister content when installing solid wood, THIS IS INCORRECT!!! It needs to be more like 60%RH and below!

Now to get over this as a manufactorier, we are now telling people to always install a liquid/epoxy surface DPM. Problem solved!

Now as for damage, Any good installer can change a plank/slave in a wooden floor. You can repair both! You can also match the laqure finish if you have the correct equipment. Things have progressed a bit and i have a kit with every finish in a spray can, so you can blend with out lines etc . Your problem is finding someone who will invest in this equipment or even find someone who has the equipment to do this.