Which floorboards for 1930's house Plus Stairs Question...

Hi Guys,
I am slowly working through the list of things that I can tackle in our newly bought 30's house.

One of the things that we wanted to do was for the main bedroom to have exposed floorboards. We thought that this was going to be simple as every other room had floorboards under the carpet. Unfortunatley it seems that in the bedroom, they had removed the floorboards and laid chipboard instead, so that it is flush with the halls floorboards.

So I have a couple of questions to ask you lovely people.

1. should I be worried that they have removed the floorboards and replaced chipboard?
2. Is it just a case of removing the chipboard and skirting boards and laying floorboards?? I have not done a whole room before, but I have replaced the odd floorboard..
3. We want to have a sanded varnished floorboard in the end. We don't want it to look like brand new varnished pine. Should we go for a reclaimed floorboard, or are there things we can do to the new floorboards to make it look not so new. I know we can get stained varnish, but how do these look?? Also does anyone else have any ideas for flooring?? Cost is pretty important, so I was wondering if reclaimed is more or less that new floorboards??

Now for the stairs question. On our stairs, I have noticed that there is a gap between the tread and rise (??)that is above it. I want to firstly stop them squeaking as well as fix the gap. Is it a case of screwing the tread to the rise from below? I have also noticed that one of the wooden bars that hold one of the treads is broken at one end. What is the best way to fix this? I know that I have not explained it well, but when I get home, I will upload some photos...

Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated..
Thanks in advance..


Nick

Chipboard panels are fine and sound.

T&G boards are v. expensive.

Varnished floor boards show wear and tear very quickly.

Whatever you decide on, we can take you through the simple joinery process.

Detailed (above and below stairs) and general Pics of the stairs will help - obviously, there's a safety factor. Treads often part from risers because of string(er) movement.

As promised here are some pictures of the stairs. You can see the light coming through on the first 2. With the next 2 pics you can see where to bar has broken at the end. I was thinking of putting a piece of wood from the floor to the broken bar to hold it up. Is this what I should do, or should I do something else??

Thanks. Nick

ree said:

Chipboard panels are fine and sound.


Whatever you decide on, we can take you through the simple joinery process.

Click to expand...

What! You want to use chipboard on a staircase?

And you want to give joinery advice?



Andy

See Below MooseKat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRoCUl4sSDA

Andy

He is talking about the chipboard in the bedroom. The stairs is another question.

I am going to cost up how much new floorboards are vs reclaimed floorboards. At the end of the day, it is gonna cost the same as nice carpet... I am hoping to do the floor for about £25 a Meter

Thanks for the pics.

Are the treads tight in to the left hand (from below) stringer? Perhaps closely examine for looseness, the fit between stringers and tread and riser ends?

The splintered piece below the tread seems to have been a bearer - is that the case?

I suspect that besides more or less doing, where its possible, as the guy in the video did - but always screw into the riser first so that you pull the tread down on to it - you might have to fit bearers below the treads esp. on the winders.

Given your old carpeted stair flight why not also counter-sink and screw down from the tread into the riser tops, and from below screw up through the tread into the riser butts?

moosekat said:

He is talking about the chipboard in the bedroom. The stairs is another question.

I am going to cost up how much new floorboards are vs reclaimed floorboards. At the end of the day, it is gonna cost the same as nice carpet... I am hoping to do the floor for about £25 a Meter

Click to expand...

You'll get reclaimed floorboards within that budget. Also perhaps consider new pine or pitch pine boards re-sawn from old joists - that way the timber is in better condition, without old nail holes, but doesn't look so new and is less prone to shrinkage after you've laid it. It's also worth mentioning that any floorboards should be stored indoors, in the environment in which they will be laid, for at least a couple of weeks before laying, to allow the moisture content to reduce and to get initial shrinkage out of the way. Cramp them up tight when you lay them, using a bow-wrench, floorboard cramps or sliding wedges.

New boards will have a greater tendency to shrink once laid - I've seen a couple of floors where gaps had become visible between the tongue and the the next board. You can stain them but they'll look like new boards with stain on them.

Cheers
Richard

ree said:

Chipboard panels are fine and sound.

Click to expand...

Depends on the thickness and quality of the chipboard, and whether it gets wet...

ree said:

T&G boards are v. expensive.

Click to expand...

No they're not, unless you're going for oak or sapient pearwood.

ree said:

Varnished floor boards show wear and tear very quickly.

Click to expand...

Not in my experience they don't.

Cheers
Richard

Thanks Richard. I have seen floorboards cut from joists for sale and not too sure what that was about. when I lay them, do I butt them up tight together? Is the gap between floorboards due to shrinking then??

Thanks. Nick

moosekat said:

Thanks Richard. I have seen floorboards cut from joists for sale and not too sure what that was about. when I lay them, do I butt them up tight together? Is the gap between floorboards due to shrinking then??

Thanks. Nick

Click to expand...

Yes, and yes

I've done floors in my house using two of these:

http://www.tikproducts.co.uk/silver...tallation-tool-600mm?language=en&currency=GBP

It's an out-of-patent knock off of something called a Bow Wrench:

I can only tell you how I laid mine, as an enthusiastic amateur. When I did my 17 foot long bedroom, having removed the remains of the chipboard flooring, I measured and marked the joists every foot or so, as a guide to make sure I would lay the boards straight. Having laid and nailed the first run of boards at one side, I sawed and laid the next run, before working down it with the two bow wrenches, nailing as I went. I pretty soon found that I could do three runs of boards at a time and still cramp them up adequately. This was with re-sawn pitch pine, and I've had no noticeable movement in four years.

I nailed them through with flooring brads, as I wanted it to look like a traditional floorboarded floor.

Cheers
Richard

geraldthehamster,

Chipboard in bedrooms typically doesn't get wet and its a given that sub flooring is sized 18mm or 22mm. Perhaps you didn't know this?

Any cellulose material exposed to moisture will attract fungal decay and rot. Perhaps you didn't know that either?

Since the seventies UK (& worldwide) new build has used more chipboard sub-floors than ply, T&G hasn't had a look in due to cost and sourcing.

On average, even very basic T&G is four times more expensive than c/board. (Not to mention the extra labor costs).

I'm sorry that you post such firm views on the basis of what must be a very limited experience - i have been in many softwood T&G varnished floor rooms and instantly seen all the traffic patterns and blemishes.
Perhaps you've never noticed?

Calm down everyone.

This issue with chipboard is that it is ugly. If you wanted exposed floorboards like myself and Richard, chipboard is not good. If you have carpets, then yes it is fine. I have had varnished floorboard in my last 3,houses, and yes they door get scuffed and scraped. In my view I like this as it adds character. You can also say the same for carpet. Over time it gets old and dirty etc. Swings & roundabouts I reckon. Also for price chipboard is really cheap. 4 times the cost of really cheap is still cheap or at most reasonable. You still then got to put something on chipboard.

Thanks for all your input.

geraldthehamster said:

moosekat said:

Thanks Richard. I have seen floorboards cut from joists for sale and not too sure what that was about. when I lay them, do I butt them up tight together? Is the gap between floorboards due to shrinking then??

Thanks. Nick

Click to expand...

Yes, and yes

I've done floors in my house using two of these:

http://www.tikproducts.co.uk/silver...tallation-tool-600mm?language=en&currency=GBP

It's an out-of-patent knock off of something called a Bow Wrench:

I can only tell you how I laid mine, as an enthusiastic amateur. When I did my 17 foot long bedroom, having removed the remains of the chipboard flooring, I measured and marked the joists every foot or so, as a guide to make sure I would lay the boards straight. Having laid and nailed the first run of boards at one side, I sawed and laid the next run, before working down it with the two bow wrenches, nailing as I went. I pretty soon found that I could do three runs of boards at a time and still cramp them up adequately. This was with re-sawn pitch pine, and I've had no noticeable movement in four years.

I nailed them through with flooring brads, as I wanted it to look like a traditional floorboarded floor.

Cheers
Richard

Click to expand...

^^This.

We did the same with re-sawn (Victorian) joists, using cut nails.

We treated with osmo polyx hardwax oil and it looked fab.

I might look at waxing too. We have oak floorboards downstairs and they look nice. I am sure they are waxed.

Thanks.

Nick