A Few Questions Regarding Solid Wood Flooring

[Mav3000]

Hi,

I' have been reading as many websites as I can find regarding solid wood flooring, but as I have no experience of it, I still have a few unanswered questions. I'm asking them here so that if answered, they can maybe help someone else out and prevent them from asking the same again.

1) If we buy a natural wood floor and oil it, will be be protected from UV? I know oak changes colour as it ages, but don't want the areas of our floor to bleach lighter due to the sun if we oil it.

2) We are looking at colouring our oak floor (when we get it, or have the sellers do it for us) either Castle Grey, or Castle Black - are these two genuine types of oil colour, or a typo? They seem hard to spot online.

3) We like the look of prime natural oak, brushed and oiled in castle black the most (based on Google Image searches etc). I understand that prime has less knots and imperfections in the wood, but what does brushed mean? Does it affect the colour at all?

4) Is it advisable to lay solid wood floor in a kitchen? if the floor is oiled, what happens if certain liquids are spilt on it? hot water. cooking oil, red wine etc?

5) If we buy the thin expansion gap covered to lie on top of the gap, how do these fit around architrave?

6) Why can the thin expansion gap covers be nailed to the floor, up to the skirting board? Doesn't expansion move the gap covered and cause them to press up against the skirting board?

7) In 6 months time, how do you re-oil a wood floor in a room full of furniture? Can you do half-then-half of the room without a join in the treatment showing?

Apologies if some of these questions are factually incorrect / inaccurate - please correct me if I have misunderstood anything.

Thanks for any answers to any of the questions above. I plan to buy a natural oak floor (prime) for my entrance hall (2sqm), lounge (4x4sqm) and kitchen and dining room (5x4sqm).

 

[WoodYouLike]

Hi Mav3000

You can read a lot about solid flooring here: Solid Floors - what to note
As for your questions:
1) Wood matures no matter what finish you apply. Oak turns honey colour within 2 years time and only if exposed to true sunlight (so not through glass, but through open patio doors etc) could it turn lighter.

2) Castle Grey is a popular colour among our Duoplank clients:

Duoplank Oak Rustic Castle Grey

• WoodYouLike
• 10 Apr 2008
• 3

Duoplank Oak Rustic, brushed & oiled Castle Grey. 20mm thick with 6mm solid top layer...

haven't heard of Castle Black though

3) Brushing a floor means at the factory the boards passes underneath fixed sturdy brushes, brushing off lightly the softer parts of the surface (used to be very deep, not any longer fortunately) and it does effect the way the board looks eventually (a bit softer - toned down in colour)

4) No Solids in areas where there is more moist, wood engineered is much better there

5) you don't fit beading around the architraves, you undercut the architraves.

6) yeap, right in one, so use tiny pins that lift up when the floor expands (and gives you an early warning the floor is expanding). Will happen less with wood-engineered flooring.

7) You don't have to re-oil your floor, only apply a proper maintenance product every 5 - 6 months. Having to remove all the furniture is rare - only in those cases where you don't take care of your wood floor for many years.

Hope this helps

 

[Mav3000]

Thanks Wood You Like - I was hoping you would reply, but didn't contact you directly as I thought your advice may well serve others too.

Dane Care sell both Castle Grey and Castle Black, but Castle Black doesn't show up on their WOCA Oil colour chart:

http://www.danecare.co.uk/product_i...cts_id=81&osCsid=n81936mprcs789qqe1i02mmnf3

Just some follow up questions:

1) So every 5-6 months you use maintenance products where the floor is looking like it needs a little tlc? Not under sofas or chairs etc necessarily?

2) We have a table and a bookcase which has faded after being in direct sunlight through closed windows - so wood floor does not lighten in this way?

3) What are the negatives of engineered wood floor compared to solid wood floor? apart from the fact that solid wood can be sanded more?

4) Would an oiled wood floor ever need to be re-oiled if carefully looked after?

Thanks very much for such a quick and informative reply.

Mav3000

 

[WoodYouLike]

Do you want to apply the finish yourself? That's where the oils you link to are for. Possible to do, but very dark and very light colours are not that easy to apply for a beginner (sorry, but true).

Normally maintenance every 5 -6 months will even make your floor more beautiful, underneath sofa's etc not always needed - but we normally remove all small furniture and if possible large pieces too when we carry out a maintenance service for our clients.

Can't think of any negative fact on wood-engineered flooring (and a solid floor can only be sanded till you reach 2mm above the T&G anyway - plus resanding is hardly ever needed). Wood-Engineered floors have many more advantages though.

Our experience is that wood floors - regular maintained - do not fade noticeable, they sooner turn darker to be honest.

As for having to re-oil a wood floor when that floor is carefully looked after: only when disaster strikes: heavy damage that needs resanding. Only when you have to resand the floor you need re-oiling

Hope this helps - see here for our maintenance tips

 

[Mav3000]

Thanks Wood You Like.

How many Sqm does a single pack of your duratec engineered floor cover?

I like the look of the 125mm wide oak floor, at the moment in castle grey, but as I don't live near your showroom, how can I be 100% sure which oiled finish is the one for me?

Finally, we would need the 5mm edging strips to cover the expansion gap - if we order these are they pre-finished in matchning oil, or do we oil them ourselves to match the floor?

Thanks again, Mav3000

 

[WoodYouLike]

Our Duoplank doesn't come in a fixed sq m per pack: it depends on the raw-materials per batch. Lengths vary per batch between 1.97m to 2.47 m. so we/you order the sq meters you need (don't forget to include saw-waste).

However, the Duoplank is standard 180mm wide. And if it is the right colour for you? Remember that every board has its own character, never select a floor on one little tiny sample you receive from those companies who do send out samples. We don't - we try to use as best possible interior design pictures

Beading comes unfinished - with a 0.25 litre tester HWO Grey White you can match the colour of your floor.

 

[Mav3000]

Just a couple more questions:

1) With engineered wood flooring, does this need an expansion gap the same size as solid wood floor?

2) Is engineered wood flooring more forgiving on slightly uneven floors? I plan to install onto a concrete floor, with a 2mm DPM sheet over it, and on top of that self-adhesive underlay. The floor is level, but seems to be a couple of mm higher in the corners.

3) Our concrete floor has vinyl tiles on it currently (we've removed the carpet) installed by the builders. Is it ok to install the floor on top of this, or shoul they be removed first?

4) When using self adhesive underlay, do you need to buy those braces that clamp the wood together?

5) We have a lounge 4.5x4m in size, which joins a dining room 3.5x2.5m via an open archway 1.8m wide. Is it ok to run the floor through the two rooms without a threshold?

As always, thanks for any replies.

Mav3000

 

[WoodYouLike]

1) normally 10mm expansion gap with wood-engineered flooring - if your room is very wide (say more than 5 meter) it is better to make it 15mm

2) Depends on the slope, the thickness and quality of any (wood-engineered and solid) wood floor

3) are the tiles firmly stuck down? If so do use DPM on here too to prevent effect of sweating of the tiles getting into the wood

4) we never use them, no matter what we use as underlayment. If you buy quality wood the T&G's fit very well together and with just some care - such as not walking over boards just just installed - it will work fine without clamps or straps.

5) That's cutting it tight. We normally advice to use a threshold if the opening is less then 3/5th of the widest room, your case 1.8 is rather narrow (3/5 of 4 meter = 2.4)

Have you read through our manuals on wooden flooring, loads of answers there too.

 

[Mav3000]

Hi WYL, Thanks for the replies (again!). I've thoroughly read your website, its newsletters and your contribution to this forum and have learnt a great deal.

Like with anyone, I want to get the floor perfect, and am trying to learn about every aspect of it before I invest in one.

Thanks for all of the help so far. I think my next step is to get out there and get looking first-hand at the different colours of oak flooring available.

I feel sufficiently well imformed now thanks to your site and this forum.

Mav3000

 

[WoodYouLike]

You're welcome

 

[Mav3000]

Just ressurrecting my old thread, because I have a few more questions on wood flooring!

I have been told after looking at floors that to glue them down is the best approach. I would be installing onto a concrete floor laid in 1980.

I have vinyl tiles stuck down onto the floor, which are stuck down using black glue / tar / bitumen.

Ok here we go...

1) If I use self levelling floor compound will this be ok over the black tar residue?

2) I plan to lay floor over the lounge and dining room floor, but not the kitchen (its all open plan). How do I stop the floor levelling compound at the end of the dining room therefore not spilling over into the kitchen?

3) Even though people say glue down, would I be ok to lay DPM sheeting, then self-adhesive underlay, and then glue the T&G of the flooring? the rooms are 4.5x4m and 3.5x2.5m.

Althought I'd like to put the skirting over the expansion gaps, our skirting is only 15mm thick. I also want to put some speaker cable under this, so will install the skirting, then the expansion gap, then put flat scotia around the edges.