Best underlayment. Timbermate Excel?

[sxtrail]

Hi there

I'm currently looking into the best underlayment for an engineered wood or solid wood flooring. The subfloor is concrete and is pretty level. There are imperfections caused by remains of glue left by a recent installation of wood floor which needed to be removed due to faults and poor quality.

I'm installing the floor myself this time and don't want to reglue as I would like some thermal protection.

I'm looking at using Timbermate Excel and then glueing the T&G's. I was hoping that this product would easily deal with the roughness that has been left by the glue.

Are there any downsides to this product and method of installation? FYI, the flooring will be installed in a 20sqm lounge and continued into a similar sized kitchen diner (no door bar).

What other underlayment products would you recommend? I don't want to scrimp on the underlayment, I simply want the best stuff for the job without spending silly money.

Many thanks

 

[WoodYouLike]

Timbermate Excel is excellent!

 

[sxtrail]

Good good So some Timbermate Excel and engineered wood glued together is the best way forward? All I need to do now is buy the stuff and get cracking.

Any suggestions on how to go about fitting through two rooms? Is it normal practice to fit a temporary batten to the floor that runs through both rooms to give a solid edge to up to and from? Somehow I need to start in the lounge then once I reach the door move into the kitchen and work back to the wall, but obviously I need to create a solid edge somewhere.

Many thanks

 

[WoodYouLike]

You want to install straight through from lounge (normal climate) into the kitchen (moist climate) without using a thresholds?

Wouldn't recommend that. Treat both rooms as separate areas, install a threshold in the middle and to line up the boards so the planks look 'ongoing' use the same method with a batten to prevent the first rows in second area from moving.

 

[sxtrail]

Hi there,

Yeah, I thought that might be the case after reading through old posts on the forum late last night. It would certainly look a lot better to install straight through with 1 or 2 long planks but I suspect that it would be even worse to use long planks throught he doorway as these would be more likely to bow.

I guess the fridge, cooker, water and large french doors are all going to contribute significantly to the movement in the floor.

I lack experience, so this will take some planning it will be a good job done in the end

WoodYouLike, what do you offer in the way of 20mm enginnered floors? Currently looking at these 2 offerings:

http://www.flooringsales.co.uk/acatalog/info_FB3414.html
and
http://www.birbek.com/mall/productpage.cfm/Birbek/REST/70021

These appear to be good (more likely the latter).

Do you offer a similar product at a similar price? Please drop me an email:

Many thanks

 

[WoodYouLike]

Hi Simon

Hmm, nowadays more wholesalers and manufacturers jump on the bandwagon of thick engineered boards. Ours are 21 x 180 x 2200mm and are guaranteed on UFH, plus confer with the strictest building specifications (Japan) on the bonding between top layer and the birch ply.
Can't (won't ) beat those prices I'm afraid, but we offer excellent FREE advice on all matters concerned with wooden flooring - do they?

 

[sxtrail]

Hmmm, a difficult one. Your products look great, but can I afford to pay £60+ per sqm? I'm afraid not. Are all lengths 2200mm? Is it not better to fit random lengths? Obviously mid floor boards can't be cut down because of the T&G. Due to the direction of the boards, the max length is about 4 metres in each room, so only allowing enough room for 3 boards at the very most. Would that not look a little odd? Wouldn't you normally expect to see some shorter pieces mid floor?

Thanks again for your help

 

[WoodYouLike]

No, it's not odd when you have only three boards in one row - means not many joins.
Our floors are only bevelled on the long sides and there for the joins between the planks in one row aren't pronounced. Most good quality boards come in long lengths, the more stable the whole floor becomes.
The 2200mm is the average length, the exact length varies per batch and can vary between 1970mm per batch upto 2470mm