Engineered wood flooring questions

[xyz321]

Hi we are looking to replace our existing flooring (laminate in dining room & hallway, carpet in living room) with engineered wood flooring. I believe underneath it is concrete.

Few questions.
1. Generally what wear layer is acceptable?I appreciate higher the better and We have one kid in the house however we are generally quite careful family and I would like to optimise wear layer vs cost.

2. Any recommendations on any providers (local ones in our area have not been good in past when we had to do some other flooring)

3. What is a reasonable price for labour for installating.

4.any recommendations on underfloor electric heating for the flooring. I am unsure our boiler will take additional load and also with pipes I will need to raise floor level which I am not keen on doing. I appreciate it will be a hit costly to run burn we will only use it to take the chill off the floor.

Thanks very much
J

 

[Doggit]

You can get 2mm wear layers, but 3mm's better. You've got no insulation under the floor, so you'd be heating the concrete floor. You could use fibreboard, or go a bit more upmarket. http://www.theunderfloorheatingstore.com/insulation-boards-electric-and-water-126-w.asp.

You could use a thin pipe system attached to your central heating system, but as wood will take longer to heat up than radiators, you'll need to adjust your heating system to have a second circuit that comes on a but earlier.

http://www.polypipe.com/building-products/plumbing-heating/underfloor-heating/products/overlay

 

[crazydaze]

The chances of you wearing an Engineered Floor out are minimal, any surface layer depth would dictate the depth you could sand should you choose to do so. Of more importance is the to finish, is it Lacquered, UV Oiled or Oiled?

The finish will have far more effect on the floors appearance and what it is like to live with.


Lacquered: Fit and forget, never need oiling or waxing, clean with a spray Lacquer cleaner and microfiber cloth.

UV Oiled leaves the grain exposed but affords some protection, clean with a spray Floor Soap and wipe with a microfiber, the floor may mark in places, and you could re-oil if you needed to.

Oiled: The grain is very vulnerable, particularly to spills and wear/dirt. clean with a spray soap cleaner and microbre cloth, the floor will need regular oiling to stay looking presentable. (Think of it as walking on a Solid Oak Kitchen worktop)

Underfloor heating will add a fair height to the installation but is popular, be sure to use a specialist Underfloor Heating Underlay for wood floors such as
Duralay Heatflow Wood. This will ensure a good feel and floor performance and maximise the efficiency of the under floor heating.