Fitting Solid Oak Flooring in Winter

[GMul4d]

Hi, I'm looking to fit solid oak flooring in my lounge/dining room its about 4m x 7m at max dimensions. The current floor is floorboards which are securly fitted and flat and run width ways, so going at 90 degrees with the oak will be perfect.

Is it ok to fit the flooring this time of year as the humidity is lower due to heating? Will I have to leave a bigger expansion gap then I would if I fitted in the summer? Or do I just make sure the room is well aired? The property is empty at the moment so could turn the heating off if that helps?

Is it ok to float T&G solid oak flooring and glue the edges, would I be better off hiring a nailer or getting engineered flooring. I seem to have come across so many mixed views about floating solid wood flooring while I've been searching the web and forums.

Thanks for any help

 

[crazydaze]

Engineered Floor will be much more stable, less fuss, and have far fewer issues with fitting in winter, it's likley to be a little less expensive too and once fitted, will likely look like a solid floor and you would'nt be able to tell a difference in 'drum' sound if you were going to float a solid floor.

 

[AronSearle]

You can get a wide range of engineered oak flooring, some of it is not just a veneer stuck onto ply, but also oak strips as the base.

Solid boards should be nailed. They can be floated, and have been done so successfully, but they do move more and you benefit from a proper fixing if that occurs.

If you go to the effort of solid oak, get a moisture meter (you can pick them up for as little as £40), anyone who lays floors as a professional should have one (though lot's don't). Knowing the moisture content will help you assess what gap sizes to install it with, typically 0.5mm is adequate (a card spacer), if the boards are at about 10% moisture content. If they are nearer 6-8%, which is unusual, but if they are then a 1mm gap may be required.

If it is not to big a room, and does not have any unusually heavy furniture (like filling cabinets), an engineered option may be easier as you can float it, then all you do is just leave a perimeter gap.

The reason heavy furniture can be an issue, is that it can stop the floor from moving in that direction. though it's a rare issue, I have seen a floating floor buckle because filing cabinets were at each end of the room, stopping movement.

 

[GMul4d]

Thanks, for the replys So it looks like engineered may be the way to go, I will get some samples and see if we can find some with a nice finish, although my girlfriend is pretty keen on solid oak.

With solid oak I don't understand how the expansion works if it's nailed down so maybe if I go that way I would have to get a professional in as don't want to mess it up.

 

[AronSearle]

You nail it into the tongue on one side of the board, and leave a small (typically 0.5mm) gap within the T&G. That way each board expands and shrinks individually, sometimes the boards expand a little more than the 0.5mm, in which case there is "some" flex in the nails.

 

[crazydaze]

Thanks, for the replys So it looks like engineered may be the way to go, I will get some samples and see if we can find some with a nice finish, although my girlfriend is pretty keen on solid oak.

With solid oak I don't understand how the expansion works if it's nailed down so maybe if I go that way I would have to get a professional in as don't want to mess it up.

Don't get sucked into the 'solid is always best' trap

The advantage of solid over engineered is that Solid is directly fitted to the subfloor meaning a little less noise under foot, and if it's a thick solid, the wood layer above the joints is often a little more generous and can be sanded more times than a thinner engineered equivalent, however, engineered can still be lightly sanded and neither floor can be sanded further than the depth of the joint in the floor and you are unlikely to want to sand the floor anyway aren't you?

There are many good quality engineered floors out there that look exactly like solids, remember that yO are likely to need to prep the subfloor with at least 6mm ply to fit a solid floor where as the engineered can be floated on the existing subfloor with a good quality underlay like Timbermate, this will be sugnificantly cheaper than plying the floor and also reduces installation height etc.

 

[GMul4d]

Ok, thanks that makes sence now. Do the secret nails go all the way through the floor boards below? as a bit worried about pipe work.

 

[AronSearle]

the secret nails will need to go into at least 20mm of timber (remember they go in at an angle though, so the board may only be about 16mm thick).

As to solid vs engineered, engineered is much more foolproof, but I have seen 300mm wide solid oak over UHF without issues, which goes against everyone's recommendations in this country, even my own.

 

[GMul4d]

Ill get some engineered samples if we can get a good quality and it's more fool proof then it's probably the best way to go.

Thanks for all the help.

 

[GMul4d]

Got some samples, all seem very nice. But what thickness of board would you recomend cost is an issue but want to do it right. The samples vary between 14-21mm and have upto 6 mm of real oak on top.

Some also come with a free foam underlay 3mm with damp proof layer is this sufficient as you can spend more and upgrade to foil backed underlay.

 

[crazydaze]

14mm will be fine, wear/ability to sand the floor is dictated by the depth of the wear layer, not the depth of the board. As for underlay, don't fit it in the rubbish, cheap, thin foam stuff, fit it on either 4mm or deeper fibre board underlay or something like Duralay Timbermate, you'll get a better feeling and sounding floor with better levelling properties, the thin foam stuff is really going to do the installation a dis-service.

You'll only need a damp membrane if you are fitting over concrete subfloor, you shouldn't fit it on a wood subfloor.

The retailer you are buying the floor from should be able to give you all of this advice and more with regards installation tips etc, if they don't or can't, then you need to buy the floor somewhere else and get the service and advice that you deserve.

 

[GMul4d]

Thanks you've been really helpfull.

I thought that a damproof above the floorboards was a bad idea. So 14mm seem to have 2-4 mm wear layer, so I want to avoid the thiner top layer.