laying solid wood floor over existing timber floor

[lcquinn]

Hi I'd like to lay a solid wood floor over my existing timber floor. Been given 2 pieces of advice
1. lay new floor in opposite direction to old
2. lay ply first and then lay new floor in either direction

any advice?

What's the general consensus on glueing vs nailing t&g?

as you can tell I've never done this before so here's another Q!

What the best way to lay it without eventually ending up with large gaps between boards?

Thanks in advance.

 

[chappers]

All depends I just laid two lots of bamboo flooring in my house last year one lot in the hall went at right angles to the existing boards and as they where fairly flat and smooth I just glued them directly to the boards using Lecol, parquet adhesive. the other lot in the bathroom I laid in the same direction as the existing floor and so fixed down a sheet of hardboard over the existing boards (use plenty of screws at least every 4")then stuck down with the same adhesive.
One year on its still rock solid.

There are however several other ways to skin a cat and the boards could be nailed or depending on what your using you could glue the joints and fit it as a floating floor.
With regards to preventing gaps what I usually do is take a timber batten and screw it down where the second board in from the wall will butt up to that gives you something solid to tap up to, then lay your first row of boards up to that, subsequent boards can then be tapped in ( use an offcut to prevent damage to the edge of the boards)if glueing the floor down I then fit another batten down every 4-5 rows and leave overnight to prevent any gaps openimg up. with a floating floor use strap cramps to pull the joints up tight and use 20minute pva.