I know what the names mean, but what are the pros & cons of different types of boards?
I currently have parquet flooring on the ground floor (traditional wood block) which is mostly in good condition having been covered up for most of it's life (about 50 years) with carpets. I had been planning to remove the carpets, and (hopefully) get someone in to repair/renovate any areas that needed it.
Now, though, we are planning an extension, and we'll want the same flooring in there, the hall and the lounge/dining room, and it has been decided that (probably) oak would look the best, but that's not a final choice.
The floor will be laid onto concrete, or concrete + underfloor, and of course some of the concrete will be new, and some 50 years old.
I have no idea what condition the existing concrete is in, how level etc, until I take up the parquet. (As an aside - is it worth trying to sell it?)
SWMBO has decreed that the flooring is to be professionally installed, not DIY.
So - what basic types? I want real wood, not that poxy laminate stuff.
Do I have a choice between solid wood boards and engineered/composed boards, or does the fact that it won't be going onto joists preclude one type?
Am I right to look down on engineered boards as "not the real McCoy", or are they in fact superior?
Should it be installed as a floating floor, or nailed through to the substrate?
I currently have parquet flooring on the ground floor (traditional wood block) which is mostly in good condition having been covered up for most of it's life (about 50 years) with carpets. I had been planning to remove the carpets, and (hopefully) get someone in to repair/renovate any areas that needed it.
Now, though, we are planning an extension, and we'll want the same flooring in there, the hall and the lounge/dining room, and it has been decided that (probably) oak would look the best, but that's not a final choice.
The floor will be laid onto concrete, or concrete + underfloor, and of course some of the concrete will be new, and some 50 years old.
I have no idea what condition the existing concrete is in, how level etc, until I take up the parquet. (As an aside - is it worth trying to sell it?)
SWMBO has decreed that the flooring is to be professionally installed, not DIY.
So - what basic types? I want real wood, not that poxy laminate stuff.
Do I have a choice between solid wood boards and engineered/composed boards, or does the fact that it won't be going onto joists preclude one type?
Am I right to look down on engineered boards as "not the real McCoy", or are they in fact superior?
Should it be installed as a floating floor, or nailed through to the substrate?
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