Solid wood floor to existing pine floor boards

[skeeney]

Hi all, my 1st post so please be gentle

Right, I recently bought 34m2 of natural laquered solid oak from B&Q in their sale with 15% off plus a further 20% off making it £22.38 a meter. The width is 83mm, it is 18mm thick and variable length 300mm to 1200mm. I have been googling hard for days and have heard so much conflicting info on how to lay and wondered if any of you experts could offer me some advise.

B&Q recommended laying the flooring with their self-adhesive foam, however for some reason I purchased 7mm unifelt fibre board and wood T&G flooring adhesive thinking I could lay as a floating floor, glueing just the tongue and groves. Since reading around the subject I have seen the following possible ways of laying:

1 Lay the solid wood over underlay (is 7mm fibre board suitable?) and then glue the T&G's in a floating manner. This was my original choice however I have seen some warn NEVER to glue the tongue and grooves with solid flooring, is this correct?

2 Blind nail through the T&Gs into the existing pine floor boards, is this possible and what length nail would be required? Also I take it using the unfielt is a no no using this method?

3 Take the unifelt and glue back and get the self-adhesive underlay B&Q recommend for solid wood.

I am laying the flooring on the entire ground floor, my front room and the back room are now joined by a 5ft opening after we knocked a small hole through, is it ok to continue into the next room through the opening and how would you go about lining up the flooring on either side.

The entire down stairs is the original pine floorboards at the moment however we have two fire places that we recently cemented in after removing the old ones and are keep to floor into them. My first concern is over how new the cement is but I also am unsure if I can use the nailing method as I would need to both nail and glue some boards that stretch over the small concreted area. Is this possible?

I myself am not an expert but I will be doing the work with my dad who is not an experienced floor layer but he is amazingly competent at woodwork with furniture and has carving experience.

Finally I would just like an very rough estimate on how much you would expect it to cost to get this done by a pro ;o)

Many thanks to any one that takes the time to respond.

Thanks
skeeney

 

[WoodYouLike]

Hope you won't have short lengths as main percentages of the whole floor, these kind of offers tend to have only 1 or 2 boards of 1200mm per pack in them, the rest very short.

Anyway, 83mm is to narrow to install floating anyway, you're best bet it to return the fibreboards and buy the self-adhesive underlayment.

And whoever told you that Solids should not have their T&G glued when installing floating should wash their mouth with PAVC glue!

 

[skeeney]

Woodyoulike thanks for the excellent response

I'll send the fibre boards and glue back and get some self-adhesive stuff. Any one used the floor master stuff from B&Q . Have seen that many people recommend Elastilon, anyone know any where I can get some? Have searched the web with no luck. Have tried pricerunner.co.uk and kelkoo.co.uk.

With regards to the conreted fire place areas, could I simply lay Floormaster SO Damp Proof Membrane and then the self-adhesive above it?

Finally, the 2 rooms are linked via a 5ft opening, you reckon it would be ok to lay flooring length ways between each room? I'm a bit concerned that if i start laying from the wall on each room and work to the middle the boards will not meet up when I get to the opening! (pic below)





Thanks[/img]

 

[Acorn Flooring]

Many manufacturers recommend solid flooring be either nailed or glued directly to the underfloor.

On timber floors nailing is the solution. Nailers can be hired from tool hire firms, who will also supply the nails.

As for the concrete areas, these should be glued using a flooring glue.

When fitting
1. start in one room as far as the opening plus three rows.

2. Lay the boards in the second room loose to tie into the boards from the first room.

3. Mark the position, take apart and nail in possition.

 

[Acorn Flooring]

elastilon/ self adhesive backing can be used over timber and concrete.
If using this method boards can be layed either way (ie tongue to groove or groove to tongue) therefor there is no need to take apart the second room as described for nailing.

 

[WoodYouLike]

The concrete of the fire place is I presume a very small area compared with the rest of the floor. No need to lay dpm there (wouldn't do any good either, if there is moist, the moist would find its way underneath the small area of dpm anyway to the other part of the room).

As for how we would tackle these two rooms: start in one room at the most straight wall. When you arrive at the opening, continue the rows into the second room. After you've finished the whole first room, fill in the remaining areas in the second room.
(to prevent the boards in the second room moving away before you can fill in the remaining parts, place a stack of packs of wood next to it).

 

[skeeney]

Thanks guys

 

[FloorNewbie]

Did you use the self-adhesive underlay method? I have seen this at B&Q as well, but I have not read any users experiences with this method. I am trying to decide between this method and secret nailing.

Would like to hear your experience with this method (or anyone who has used it).

Also, as an underlay, does this give any sound protection? Could you use the felt underlay underneath?

Cheers,
John

 

[WoodYouLike]

Any foam or rubber type of underlayment gives sound protection.

But, the main issue with sound insulation is the combination of materials used. We know of cases where woodblocks or strip flooring (both 10mm) glued on solid mosaic subfloor on a concrete underfloor had a better sound reducing effect than floorboards nailed to battens (which were screwed into the concrete). Reducing sound travelling from one room to another that is (upstairs - downstairs).

Melamine (Plastic) laminate floors are 'famous' for sounding hard in the room where they are installed in, proper wood floor types sound 'softer'. The hardness of the top surface also has an effect on how much sound travels up or down.
And don't forget how much sound travels through pipe works, so make sure your floor covering doesn't touch any.

 

[skeeney]

floor was delivered today

I have opened up one of the boxes and was pleasantly surprised to find a good set of instructions. The pack I opened up has 12 boards @ 80cm and 12 @ 40cm.

Instructions advise I can nail, glue or float. Float: "This method is suitable for fitting over all floor types, often easier for the DIYer".

Instructions also say "with a floating floor it is essential to lay a hard floor underlay first", does that mean it will be ok for me to use fibre board?

Floornewbie, afraid I haven't laid as yet. Keep us posted on how you get on and I'll do the same

I'm still undecided as to whether I am going to secret nail or float.