Solid wood flooring question

[jd78]

Hi,

Recently bought 18mm solid oak flooring. 83mm width with various lengths ranging from 300mm to 1200mm. The sub floor is chipboard. Read a bit about laying this type of flooring and to be honest I'm bamboozled... I contacted a couple of floor fitters one says he will secret nail the floor the other said he will float it. Contacted the company who made the wood and they suggest floating but gluing the grooves. Most online experts say you can't secret nail on to chipboard or float a floor like this (solid wood + too short a width). Any guys out there who can give me some advice on this? Much appreciated

 

[Harbourwoodwork]

Hi,

Recently bought 18mm solid oak flooring. 83mm width with various lengths ranging from 300mm to 1200mm. The sub floor is chipboard. Read a bit about laying this type of flooring and to be honest I'm bamboozled... I contacted a couple of floor fitters one says he will secret nail the floor the other said he will float it. Contacted the company who made the wood and they suggest floating but gluing the grooves. Most online experts say you can't secret nail on to chipboard or float a floor like this (solid wood + too short a width). Any guys out there who can give me some advice on this? Much appreciated

I dont see why you cant nail into chipboard sub floor,Secret nailing should be OK , if using at porter nailer or the like ,apart from the very short lengths for the obvious reasons.I wouldn't float a solid wood floor because of the expansion and cotraction ,gaps and cupping etc
An engineered floor (laminated sectiones with plywood backing) would be OK to float with glued joints ,because of it stability, laying Methods will vary depending on quality of flooring and sub floor quality,Eg how flat etc...

 

[WoodYouLike]

I fear you are between a rock and a hard place with your Solid Floor containing random lengths and chipboard.

If I were you I would return the floor and get a better product

 

[jd78]

Thanks harbourwoodwork. Bizarrely floating is the recommended fitting guidelines by the floor manufacturer which goes against everything I have read especially given the board lengths will be pretty short.
Probably just go with the secret nail method, I like the lottery....

 

[jd78]

I fear you are between a rock and a hard place with your Solid Floor containing random lengths and chipboard.

If I were you I would return the floor and get a better product

Ha returning not an option. Wood acclimatised and ready for fitting. Current cream carpet is a death trap after a sickness bug went through my 1 year old daughter.

Woodyoulike read lots of good stuff from you during my research into this but going to go totally against your recommendation and secret nail this badboy into good old chipboard. What's the worst that could happen

 

[Harbourwoodwork]

Thanks harbourwoodwork. Bizarrely floating is the recommended fitting guidelines by the floor manufacturer which goes against everything I have read especially given the board lengths will be pretty short.
Probably just go with the secret nail method, I like the lottery....

If a lot of the lengths are short,to save splitting, it is possible to air nail through the tongue at 45d with 16g nails, be aware of where pipes and wires,air nails always go deeper than you think, that will also cancel out any exploding chipboard!!

 

[Harbourwoodwork]

Thanks harbourwoodwork. Bizarrely floating is the recommended fitting guidelines by the floor manufacturer which goes against everything I have read especially given the board lengths will be pretty short.
Probably just go with the secret nail method, I like the lottery....

If a lot of the lengths are short,to save splitting, it is possible to air nail through the tongue at 45d with 16g nails, be aware of where pipes and wires,air nails always go deeper than you think,Air nailingwill also cancel out any exploding chipboard!!

 

[WoodYouLike]

Woodyoulike read lots of good stuff from you during my research into this but going to go totally against your recommendation and secret nail this badboy into good old chipboard. What's the worst that could happen

Worst: that your nails will "explode" the chipboard and don't find any grip = rattling and moving floor. That's all

 

[jd78]

Woodyoulike read lots of good stuff from you during my research into this but going to go totally against your recommendation and secret nail this badboy into good old chipboard. What's the worst that could happen

Worst: that your nails will "explode" the chipboard and don't find any grip = rattling and moving floor. That's all

The floor will just end up floating like the manufacturer intended then.

If it goes pear shape Woodyoulike you can come round and fix it

 

[foxhole]

Chipboard does not hold nails, well not very long before they move, it's simply not dense enough, you could use self adhesive underlay, no need for glue.Used it a few times without problem.
This stuff.
http://www.screwfix.com/p/self-adhesive-real-wood-underlay/74549

 

[WoodYouLike]

Worst: that your nails will "explode" the chipboard and don't find any grip = rattling and moving floor. That's all

The floor will just end up floating like the manufacturer intended then.

If the manufacturer themselves suggest you can float their floor I would definitely take it back! No way you can install a solid random length floor (with too many 300mm boards) floating without causing it to become unstable. Every joint will act as a hinge and the too many short length will certainly create too many joints

 

[Floorsave]

Hope it is not to late, you can use a portnailer or Tongue Tite screws to fix the wood through the tongue, also I would recommend a flexible wood floor adhesive. I f you apply this in a Zig Zag formation just to give it the extra fixing as chipboard is quite soft and sometimes dosen't take the nail or screw that well