want to float solid oak on combo of parquet and concrete

[mcgroa]

hi have read all the similar posts but still unsure about this.

i have about 50m2 of parquet living dining and 10 of concrete extension.
I really really do not want to have to lift the parquet and bitumen.
I cant really lay wood over whole area as it will take level up to high
(ply + foam + board).
Other added complication is the concrete area is slightly higher (2-3mm) but is on main run from living room to extension, so not somewhere i want to put a divider bar or similar.

So 2 different questions.
a) can i for example put a thick foam underlay on the parquet with no dpm, and then a thinner foam underlay on the concrete with a dpm?
b) or can i lay a concrete screed over the parquet ?

thx......?

 

[WoodYouLike]

A) yes, as long as you are sure the concrete is dry and has a embedded DMP of its own.

 

[mcgroa]

sounds good.
i'm guessing the concrete does have dpm in it, since it only has carpet and underlay sitting on top of it right now.
i've got another fitter comeing round to opine and test. nice to have a view before hand tho.

out of interest one guy said to level the parquet floor up to the concrete extension the few mm, that he would put screed/levelling on top of parquet. does that sound wrong (from my readings here it does)?

he also said would be best to get engineered for floating as its better than solid for less than perfect floors - t or f?

thx again
a.

 

[WoodYouLike]

We are always more in favour for wood-engineered floor than solids: more stable, you can have wider widths without having to worry about cupping.
Nothing to do with less than perfect floors in our opinion.

 

[mattysupra]

no your cant skim over any solid wood. You can get away with a ramp with fast dry repair mortar tho. providing it only covers lets say 12" maximum.

 

[mcgroa]

excellent info - all much appreciated.
would go for engineered but have a deal on some decent solid thats not avail on equiv engineered. over 60m2 that makes a big diff!

 

[WoodYouLike]

Watch out for many very short lengths on 'solid offers' and what's the width of your solid boards?

 

[mcgroa]

18x120x400-1500

Good point - need to check that its not all 400s!!

 

[mcgroa]

Flooring guy reckons anything onto the parquet/bitumen will cause it to buckle.
Indeed I've discovered 2 folks in the street had this issue floating laminate over the self same parquet.

So looks like I will be shoveling up 50 sq m of parquet, and have to get "most" of the bitumen off myself (i'm not paying for that part)

Of course that means I am then looking at a big self levelling/screeding job (although I'm going to get flooring guy to do it).

Anyone have any tips for getting the bitumen off? My plan is to use some of the hamilton pro wall scrapers with the long blades to scrape it down.

Also is there decent screeds that will stick to bitumen residue? Flooring guy wasnt sure but thought i'd need to get "all" bitumen off.

 

[mcgroa]

Flooring guy reckons anything onto the parquet/bitumen will cause it to buckle.
Indeed I've discovered 2 folks in the street had this issue floating laminate over the self same parquet.

So looks like I will be shoveling up 50 sq m of parquet, and have to get "most" of the bitumen off myself (i'm not paying for that part)

Of course that means I am then looking at a big self levelling/screeding job (although I'm going to get flooring guy to do it).

Anyone have any tips for getting the bitumen off? My plan is to use some of the hamilton pro wall scrapers with the long blades to scrape it down.

Also is there decent screeds that will stick to bitumen residue? Flooring guy wasnt sure but thought i'd need to get "all" bitumen off.

 

[mattysupra]

floor will only buckle if you use incorrect underlay or your wooden blocks are not secured correct in the first place. It is possible to plywood over the top of them and then skim the concrete side smooth to the plywood. If flooring guy does not know the best way to prep your floor then get them to stick a post on here or read through other posts for what there looking for

 

[mcgroa]

thanks- my pref is clearly to go for the easy option. may need to do some persuading on going for this option.

what concerns me is the cost is going to be huge for the full dig up, screed and stickdown. cost of 50m2 of screed 7mm deep alone is going to be high.

what type of underlay shd i go for if i do it simple way - non dpm is all i need to look for ? or more parameters to worry about?

thx

a.

 

[mattysupra]

i can never remember the name of the underlay i like. Its the timbermate version made for wooden subfloors woodyoulike should know the name! Remember that your subfloor/wood does need to be bonded correct and stable in the first place.

I dont know how to explane how to check this if all LOOKS o.k. I can walk into a room and just tell, same with moister! I can walk into a room and tell you the moister content in a concrete slabe without testing it, this is something that i have no idea on how to explane but some how you just seem to know by looking, smell, etc. Not many people can do this and im called the "freak" of the trade when fitters test me against meters! ( bit like that guy that add any number you want without a calculator!)

thinking about it you could get a hammer and lightly tap the flooring, listen for a slight echo between different area. If you have this then you should be stripping up.

 

[mcgroa]

hah - i know what you mean.
the guy who came spotted a small dip in the hall i hadnt noticed, and was smelling all the time (a manky dustsheet that got wet yesterday threw him a bit).
damp readings were all less than 16 (mostly 11 ish) no idea of units, on his damp meter and he seemed happy with that throughout. thing was only making occasional pips when touching my new 2 day old plaster skim.

parquet is absolutely solid to the floor throughout. that said in the hall it was possible where one set of 3 bits was missing to easily rip up by hand big chunks of 3 or 9.
the bitumen was quite brittle except for an oily layer left behind that if i follow the full path will need scrapped up.

i've done decent laminate laying and am very very tempted to go for it myself with a floating engineered floor. i'll wait for my quote and then run for the hills.

 

[WoodYouLike]

i can never remember the name of the underlay i like. Its the timbermate version made for wooden subfloors woodyoulike should know the name!

That would be Timbermate Duratex - without the DPM.