wooden flooring

[joe.t]

Hello lads.

About to lay solid wood flooring on vinyl tiles which are on top of concrete.
1. Is pine flooring ok.
2. I'm laying battens, can i glue (grip fill) or do i need to drill into the concrete to get a fix.

3. Whats the mininium dimensions of the battens as the higher i raise the floor the more the problems with the doors.

4.Rather not use beading around the edges, can i rout the skirtings and architraves.
thanks

 

[jud1967]

I have layed a solid tongue and grooved wood floor and used 3mm Elastilon adhesive foam backing no nails no glue seems to have worked fine been layed for about 6 mths minimal joint movement.

 

[noseall]

Hello lads.

i should include lasses to your intro' too. WoodYouLike may answer your question if you do.

 

[joe.t]

No, harm intended-i'm a plasterer by trade and we dont get many women in the trade.lads and lasses welcome!

 

[WoodYouLike]

Well, if your underfloor (including the tiles) is level there is no need to place battens first (waste of materials, money and effort), you can install the floor floating (glueing the T&G's)
Be sure you then use an underlayment that contains a DPM to prevent sweating of the vinyl tiles effecting the wood.

 

[joe.t]

Suppose i was being over cautious regards battens,would you recommend pine or am i looking for prolems regarding shrinkage and splitting,i intend varnishing.
thanks.

 

[WoodYouLike]

Can't really advice you there I'm afraid: no experience with proper pine floorboards, we're into hardwood flooring
Only thing I can say is because pine is softwood, you will get dents and small damages earlier on pine than on Oak or most other hardwood floors

 

[joe.t]

cheers mate

 

[WFRN]

Solid wood flooring especially a softwood should not be installed floating. Glue and screw kiln dried battens at 40cm centres. you can put insulation between if you want. Use sisalkraft paper (bitumen backed building paper) over the battens as a moisture barrier and then you can nail into the battens (secret nailing). Battens must be at least 22mm height. Taking off the skirting is the only option unless you want beading but if you are going to lay a solid wood floor, do it properly not KISS bodgit style. Expansion gap is required around the perimeter as it will expand and contract. With the heating on in winter pine can shrink a fair amount so if you have allowed it to acclimatise in the room for a couple of weeks leave a gap of at least 12mm as in the summer the floor will expand. Sand the wood lightly keeping the fine dust and use this by mixing with a product called mix n fill to fill any gaps between boards or surface holes (knots) etc. Fine sand again and then use the finish you want. Polyurethanes or lacquers are better for protecting against moisture and require less maintance then waxes or oils.
Hope this helps

 

[WoodYouLike]

WFRN, on 22mm (hardly 1 inch) battens, what length of nails do you use to fix it securely??
Besides that, everyone is entitle to its own opinion, I'm not calling yours a bodgit waste of money, materials, effort, time and the cause of more problems than when installing solid flooring floating.

 

[joe.t]

regarding wrfn,thanks this is what i thought and have been told by most in the trade .I just wasnt sure about getting a fix on the battens but will proceed with battens