real wood flooring
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real wood flooring
this[url] is what i'm thing to put in my living room, or something similar
I will remove all skirting boards first...........a few questions, as i have never done this before.
1. The room has a carpet then laminate in the area where a supporting wall was taken down (into the old kitchen area), this area is slightly higher than the other (5-10mm). Its a concrete floor. Would you say putting leveller down would be what to do. If so, some tips, as i have never done this either.
2. Its a cold concrete floor, that i would like to insulate very well, what way would you do this without making the floor raised too much?
3. And generally, any tips for putting this wooden flooring down?
I will remove all skirting boards first...........a few questions, as i have never done this before.
1. The room has a carpet then laminate in the area where a supporting wall was taken down (into the old kitchen area), this area is slightly higher than the other (5-10mm). Its a concrete floor. Would you say putting leveller down would be what to do. If so, some tips, as i have never done this either.
2. Its a cold concrete floor, that i would like to insulate very well, what way would you do this without making the floor raised too much?
3. And generally, any tips for putting this wooden flooring down?
Last edited by handyman on Mon Sep 24, 2007 11:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
- Hoovie
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Hi - I have fitted a similar wooden flooring product (in my case it was a 3 ply engineered real wood T&G product) to my last house - did Dining Room, Sitting Room and Hallway.
I understand that the engineered solid wood is actually more stable then the solid wood and deals with expansion/contraction better and the top layer is usually good for about 3-5 resandings, which should be enough for most people
5-10 mm height variation is quite a difference if you want to have the flooring sweeping right across - B&Q sell various type of underlay - they have the thin foam roll stuff about 1-2 mm thick, the link you supplied shows an underlay 3mm thin which look quite good and they also sell packs of 7mm thermal underlay sheets which is designed to take care of irregularities as well.
If you were to use say the 3mm underlay throughout and then use the 7mm underlay on the area of the floor that is 5-10mm lower, that would give you a reasonably level overall effect, I would think.
Obviously the other option is to the level the floor.
Generally insulation involves thickness - how much raising the floor is to much raising?
I laid my flooring over existing wooden flooring - the reason I didn't just use the old flooring was the amount of draughts coming up through all the gaps in the floorboards which made the rooms very cold. After laying the new flooring - which was T&G planks glued to each other in a floating floor setup over basic thin foam roll underlay, that made it a lot better BUT we then found we were getting draughts from under the skirting (this was put back slightly higher then the flooring to allow expansion) so using something like a cork strip to allow movement but plugs gaps is a good idea.
Oh - and if you don't have them already, get some knee pads!
I understand that the engineered solid wood is actually more stable then the solid wood and deals with expansion/contraction better and the top layer is usually good for about 3-5 resandings, which should be enough for most people
5-10 mm height variation is quite a difference if you want to have the flooring sweeping right across - B&Q sell various type of underlay - they have the thin foam roll stuff about 1-2 mm thick, the link you supplied shows an underlay 3mm thin which look quite good and they also sell packs of 7mm thermal underlay sheets which is designed to take care of irregularities as well.
If you were to use say the 3mm underlay throughout and then use the 7mm underlay on the area of the floor that is 5-10mm lower, that would give you a reasonably level overall effect, I would think.
Obviously the other option is to the level the floor.
Generally insulation involves thickness - how much raising the floor is to much raising?
I laid my flooring over existing wooden flooring - the reason I didn't just use the old flooring was the amount of draughts coming up through all the gaps in the floorboards which made the rooms very cold. After laying the new flooring - which was T&G planks glued to each other in a floating floor setup over basic thin foam roll underlay, that made it a lot better BUT we then found we were getting draughts from under the skirting (this was put back slightly higher then the flooring to allow expansion) so using something like a cork strip to allow movement but plugs gaps is a good idea.
Oh - and if you don't have them already, get some knee pads!
I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, "Where's the self-help section?"
She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
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cheers for the reply Hoovie
i will look at the engineered wood........totally open to using whatever, the wife is only interested in the 'look'
I hadn't thought of varying the underlay thickness to take up the difference. Its a poured concrete floor, and the old small kitchen area is kind of panned, with it rising to where the old wall is, and the whole area is slightly higher. Sorry, forgot to say that in original post. How easy is the leveling stuff to use?
The connecting floors in kitchen are tiled and so will the hall be tiled, and french door has a 2" step to outside, so thats not a problem. The wood will be the same thickness as the tiles/adhesive. So it could probably raise the same again, with a threshold sloped up to new hight, the same as you might do into a tiled floor in bathroom. ????
I have some knee pads
i will look at the engineered wood........totally open to using whatever, the wife is only interested in the 'look'
I hadn't thought of varying the underlay thickness to take up the difference. Its a poured concrete floor, and the old small kitchen area is kind of panned, with it rising to where the old wall is, and the whole area is slightly higher. Sorry, forgot to say that in original post. How easy is the leveling stuff to use?
The connecting floors in kitchen are tiled and so will the hall be tiled, and french door has a 2" step to outside, so thats not a problem. The wood will be the same thickness as the tiles/adhesive. So it could probably raise the same again, with a threshold sloped up to new hight, the same as you might do into a tiled floor in bathroom. ????
I have some knee pads
- Hoovie
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no idea about using poured levelling compounds - I imagine there is a minimum thickness of pour for it to work and if you wanted to apply it to whole room, you could be up 15mm in height before you start installing wooden floor?
But from your update it sounds to me that using a thermal underlay to bring up the height would achieve your insulation aims. I recently saw some thresholds somewhere (maybe B&Q, not sure) that were designed to deal with a height variation of around 20 mm which is a fair amount.
They (flooring instructions) normally suggest no more then 2-3 mm variation in height, so I wonder if your panned kitchen floor will need "something" to bring it more in line? touch of an stone grinder by the wall to remove the high areas near the wall? Outside my knowledge area
Be interested in what you use - I will need to accomodate a similar threshold height issue in the next couple of months
But from your update it sounds to me that using a thermal underlay to bring up the height would achieve your insulation aims. I recently saw some thresholds somewhere (maybe B&Q, not sure) that were designed to deal with a height variation of around 20 mm which is a fair amount.
They (flooring instructions) normally suggest no more then 2-3 mm variation in height, so I wonder if your panned kitchen floor will need "something" to bring it more in line? touch of an stone grinder by the wall to remove the high areas near the wall? Outside my knowledge area
Be interested in what you use - I will need to accomodate a similar threshold height issue in the next couple of months
I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, "Where's the self-help section?"
She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
- Jaeger_S2k
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hank i find the latex ones are better at levelling out. i have found a technique that my flooring mate told me.
he told me to pour it out then drawer little zig zags with the end of your trowel to get a sort of spreading out.
takes a bit to master but when you do it works a treat, as opposed to trying to spread it with the full blade.
it does want to level out anyway and this just creates little voids to attract it out abit.
now ive confused myself
he told me to pour it out then drawer little zig zags with the end of your trowel to get a sort of spreading out.
takes a bit to master but when you do it works a treat, as opposed to trying to spread it with the full blade.
it does want to level out anyway and this just creates little voids to attract it out abit.
now ive confused myself
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first sorry if i m hijacking this post.
Hoovie,
so you think that this underlay B&Q Sticky Underlay Link
is better option or
glue T&G with foam roll 1-2 mm thick or 7mm thermal underlay is better option for solid wood???????
Hoovie,
so you think that this underlay B&Q Sticky Underlay Link
is better option or
glue T&G with foam roll 1-2 mm thick or 7mm thermal underlay is better option for solid wood???????
- Hoovie
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Sorry Wasim - I do not have the knowledge to make that decision for you - I think you need to seek advice from someone who puts down flooring like yours or ask the people where you got the flooring from for their suggestion.wasim21k wrote:first sorry if i m hijacking this post.
Hoovie,
so you think that this underlay B&Q Sticky Underlay Link
is better option or
glue T&G with foam roll 1-2 mm thick or 7mm thermal underlay is better option for solid wood???????
I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, "Where's the self-help section?"
She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
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i think i ask lots of question on this forum about floor as i was expecting to lay solid wood floor back in August but some electric work caused delay so i still have time for this i bought floor from B&Q and they dont suggest same either glue or sticky underlay.
what would you do if you were me??????
what would you do if you were me??????
- Hoovie
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I would *think* you would have to take care with sticky underlay if the sticky bit was the flooring side up as it would be hard to knock the tongue and grooves together to make a tight fit.
In my own experience, I have installed floating floors that REST on underlay, but are not actually ATTACHED to the underlay.
The thickness of underlay you chose will depend on a number of things - how much uneveness in the existing floor you are laying this floor on top of - the thicker underlay can deal with a bit more uneveness - is this something you need to deal with? The thicker underlay also allows better insulation and noise deadening - is this important to you?
The thicker underlay obviously raises the floor height - will this be a problem when you move from this room oevr the threashold to another room without the flooring?
I strongly suggest that whatever you use, do a fair bit of dry fitting first - without glue or exposing the sticky bit of the sticky underlay if you go for that - and check it all feels ok.
If you go for glue, then a good tip is to buy a coloured glue that will match the wood colour rather then a standard glue that dries white - it will blend in a lot better in those little aras where there are gaps or nicks in the T&G joins (being a natural product, there is bound to be some bits like that)
That is what I would do if I knew the floor I was working on and I could touch and see the flooring I was laying.
In my own experience, I have installed floating floors that REST on underlay, but are not actually ATTACHED to the underlay.
The thickness of underlay you chose will depend on a number of things - how much uneveness in the existing floor you are laying this floor on top of - the thicker underlay can deal with a bit more uneveness - is this something you need to deal with? The thicker underlay also allows better insulation and noise deadening - is this important to you?
The thicker underlay obviously raises the floor height - will this be a problem when you move from this room oevr the threashold to another room without the flooring?
I strongly suggest that whatever you use, do a fair bit of dry fitting first - without glue or exposing the sticky bit of the sticky underlay if you go for that - and check it all feels ok.
If you go for glue, then a good tip is to buy a coloured glue that will match the wood colour rather then a standard glue that dries white - it will blend in a lot better in those little aras where there are gaps or nicks in the T&G joins (being a natural product, there is bound to be some bits like that)
That is what I would do if I knew the floor I was working on and I could touch and see the flooring I was laying.
I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, "Where's the self-help section?"
She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
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thanks for very quick reply,
lay floor on sticky underlay why i m not feeling very comfortable when floor expand and contract it mean it may create gaps. and technique they showed in dvd is lay sticky underlay and don't remove protection until u put floor board and then pull it back. i dont know but i think glue to t&g seems better option to me.
and about floor level it is good enough.
thanks for help after finishing my all DIY i'll send you all pictures on forum so if some one need some idea of help they can use them.
lay floor on sticky underlay why i m not feeling very comfortable when floor expand and contract it mean it may create gaps. and technique they showed in dvd is lay sticky underlay and don't remove protection until u put floor board and then pull it back. i dont know but i think glue to t&g seems better option to me.
and about floor level it is good enough.
thanks for help after finishing my all DIY i'll send you all pictures on forum so if some one need some idea of help they can use them.
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