Right the decision has been made on the kitchen/hall flooring front and we’re going for oak flooring (either solid or engineered). The engineered stuff we looked at at the weekend looked like laminate though, which concerns me a lot.

So any recommendations on where to buy, either on-line or a ‘real’ shop. I’ve seen some great prices on-line but its a bit of a leap in the dark.

Also how easy is it to fit? I’m reasonably handy, its a new house so straight walls, etc.. My only concern is because I’m doing the downstairs loo, hall, kitchen and utility room I’m not sure where to start. Probably look at hiring a table top saw so I get nice clean cuts. Anything else I need?

So to recap – where to buy and how easy to fit? Thanks.

(sorry wrong forum – I hate the way it defaults posts to the bike forum)

You should check to be sure that the floor will be okay laid in wet areas such as the loo, but apart from that, I would recommend Real Oak Floors of Leeds. We just used them and, apart from some very duff advice on sealants (we bought unfinished so we could stain to our requirements), they were very good. And to be fair on them, they put the problem right and they had been given the duff advice from their supplier’s local rep. In general though, engineered is better than solid as it allows for more flex due to the warp and weft construction. My father-in-law used solid and regrets it as it has flexed and gone out of shape.

thanks mastiles_fanylion. It’s a downstairs toilet so no shower, therefore isn’t a ‘wet’ area. What are the advantages of buying sealed over unsealed?

Regardding fitting, you will have to be sure to have all the correct tools or you will end up with a gappy finish (unless you buy the ‘Click to Fit’ type ones whic are now available in solid and engineered finishes.) Also consider the surface over which it is to be laid – if it is a solid concrete floor you may be bettr off glueing. Secret nails are good for wood floors. You could float it but it sounds like quite a large area you are covering so I would suggest fixing permanently will be better.

If you want a fantastic finish, buy an untreated fnish and coat with Osmo Hardwax Oil. Just DON’T also seal with Osmo Uviwax to protect from sunlight like we did. 🙁

The advantages of sealed v unsealed?…

Well we chose unsealed for two reasons – the first because ours goes into a sun room so we wanted to protect the wood from bleaching*, but also we wanted to be able to patch it if it gets damaged. By using Osmo products, we can sand and refinish as it is microporous so it can be patched without altering the colour of the stain (unlike polyurethane varnishes which darken with each coat).

*The UV idea went down in flames when we found out (after sealing 20 sq m) that it wasn’t compatible with the hardwax oil that went over. (The people we bought from are re-supplying and refitting a whole new floor after giving us that advice!!!).

<http://www.frenchtimberdirect.co.uk/&gt; depending on where you are, it’s about £40 m2 and you have to pick up. I’m just about to lay a second room. The first one is a walkway as well, down for 3 or so years and not real wear. I sealed mine with liberon sealer then waxed over to make it lethal. Where are you, if you are near Reading come and have a look.

Thanks boobs but I’m in Ayrshire.

Ah, can send a photo 🙂

Fitting tips…

Get a fitting kit. It’s a few quid and should get you a small block to hold against the edge of boards for tapping into place, a flat metal hook for pulling boards into place at the edge, a handful of plastic packing spacers for holding the end board off the wall while fitting.

Glue the joints, a thin bead of wood glue along all edges will keep it all together for ever. Wipe off excess with a wet cloth as you work. I’ve always floated the new floor but always onto caber floor or concrete, never existing boards.

Seriously consider refitting the skirting. Removing and refitting new skirting lets you hide the necessary expansion gap and cut edges. The end result looks professional rather than homer. In our experience refitting skirting is less work than getting a good edge without.

No need for a table saw if you refit skirtings as the edges are hidden and careful use of a jigsaw (which you’ll need for fiddly bits) is fine. If you do choose to hire then you want a sliding mitre saw (chop saw) not a table saw.

Don’t fit around door frames/linings. Put a piece of floor against the exiting woodwork and use a sharp saw to trim so you can fit the floor under the door frame.

Don’t forget the underlay. What sort depends how flat your current floor is.

Great advice there Digimap. It’s going on a concrete floor and I will be taking the skirting off – as I detest that horrible beading which just spoils a nice floor. I’ve got a jigsaw so I’ll probably just need the fitting kit.

Would I also start laying the first length against the straightest, longest wall and work from there?

Might be worth getting a few quotes in from independant floor layers, I got my oak flooring fitted for £5 per metre more than the wood alone would have cost me, as his trade buying netted him such a discount, If I hadnt chosen the more rustic looking oak flooring he could have done the floor for the same price as the planed and treated wood per metre.

I would suggest starting from the most visable point, rather than the straighest wall. The worst effect would be a nice straight floor that looks odd because there is a horrible join or edge in the most obvious place.

BTW – my 180mm wide single strip 15mm deep (didn’t want deeper as have an existing level to join to) engineered unfinished oak cost <£30 per sqm from above link

I do like to do things myself if I can tinsy, but I know where you’re coming from. One of my neighbours had solid wood flooring fitted in the hall, living room, and dining room and the guys charged £800. Fair enough, but I’m not paying that if I can do a good quality job myself.

Digimap what are your thoughts on engineered flooring? It is going in a kitchen, but newish house so no damp, well ventilated largish kitchen. Is it worth the extra expense?

FWIW, we chose engineered simply because we decided that minimal extra expense was worth the added confidence that fitting a better floor would bring.

We laid about 90sq.m in 6 rooms using natural oak boards T&G & end matched.
Would strongly recommend that you use cramp straps (at least 3) as these really tighten up the joints if you are using glue. We also replaced the skirting to cover up the expansion gap at the edges.Also laid an underlay to level up concrete floor & also help keep out damp.

Don’t forget about your thresholds. I used offcuts of floor board routed down each edge to make a cover strip.
Also (sorry going on a bit now) keep some sawdust for any filling aferwards.

We laid our 15 months ago, bit of movement, not much but hey wood it’s going to move a bit but looks fab with the osmo oiled finish & cleans up really well.

We ordered some Ash from a local sawmill that used local wood resulting from managing the very woods that I have been biking (only once mind). Their machine failed tho so in the end we went to Floors2go and got a good product for not too much money. I think we paid £20/m2 or something for solid oak prefinished. It looks lovely too.

We laid it ourselves – four rooms, 50m2. Wasn’t too hard – we bought a table saw (which you can borrow if you’re near Cardiff) which did help a lot. Especially for the long cuts on the edges of the room – would’ve been there all week and had a crap result without the saw.

And you really need the cramp straps too. Only problem we had was the chipboard underneath wasn’t flat, despite it being a new house. It curled up at the edges of each panel. An hour in each room with a bandsaw (and a dustmask) sorted it tho. Rooms were empty tho so that made it easier.

We bought thresholds and also used edging strips instead of moving/undercutting the skirting board. Now tho I wish I’d faffed with the skirting board, as it looks better.

I’ve been looking at engineered wood for the dining room and quite like the look and price point of some with a 4mm finish instead of a 6mm finish. The dining room is lightly used so I’m thinking the 4mm will be OK, any reason why I shouldn’t go with the 4mm?

Why would you use engineered wood in a dining room, is the room damp?

We went with engineered oiled oak in our kitchen / dining room. I think it’s 6 or 7mm finish. It’s laid floating over concrete and the house is quite old so a few funny angles. We chose engineered as it was cheaper, we plan to extend so it’s all coming up in 3-4 years so didn’t want to pay £££ only to rip it all up later. It’s easier to lay – ours was a non-glue click-fit and a doddle to do. From memory it all came in at under £600 including delivery and underlay and fitting kit from a web company on a special offer.

I’d echo the many good comments above. Buy a kit – makes life easier, take off the skirting – the finish is much better and gives you a larger margin of error, cut into the door surrounds – saves fiddling around with funny cuts, and most importantly IMO get yourself a decent saw. I laid it myself and started from the most visible area and worked from there. It took me a weekend to lay about 20m2 with time to spare (including taking out the old carpets and removing old floor tiles from kitchen.

Layed oak flooring throughout my flat. I got 2nd hand planks (from the BBC studios in Aberdeen) and cleaned them up and fitted them myself. I had plywood already on top of concrete. I just cut them to length and glued where I though it was needed and nailed through the tongue at an angle. Totally sound. Hard bits were when I got to the other wall I had to rip a board to a size, used a circular saw which made it a lot easier. Other hard bit was getting the boards cleaned up, they were ancient and had really tacky varnish all over the tongues and grooves which needed to be scraped off. Top tip – wear gloves because the oak splinters and really nasty, I had to split my finger to cut one out because there was no way it’d pull back out.

Only picture I have of it, sorry for bike in the way…