Happy New Year!!
I've just purchased some Oak flooring to lay in my dining room. The young chap who sold me this said that i wouldn't need underlay to go down as i am screwing the floor to the current floor boards.
I'm happy laying this flooring but do i need to put 4mm underlay down. The floor boards are secure, level and in good order. I've been given lots of very thin screws to put into the groove section of the wood.
Another staff member said that i could place a sheet of visqueen down. Would it be a problem if i put underlay down or shall i just screw them to the existing floor boards.
What would STW do??
BF
Visqueen is really a vapour barrier, don't see the point.
So they have given you small screws to screw the oak together but not down to the existing floor?
If this is the case i'd put something down as you'll end up with a floating floor in effect, i'd be wary of noise as the oak moves on the existing.
Personally i'd put underlay down and not screw the oak down but together
Hi I layed an oak floor about this time last year in the living room. On the couple of days before christmas ie very cold.
We didnt screw it down ours is floating. But the one thing I would say is it might not be a great idea to lay it down in the coldest winter in 20 years.
As Im sure you know the oak expands and although it will be warm in your house it will probably be warmer in summer.
We left plenty of expansion gap but little rises in floor in started to appear late autumn when we turned the heating back on. They've all gone now even though we've had the heating blasting. Probably because the floor has to be cold again.
If you are laying it seriously make sure theres enough gaps and just jam the heating up in your house to max for while you do it.
yeah we did floating. We did 6mm plywood tacked to floor board to make a base then this on top,
[url= http://www.wickes.co.uk/Fibreboard-Underlay/invt/201508 ]wickes underlay[/url]
I used some sticky backed foam underlay stuff (from B&Q)that you lay on the floorboards and lay the oak flooring onto then peal back the cover and the oak sticks to the underlay, went down a dream, much quicker than screwing each board down. Took a bit to get used to the technique as the underlay is sticky as hell so have to make sure the planks are correctly positioned because once stuck there was no re-positioning
Has been down now for nearly 3 years (half is over existing floorboards, half over new concrete floor on extended part of room) and is still good, had no movement, creep, gaps apearing or little rises etc. Also no creaking or noise
Not sure on screwing to existing floorboards, would the oak not expand and contract at a different rate and could cause problems, like others said should it not be floating?
I also laid mine the opposite way to the existing floorboards
If you are using the special screws to fix through th tongue the dont put an underlay down.
As the movement will not be good itnis meant to be firmly fixed
Yes to the visqueen .
I'd be inclined to put it in floating, with underlay.
Also take up the skirting boards before you lay it, then you can use the 'overlay' to take up the 'slack'.
And before you lay it, bring it into the house for a couple of weeks to get up/down to temperature.
Preparation is key.
If it is solid oak you cant fit it floating it will just split .
engineered yes no problems .
As trout says, you shouldn't really float a solid oak floor, although due to the lack of dpm in our living room I had to as we'd already bought it. I used a dpm turned up behind the skirtings with an aqoustic underlay and it's been fine for 3 years but not as nice a job as the rest of the house where it's glued down to the screed.
If you're on floorboards have you thought about hiring a portanailer, secret fixings and solid on the floor, much better job all-round.
The Tonguetite screws are better than the nails as can be removed without splitting the boards if ever needed.
you only need a power screwdriver and in most cases dont need to pilot drill the planks .
they go in at about 45 degrees through the tongue so invisibly fixing the planks .
the visqueen vapour barrier minimises the risk of the boards curling due to being dryer on the top and absorbing moisture from underneath .
In general, make sure you have some decent wood before you start laying. Some prefer cut, but uncut is fine too. Don't worry if it doesn't seem long enough, the thickness is more important. Though if it is too thick you may find you have a problem getting it into some crevices. As I say, if it seems a bit short, you'll find that it expands as you work it. That should take care of any slack as well. If it feels a bit tight you might need to oil it a bit especially if working in a samll gap. Alternatively you can work the gap to loosen it up a bit, oil may help with this too. Screwing or nailing is down to your choice. Though you might find that when nailing it comes off unexpectedly. It certainly won't last as long. If it does come off when it shouldn't then leave it a while before starting laying again. In the meantime you might use some tounguetite or work the wood a bit, or both. Screwing will last longer and give you a better finish.
HTH
I'd be getting someone in myself 😉
Ours is nailed (hidden in the groove, no underlay or visqeen) to 3/4" ply which is screwed to the joists - all done part of a much bigger job - levelling the floor as a whole - it ran out 3 inches over 17ft..... 😯
Dad did the job - time served joiner.
As mentioned above the wood was in the house for 2-3 weeks before hand to 'get to temperature'.
Ours was natural wood (not pre sealed / finished) so I sealed it with 2 coats of Osmo wax - highly recommended if you need to seal yours.
Float it with underlay, 10mm gap at skirtings
deadlydarcy:I'd be getting someone in myself
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Very clever 😯 😆
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trout - Member
The Tonguetite screws are better than the nails as can be removed without splitting the boards if ever needed.
+1 for them they are the best on the market and stop the floor from moveing/creeking had mine down just over 2 years not a creek or anything also i would recommend leaving the planks of oak in the run for about 2 weeks so they can adjust or shrink before you lay the floor also if you choose to use the tonguetite i will be able to get them alot cheaper then the shops for you (the company which i work for srewfix has its main office in the same building so i can get them for cost pretty much and they kick ass over any srews as they have patented tri lock thread which means they go in easy and they lock the wood in 3 points of contact un lick nails and other screws which just have one
[url= http://www.tite-fix.co.uk/81056/19736.html ]if you dont belive me [/url]
email in profile if you want some 8)
cheers luke
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