100 year old house, room is 10 x 5 m, wood burning stove on a hearth stone. Young children, cat. Will be the main living room / kitchen.

The current floor will have to be fettled/levelled and 9mm ply fitted first I reckon.

Whaddya think?

We have engineered oak because of underfloor heating. It can look a little "too perfect" if you know what I mean.

Engineered flooring is better as the cross ply structure allows for more movement/flex.

And get as thick a board as you can with the thickest top ply of solid wood so if you need to, you have more to sand off to remove marks.

Such as **** stiletto punctures left by your wife's best mate when she walked all over our new £1k floor.

Such as **** stiletto punctures left by your wife's best mate when she walked all over our new £1k floor.

😯

I hope you disciplined her!

We got ours from HERE – we got unfinished oak then sealed it with Osmo Hardwax Oil so we can patch repair it (the oil will patch invisibly). It is also low odour and child friendly.

I hope you disciplined her!

We are going to their house this weekend, I am gonna sh*t in a drawer in her new kitchen.

PMSL

We too had the stilettos problem, only we did the whole ground floor of the house in oak flooring and then proceeded to give the lady in question a tour of the house!! She also stayed for lunch and offered to wash up the dishes. Our floor beside the kitchen sink looks like a flaming golf ball. I will wait for the jokes on the last sentence.

Hi geoffj…which part of the country are you located in? I know a very good supplier and fitter of wood flooring. 😉

Other than that, I'm happy to answer any specific questions…

– What's the sub-floor? Concrete? Joists? Chipboard?
– Judging from what you're describing, I'd advise engineered (especially with a wood burner)

Engineered flooring is better as the cross ply structure allows for more movement/flex.

[pedant]I believe it's "less"[/pedant] 😉

you have more to sand off to remove marks.

Any decent engineered board will have solid oak down to the top of the tongue and groove, and you're never going to sand down that far anyway…but what m_f says is correct in theory, the more oak you have on top, the better.

Deadly, I'm in Perth. I have someone lined up to fit it – the builder who has done the rest of the work in the house, so I couldn't really bring someone else in without risking the wrath of the Polish mafia!

Decent suppliers would be good to know though.

Engineered sounds good, as its slightly cheaper too.

What about this then?

http://www.wickes.co.uk/Real-Wood-Flooring/invt/199895

[pedant]I believe it's "less"[/pedant]

I mean it allows for movement in both directions more equally. I guess not more movement overall.

We also had a little get together a few weeks back and someone brought mud into the house and then proceeded to try to rub it in but only succeeded in scratching it more Grrr.

Still – as I sealed the floor myself I can quite easily repair that (assuming I ever have the time).

Oops and the current floor is newish floorboards.

Ah right, I'm in Bristol so it would be a bit of a hike…

Firstly (and I'd say this anyway), I hope your builder knows something or other about flooring…it is a fairly specialised trade with specific kit that doesn't get used in any other job. Not casting any aspersions on your guy, but I've seen plenty of "builders'" floors.

However, all that said, if your guy isn't a floorlayer, then engineered would be a good option. The machining tends to be much tidier on it and as long as you get your first row of boards right, the rest will go smoothly.

You didn't say whether your floor was joists or not? If it's joists, then why the 9mm ply? Builders paper, and level joists should be fine? 9mm doesn't give any support. The best sub-floor would be an 18mm ply screwed to joists and then nail the new floor on top. Great insulation, protection from damp underneath…

Make sure to buy some lengths of solid timber as well for machining thresholds at doors, around the fireplace etc (because surely, he'd never use pre-made ones would he???).

Ummm…can't think of anything else…don't really know any suppliers up your end, but there's a company called Havwoods in Preston who supply very good quality engineered floors at a decent price. They don't have a website as they're some kind of Plymouth Brethren types, but ring them, tell them you're a flooring business and they'll send you a catalogue…remember to get both the tools & accessories and the flooring catalogues because they're separate. You'll need a copy of both.

Engineered flooring has come down a lot in price in the last few years (we can thank the Chinese for that) but shy away from anything too cheap. It's going to be down for years (you hope!!).

I mean it allows for movement in both directions more equally. I guess not more movement overall

I know mate, only teasing…

Patch repairing Hardwax Oiled floors is a doddle. Any old eejit can do it. I'd suggest doing a whole board though if you are doing a bit of one if you get the drift. Didn't you get a matwell fitted?

Cheers DD – our guy is a joiner primarily, and he is making the right noises. The boards are on joists, but the whole shebang needs levelling. The previous owner/joiner/cowboy managed to lay a floor which has quite a few ups and downs in it.
I'll give the palace in Preston a call. Thanks.

We went for solid wood (its a shoes off house – but I did manage to drop a screwdriver onto the floor two days after it was put down). Much harder to fit than engineered from what we were told. Therefore we were advised to use a joiner who was a specialist fitter of hardwood floors. It was layed onto a concrete floor and around the firehearth, we don't have right angles as the house is so old. He did a sterling job of fitting it, no use to you as they are based in North/West Yorkshire. Just make sure your fitters know what they are doing is my advice.

Oh and the wood (Stasis ash, which is heat treated and pre-treated, so makes it more stable) came from British Hardwoods http://www.britishhardwoods.co.uk/, they are based near us but I think they supply all over the UK.

Didn't you get a matwell fitted?

No – I don't like the look of them. We do have mats outside and inside the door though.

Still – pretty soon my daughters will be up and walking on it which will mean all sorts will get dropped all over it so I guess I just have to get used to it.

Regarding the patching – I read somewhere that I can just very lightly rub a sponge lightly impregnated with the oil lightly over the scratches. Would you recommend that?

Regarding the patching

Not sure dude…depends on the scratch (sucks air through teeth….gonna cost ya…). I'd go for a very fine sand paper, probably around 120 grit [EDIT]to guys like me 120 grit is very fine but maybe start with 180 if 120 feels too rough, sorry[/EDIT] to blend back the scratch "into" the surrounding timber (don't worry if you expose bare timber), then blend the blending (if you get my drift) throughout the whole board by just rubbing very lightly. To reapply, use a brush or a lint free rag; actually, just use a brush and use the rag to wipe off the excess. That's what I would do if I were being paid by someone to do it, because that's the "prawper" job (and it hangs the job out for a few hours too 8O). However, you can just blend in the area around the scratch, then oil, wipe off excess and wait an age for it to dry back and not be noticeable. The beauty of doing a whole board is that the floor changes shade from one board to the next anyway so once it's dried, you can't notice the patch.

I've often heard people recommending wire wool…stay away from this unless you're an experienced french polisher…it can leave metallic marks in the timber which are feckers to get out.

The whole board approach sounds the most sensible when put like that – pity the fecker rubbed the scratches across several boards….

Ta 🙂

GeoffJ – we have solid oak (french stuff) in the lounge, floor joists were leveled and 15mm marine ply put down first… Woodburner followed slightly after.. 😉
Have to say the floor does move in line with prevailing weather conditions – when the air is 'moist' i.e now, it curls along the length of the boards – despite having 'anti-cupping' groves on the back of the planks – nothing too onerous though

Mr Darcy – cheers for above repair info, not needed yet but it's on file – I would have automatically reached for the wire wool for repairs!!

I asked this question on here about 6 months ago. I ended up getting solid oak as all the engineered stuff I looked at just looked like laminate.

Did attempt to but from the 'realokafloors' link above but after waiting 3 weeks for a sample, after calling them twice, I gave up and bought elsewhere. To be honest I thought their customer service was shocking.

Im a big fan of recycled flooring, for that extra patina, especially in an older house. Hardgreaves reclaimation near the Kincardine Bridge had a mountain of Maple dance/gym flooring last time I was there.

Did attempt to but from the 'realokafloors' link above but after waiting 3 weeks for a sample, after calling them twice, I gave up and bought elsewhere. To be honest I thought their customer service was shocking.

I bought it directly from their showroom as I live close by and I was given some really bad advice (regarding the sealing of it) which meant the entire floor had to be ripped up and a new one laid. But to be fair on them, they admitted fault straight away and had their guy come out and take up the original and put the new one down within a week or so. And he also made a really nice job of it. You wouldn't get that service had you bought it from a DIY store.

Interesting.

We've had (good) laminate down in out current house for the last 5 years and it's been brilliant with two young kids (who are now 4 and 6) and a dog for the last 4 or 5 months. It's coped with my wife's habit of walking right through the house after walking the dog without taking her boots off, me dripping onto it after wet commutes and the chickens getting in for an occasional explore.

We're moving in the next couple of weeks to a carpeted house and I'm really not looking forward to not just being able to wipe up spills or sweep up dropped food.

I think we're just going to be living with the carpet for a few years while we do all the many, many other things that need doing, but we'll be getting rid of them sooner or later.

Are wood floors much more delicate than laminate, as it sounds from this thread? If so, we probably shouldn't get one! Though, I do like the sound of

recycled flooring, for that extra patina, especially in an older house

and that fits with my hairshirted eco-geek green image too 😉

(We're living in the hope that we'll lift the carpets to find wonderful wooden floors, but I think we might have watched too many episodes of Changing Rooms as students.)

Depends what you get, the stasis stuff we got ^^ is treated and can withstand more (and can be used with underfloor heating) – it is used for pubs and dancefloors so it needs to withstand some abuse. British Hardwoods use sustainable sources for their wood so more eco friendly than some wood thats been shipped from far off lands and chopped in an unsustainable location.

(We hired a sander once for the floorboards in our old house – it went back after one morning and the carpet put back.)

I quite like stuff that's worn, so wouldn't mind that at all. Wouldn't want it to look knackered after a week though 🙂

Our engineered one is quite tough. Our little lad has managed to smack a couple of dents in it and it has the odd scratch. TBH it looks better as it weathers.

What do people think of Bamboo flooring?

Does it have the pros of solid woods without being as expensive or is there a downfall I am missing?

keppoch

Our engineered one is quite tough. Our little lad has managed to smack a couple of dents in it and it has the odd scratch. TBH it looks better as it weathers.

My kids are spectacularly brilliant at damaging things. And my wife is worse.

Deadlydarcy – I'm in Bristol and am thinking of redoing our lounge/ diner with wood flooring (will be later next year). What do you think about using reclaimed timber?

And my wife is worse.

But I assume she tries to deny it at every possible opportunity, even though you know full well it was her? They are good like that.

What do you think about using reclaimed timber?

To be honest, from a STW ecowarrior point of view, great idea.

From a professional floor supply and fitting point of view, it's a bloody nightmare. I generally turn down work if the client mentions reclaimed flooring for two reasons. Firstly, because (very fortunately) I can; don't wish to sound arrogant but I'm busy enough fitting new hardwood floors. Secondly, I often find that there's a fair old distance between client expectations and what I can actually do with a reclaimed floor once it goes down. The reality of what it looks like in a house is generally far removed from the picture that was in the client's head of how it would look. Once a floor is worn, badly scratched, had years of various different treatments, and the rest, there's not much I can do with it.

If you buy from a reputable supplier, especially one with the FSC (Forestry Stewardship Council) logo, then your hardwood is coming from sustainable sources anyway. Obviously, this is not as "green" as reclaiming and reusing, but managed forestry is fine in my books.

Cheap Oak will most likely be from unmanaged sources in the East. Also, no matter what you're told, avoid dark exotic hardwoods from Africa, South America and Indonesia.

Once a floor is worn, badly scratched, had years of various different treatments, and the rest, there's not much I can do with it.

Even if you sand it?

To be honest, from a STW ecowarrior point of view, great idea.

Well, yes, that's my angle…

I note your points – but there's a local supplier of reclaimed wood, so I would be able to inspect it first. Assuming I was reasonably ok with the look, is it ok from a durability/ fitting point of view?

Even if you sand it?

Fair question. Well, yes, but there are some defects that even a sander can't get out…split boards, stained nail holes, bowed boards, cupped boards, dished boards…the list goes on.

However, a very aggressive sanding can remove a load off the top of the boards, that much is true. And then, you get a fairly newish looking floor that you've paid a fortune to have fitted and sanded (and reclaimed floors aren't "cheap" to buy either). So why not just get a new one in the first place?

local supplier of reclaimed wood

Are we thinking the timber project guys down near Temple Meads? Nice people actually.

is it ok from a durability/ fitting point of view?

Durability, I'm sure it'll be fine. Fitting wise, depends on who's doing it I guess. You thinking of DIY or GSI?

Are we thinking the timber project guys down near Temple Meads? Nice people actually.

That's the one. Here's their price list: http://www.bwrp.org.uk/Media/userfiles/file/2009%20Short%20Price%20List.pdf

Durability, I'm sure it'll be fine. Fitting wise, depends on who's doing it I guess. You thinking of DIY or GSI?

I'd definitely get a pro in.

I'd definitely get a pro in.

Ah, that'd be GPI then. GSI is obviously the mid-budget option…Getting Someone In. GAI is a very cheap but risky option: Getting Anyone In.

I'd say go have a look. All their stuff is stored where it's exposed (not uncovered) to outside conditions of temperature and humidity though, so once it goes back into a nice dry warm house, things can start to creak and squeak.

I dunno really, have a look and then GPI and listen to him/her tell you everything I've told you. It can work well, but needs to be well managed and it really really needs someone who knows what he or she is doing with the fitting.

Stick with a (hardwax)oiled finished on reclaimed boards by the way.