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Engineered timber floor fitting. Questions.
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medlowFree Member
Hey guys..
So next week (if the building work finishes) I plan to install my new floor.
Spanning both the dining room and kitchen, 3 door ways with 2 radiators (= 4 pipes)
It’s an engineered hardwood floor that click fits, requiring a push together at an angle, then press and flatten at the same time.I have a few questions regarding the layout and where to start.
My start wall is half wall and half kitchen cabinet:
The wall and cabinets might not be straight/inline with each other as they were once t separate rooms (not knocked through)
I need the boards to be parallel to the kitchen cabinets as that is the main eye-line, I can get away with a slight angle at the wall half.
So do I actually start boarding along the cabinet and then work backwards towards my ‘start’ wall?
Tongue or groove against the cabinet?perchypantherFree MemberTake the kick plates off the kitchen units and fit the flooring underneath before replacing the kick plates.
If you want a decent finish, get a man in.
medlowFree MemberOhh yes the kick plates are going to be off when fitting the floor.
My concern is the lines of the boards not parallel to the cupboards, so do I start along the cupboards then work ‘backwards’ towards the start wall. ?jimdubleyouFull MemberWe fitted ours perpendicular to the eyeline to prevent your eye being drawn to weird mixed wall lines etc
goldfish24Full MemberYou need the tongues facing out to be able to add a board. That usually means working left to right, depending on the boards you’re using.
The question suggests you haven’t read a good guide on fitting these floors, which you absolutely must to get an acceptable result. Expansion gaps, flat sub floor, all v important.
Plenty online, I think there’s a wickes flyer you can get online which is actually quite complete.dooosukFree MemberDeadly’s your man….he spent a good while working out where he needed to start when he laid our floor and that was just an empty rectangular room.
deadlydarcyFree MemberHello. 😀
I don’t do much with click together stuff – but the principle is the same with where you’re looking to get parallel.
I wouldn’t necessarily start at the kitchen cupboard – you’re better off against a wall.
Measure back from each side of the length of units to which you want to be parallel until you’re about a board and a half from your start wall. Place a long straight edge/string line/laser across these two points, then place your first line of boards parallel to this. Measure to the wall – you might be lucky. You might not. 😀 If you click them together on the ends, it’ll make it easier to move the whole line “as one.”
If not parallel to the wall, then place the line of boards touching the wall wherever they do, but still parallel to your straight edge. Using a ruler, measure the furthest away point, then mark this distance +10mm all along the board at “length of the ruler” intervals. Scribe using jigsaw and go. This is starting off “full-board.” Before you start, measure to the kitchen unit and make sure you don’t have a sliver of a board running along the plinth. If you do, then do the same scribe as above but mark it at say, 1/3 board width + 10mm to give you a reasonable width board with which to finish.
All the above assumes, sub-floor level, sound etc.
medlowFree MemberGoldfish… I have read many guides but not the Wickes one. I’ll check it out.
I was questioning if I needed to work ‘backwards’ towards my start wall and if that meant I needed to work in reverse or not regarding the tongues/grooves.Deadly… Thanks for that, awesome.
I had to read that 4/5 times.. But now it makes sense, I think..
I will use the method you mention to see if I have a parallel wall or not.
I’m thinking that if I do have a parallel wall, then I can start there, but ensuring I cut the first board thin/wide enough to not end up with a board line along the kitchen cabinets.
The sub floor is being preped trmw, it will be level and sound.
All skirting and kickboards are off, so I am ready to go once the builders are out of my way and the floor fully set and dry.deadlydarcyFree MemberI had to read that 4/5 times.. But now it makes sense, I think..
I will use the method you mention to see if I have a parallel wall or not.Yeah, sorry, it’s hard to put the kind of stuff I do without thinking about it into words…my bad. 😀
To check parallel, just measure from wall to your units. If it’s running a few mm out, then don’t worry about it. Just make sure you’re finishing on a wide enough rip to hide any margin. You especially don’t want a lengthways join running off under a plinth.
Once you’ve worked out what you’re starting with, as it’s click together, cut your first three rows loose and get them together as one big flat section. Push this against the starting wall and using a pry bar between the wall and boards, jiggle them around till they’re parallel to your kitchen units. Place some wedges behind and you’re good to go.
Every few rows, check for parallel as while your floor is only 8 or 9 planks wide, you can still move it with all the wiggling around to get boards to snap together. Once it’s over half-way, you should be fine as the whole thing will be too heavy to move at that stage.
medlowFree MemberOK, the floor is down…
And it looks and feels fricken excellent.. I took ages over the fiddly bits, undercut the door frames, properly did the radiator pipes, expansion gaps all with great care.
It looks ace if I do say..BUT….
It flipping creaks and clicks when walked on. !!
The subfloor is sound and level, concrete with the 1980’s glue down 1mm vinyl tiles.
I cant help thinking it’s the foam underlay compressing and the tiny amount of compression causes the boards to rub and as a result?
The underlay was sold by the floor supplier, 3mm foam with silver DPM.
Is this a usual problem, should I have used fibre board instead which would have next to zero compression.??
(the old laminate floor used that green fibre board underlay stuff, which I removed. And it was silent.)Any ideas?
sharkbaitFree MemberWe’ve just had the breakfast area done in the same sort of stuff with a similar sounding underlay and there’s no noise.
Almost definitely a different board though.
Maybe yours will get quieter.Matt24kFree MemberThey all do that Sir.
You did put some latex levelling compound down first though?submarinedFree MemberNot what you want to hear, but Ours is now 8 years old (and on fibreboard onto a floor with a really crap self leveling layer that’s not at all level) and it’s totally silent :/ it wasn’t clock together though, and was pretty thick with a very thick solid layer.
How thick are the boards?medlowFree MemberLevelling compound was put down in the areas that needed it.
The rest of the floor is the original concrete, with 1980’s glue down vinyl tiles ontop. There was no need to remove them as they are sound and level.
I reckon if there is any variance in level, its only 1 or 2mm over a large area.
The old floor did not creak but was on ‘solid’ board underlay, not this foamy stuff.chickenmanFull MemberThe answer is in DD’s reply from a month ago “I don’t fit much clip together..” I’m afraid. It’s a floating floor and will always behave like one. Nail down (or glue down if over concrete) is easier to install and much more solid feeling, no underlay is used.
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