Wood You Like F.A.Q. & News

Difference between HardWaxOil and Oil and Wax

Last week we received an interesting question, of which the answer is long overdue to be turned into a new article. This, we hope, will make amends to it.

Question:
What is the difference between Eukoil and Hardwax oil? I am particularly interested in finding a very 'natural' non-chemical product. Thanks.

Answer
HardWaxOil is a two-in-one product: oil - which penetrates the wood - for long term protection, wax for the wear and tear layer to protect the wood from dirt and drips

Euku Oil: oil for long term protection, which needs a second product - like StepStop wax-polish - to create the wear and tear layer to protect the wood from dirt and drips.

Like HardWaxOil the Euku Oil contains natural ingredients.

In earlier days it was quite normal to finish a floor with a deep sealer and then to apply two coats of carnabaux wax. Because of changing VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) regulations this sealer is no longer allowed.
Manufacturers, like Osmo and Blanchon, have created HardWaxOil with natural ingredients to replace the old method, to save the environment and time for installers.

HardWaxOil on tropical wood species can very easily give a patchy result due to the fact the wood itself is 'oily'. Although HardWaxOil manufacturers used to mention that their product was not very suitable on tropical woods, this statement disappeared from most of the instructions in recent years - simply because every company wants to sell as much as possible of their own products for as many as possible applications.

Our experience with both finish types on tropical wood species shows that Euku Oil and StepStop does tend to give a better result than HardWaxOil.

It is for that reason we recommend to use HardWaxOil natural or any of the available colours in this range on Oak and other non-tropical wood-species and Euku Oil (followed with StepStop) for tropical wood species to get the best results.

Although Euku Oil is also available with colour pigments, why would you want to colour a tropical wood? Tropical wood is often chosen for its own rich and warm in colour appearance, and in our eyes changing this would be a shame. But that just our opinion of course.

More pointers in installing wooden flooring on underfloor heating

Today we received a interesting story about a wood flooring project that involves underfloor heating. The story and questions can be found here, we've copied and pasted the most relevant ones in this new article.

Woodchip asks:

I am in the process of procuring wood for our new house.

New, as in long term project (4yrs now).

We have piped in under floor heating upstairs and downstairs

The downstairs floor is 4" concrete and not perfectly level, so before we lay any wood, we would require to level it with a self leveling compound of some sort. Something I have no working knowledge of. Can someone suggest a good self leveling compound/screed mix that we could use for a fairly large area.

I did see something in B&Q, but have no idea how good it is, or the brand name.

Acrylic level compounds are always much better - stronger - than latex self-levelling compounds. Especially when underfloor heating in concerned. See here for more information on preparing your underfloor and using levelling compounds.

Our downstairs rooms are (approx.)7.2m x 5m, 5m x4m, 5m x 3.5m & 7.2m x 4m.

The upstairs floor has 2 different types of floors. One room with concrete layed on Lewis plates 7.2m x 4m.

The rest is a biscuit system, with 22m moisture resistant chip board, with 2" x 1" strips nailed to the joists through the chip board, with underfloor heating pipes layed between the 2" x 1" strips & covered with a sand cement mix. These room sizes are (approx.) 6m x 5m, 5m x 3m + a landing 7.2m x 1.2m.

The floors as they are, have all been down for well over a year now, and finally we are at the stage where we want to lay solid wood on all these floors.

I'd rather not put down chipboard upstairs and then lay the wood on top, as I think there is enough weight on the joists already. Obviously we can nail the floor that uses the biscuit system, if need be.

As long as every room is treated as a separate area you don't really have to worry about creating one type of underfloor.
However, we are not in favour of installing solid wood flooring on Underfloor Heating Systems, there is a larger risk in shrinkage and cupping than with wood-engineered flooring. Our Duoplank Oak range for instance has wide boards AND is guaranteed on underfloor heating systems.

We have looked at OAK some at 120mm x 18mm, and 140mm x 22mm. We have been told by some to avoid a wide plank, with underfloor heating but this minimum width seems to have grown wider over time.

The only thing that doesn't seem to have changed is the minimum moisture level of 8% in the wood.

If your heart is set on installing solid Oak floors your best bet is indeed narrower width, we wouldn't recommend wider boards than 120mm. And it is good to read that the minimum moist content for Oak solid flooring is mentioned everywhere correctly. Do note this should be the absolute minimum moist content when your wood arrives in your home. If your home climate is even dryer there is a risk the wood will loose even more moist.
We also hope they also mention the maximum moist content solid Oak wood flooring should have: 11%.

Advice on the floors has varied some saying glue it, some saying float it.

With regard to putting down a 2mm underlay, we have been advised against it "as it tends to stop heat coming through, more than if the floor was first covered with 18mm chipboard and then had the wood layed on top of that". Wood being a poor insulator

I did notice a comment on this site, not to lay a solid floor on underlay if the room was longer than 5m.

With all that I've been told so far, the method I would prefer, is just glueing the floor straight on to the leveled floor.

Most manufacturers recommend to fully bond a wooden floor to the level subfloor where underfloor heating is concerned., specially solid wood flooring. Always use flexible adhesive and a correct notched trowel. The subfloor needs to be as level as possible to avoid air-gaps - adhesive isn't a 'filler', as some may think.
As said above, if you treat every room separate we don't see a need for installing chipboard first (chipboard wouldn't be our first choice for creating one type of subfloor: plywood is much better suited).

You are correct in stating solid wood floors in rooms wider than 5m shouldn't be installed floating on underlayment, much better is to fully bind them.

Do note the rule of thumb in regards of expansion gaps with Solid Oak flooring: for every meter width of the room add 3 - 4 mm gap with a minimum of 10mm. Based on your details this means a gap - everywhere! - of around 18 - 20mm.

We would like to direct you to two of our guides:
Wooden flooring and Underfloor Heating
and our Comprehensive Installation Guide

Alternative for Teak and Merbau mosaic - Mogno (Cambara) 5-fingers

If you are wondering we've turned colour-blind, no - not at all. But how can one wood species be an alternative for two rather different wood species: Teak is brown to grey - if untreated, not maintained for a long period of time - and Merbau is reddish brown with sometimes yellow streaks?

Both Teak and Merbau are among the more suspicious forest-deforestation sources (although when Wood You Like lists one or both types in our catalogue you can rest assured it comes from a sustainable source) and so the demand for especially Teak from sustainable sources is much higher than the supply.

Teak and Merbau have been used frequently in the 50's to 80's in mosaic floors (the so-called 5 finger mosaic or 5 finger basket weave) and many such floors are now rediscovered underneath carpets. Finding replacement blocks or additional blocks to extend the floor is rather difficult.

Now, tropical Mogno (Cambara) 5 finger mosaic is warm brown in colour - less reddish than Merbau but more reddish than Teak. It depends on how old your original Teak or Merbau floor is and if you have to sand it to bring it back to its original luster. Every wood type matures over time, and sanding will remove its aquired patina, almost starting the mature a new.

Some of our DIY floor restorers have used Mogno to add to existing Teak mosaic floors successfully and some have used it to repair/restore Merbau mosaic floors successfully. All fingers have their own character, old blocks and new blocks alike - which means the Mogno new addition can blend in, not completely perfect, but still.

In our webshop you can find many different wood species in the 7 and 5 finger mosaic catalogue, Mogno (Cambara) among them. You can request a small sample of the Mogno to see if it can be the solution for your own repair/restore job. (Just follow the link in our webshop underneath the image of the Mogno so we have your address details to send to sample to)

Or..... how about a complete new floor in Mogno? Warm brown and full of individual character? And rather economicly packed too: 0.67 sq m per pack.

Finish a tropical floor in the best and easiest way possible

The most popular wood type in the UK is still Oak, however there is plenty of choice in warm tropical species to create an unique interior design in your home. Existing rediscovered wooden floors like mosaic and design parquet are mostly made from tropical wood-species.

On unfinished Oak floors HardWaxOil is a great finishing product, combining two essential products: oil for long term protection and wax for your wear and tear layer, in one product.

Tropical species are more 'oily' on their own than Oak and frequently we hear stories about 'patchy' results when these floors are treated with HardWaxOil. This occurs when the HardWaxOil is not absorbed completely or evenly everywhere because of the 'oily' character of the wood itself.  

Wood You Like introduces the solution for this problem:
Euku Oil 1 combined with a simple maintenance product. In fact, it's going 'back' to the old principle of first sealing the floor and then applying a separate wear and tear layer. With one big difference: the old sealers contained too many VOC's - Volatile Organic Compounds, toxic.  

Euku Oil 1 doesn't and neither does the maintenance product. You only have to apply 1 coat of oil, wait 2 -3 hours - way quicker too than with HardWaxOil on tropical floors - and apply the maintenance product. Where in the old days hard wax had to be applied and buffed in, with Euku Oil 1 you can use a liquid wax-polish.

A great finish to any tropical hardwood floor!

Order on-line or call us for more information: 01233 - 713725

Design Parquet patterns hand-assembled with care

We recently toured our Design Parquet manufacturer's factory in the Eastern part of The Netherlands. Lieverdink prides itself as one of the best quality suppliers of standard wood blocks for herringbone and other 'simple' parquet designs like basketweave or Chevron. These designs are block by block installed in your home to create an unique, durable and valuable authentic parquet floor.

Parketfabriek Lieverdink's main feat however is to hand-assemble 'standard' Design Parquet patterns - most of them carry the name of a Dutch castle or manor houses so might be a bit difficult to pronounce for the English public. How about "Cruysvoorde" or "Avegoor" and "Beerenclauw"? However, no matter how hard you find it to pronounce the name, it is a fact that all patterns come hand-assembled out of the factory, in emaculate quality and ready for us (or you) to install in your home.

Once in your home the individual tiles will create this unique pattern, a truly "one of its kind" valuable parquet floor.

Besides hand-assembling the many Design Parquet patterns we have seen much more products and manufacturing processes, but that's for another article.

Don't use cork strips to fill your expansion gaps!

Some issues keep recurring: cork strips among them.

A few days ago we received the following email:

"I realise the importance of leaving an expansion gap around a wooden floor (oak parquet in my case) but can you tell me why we are told to insert cork strips around the edge? Surely the cork is only taking up valuable expansion room. Is it ok to  just leave a 10mm gap all around?"

This was our (recurring) answer on this subject:

Thank you for your question. We are trying so hard do tell everyone exactly that: DON'T use cork strips to fill the expansion gap.

These were used many, many years ago to divide design parquet pattern and the block border and somehow ended up in the expansion gap.

So, you are absolutely right. Leave your expansion gap 'empty' to cater for any natural seasonal movement of your wood floor."

The reply:

Many thanks, it's nice to be right for once!

Of course he was right, we still don't understand how the old-fashion cork divider strip ended up as recommendation to fill your expansion gaps.
More on the importance of empty expansion gaps you can read here.

Wood Guide turns Ebooklet

New Ebooklet (wood-guide): “7 Easy Steps to Repair/Restore your Design Parquet Floor”

Filled with tips and advice from the professionals on preparations, re installing loose blocks or installing replacement blocks, finding out what wood-species was used in your original floors, how to sand and apply a new finish and much, much more. With ‘work-in-progress’ photos.

"Wow, thanks for that -- certainly the best how-to guide I have seen to this. It's always helpful, especially, when something says "Ideally, do ABC, but if you can't, then X Y or Z can happen", instead of just "Do ABC." -- i.e. I know I should remove the bitumen from the floor, but it isn't possible to remove all of it, so it is just good to know what happens if I don't."
V.F. Northamptonshire

Extras included:

• Ebooklet “3 Easy steps to clean and maintain your parquet floor”;
• Ebooklet “The Benefits and Advantages of Natural Wooden Flooring “ (normally £ 5.97);
• images of most common wood-species used,
• Wood You Like’s maintenance leaflet and
• Wood You Like’s report: Things not to expect from your wood floor

Buy now for only £ 6.97 and restore your newly rediscovered design parquet floor to its original glory and lustre. A labour of love result that will keep its value for many years to come!

Don’t move – improve the hidden treasures your home already has. Increase the value of your home in the most simple and cost effective way! Read this fact sheet on how and why wooden flooring adds long-term value to your home - 95% of estate agents agree.

Only £ 6.97

Gaps everywhere!

Lately we’ve seen (DIY) forum posts, questions in our own inbox and even results by diy-ers and builders alike, about (and in the results missing): not leaving enough expansion gaps when installing wooden floors

Most know about gaps and leaving them around the perimeter of the floor – using the simple rule of thumb: 3-4mm per meter width of the room with a minimum of 10mm – but then go wrong at certain points in rooms or hallways.

You have to leave an expansion gaps ALL AROUND the perimeter of the whole floor, not just here and there or where you can cover the gap with skirting boards.
If you don’t have a sufficient wide expansion gap at one single place, like a doorpost or in front of the fireplace or staircase, all the other wide enough expansion gaps are rendered useless! You wood floor is not going to think: Oh, there’s not a gap so I won’t expand there. Believe me: it will!

A wood floor, specially a solid wood floor, will expand evenly. Most of the times that is: when it is stuck at one certain point it can’t and will raise its level at or around the point that is blocking its normal movement. For instance when glue has dripped out of the T&G and sticks the wood floor to the underlayment.

Or when you haven’t undercut your doorpost or laid the floor flush against the side of a fireplace or staircase. Reasons we heard: skirting board doesn’t reach that far; don’t know what to cover the gap with around the fire place or I don’t like to use a divider between the rooms where the wood floor is installed in two different directions anyway.
We cannot change the laws of physics – it’s as simple as that!

Leave expansion gaps all around the perimeter, there are various solutions – proper and aesthetical pleasing solutions – for all situations:

• Doorposts: undercut architraves and doorpost with handsaw as far as the height of the new floor and chisel out what is needed – making sure you chisel out enough for the floor to hide its edge and still have room to expand
• Fireplace: leave an expansion gaps around and when the floor ends lower pin down a flat solid beading on the floor – covering the gap in a neat and almost flush-way. When your floor ends higher use a so-called End-threshold to finish it off: giving you both the needed expansion gap as a neat very small ‘step’ from floor to fire-place.
• Stair: if the stair carpet isn’t thick enough to cover the gap (most professional carpet fitters will ‘double-back’ the carpet at the bottom of the stair, giving you twice the thickness of the carpet) you either install a flat beading on the floor or use mastic filler (curved stairs come to mind). In some cases you could even fill the gap with a cork strip – as long as you can reach the strip to lift it out when the floor threatens to expand!

Leave gaps everywhere – as said before: we mere mortals cannot change the laws of physics!

Who else wants Professional Tools?

Regular visitors to this FAQ & News part of Wood You Like's websites know we are always more than happy to share tips and even tricks of the trade.

We are now also able to provide you (the sincere DIY-er) with "Tools of the Trade" - tried and tested durable and high quality tools used by the professionals.

Already added to our Professional Tool range in our webshop are:

• HardWaxOil Applicator (with sponges), applying the HardWaxOil (or any maintenance) polish very smoothly and thinly for the best end-result
• Original Duoline knocking-block (tapping-block)
• Original Duoline Jemmy Bar - with felt backing!
• Parquet Adhesive notched Trowels and a special 'trowel-knife' for small areas (like borders)

More professional tools will be added shortly, so stay tuned - or even better: subscribe to our Newsletter to be kept up to date automagically with news, tips and advice.

Heatflow: float wood on underfloor heating systems

More and more underfloor heating systems use the so-called 'floating-system' where the water pipes are placed in thick insulation "blocks". These blocks on their own are load-bearing and don't need screeding over or floor-cover supporting battens in between.
Most wood-engineered boards are suitable to be installed on underfloor heating systems (our own Oak Duoplank range is even guaranteed!) but need something between the water pipes and the backing. Most manufacturers recommend the boards are glued down on the screed layer or sheet material placed over the pipes.
So what to do with the newer underfloor heating systems?

Duralay (the Timbermate underlayment makers) now have a special underlayment that solves this problem: the Heatflow Wood Underlay.

This underlay is specially formulated for use with electric or water based underfloor heating, provides a very low thermal resistance level allowing heat to pass through it easily and a high reduction of transmitted noise of 21db. It has lower 'tog' ratings which allow the warmth generated by underfloor heating to pass quickly into the room. They conduct more heat than other underlays, making them the ideal choice for installations with underfloor heating, bringing greater heating efficiency and the potential of reducing heating bills.

Available in rolls of 15 sq m in our webshop 2: wood flooring accessories

Mind the gaps

This week we received the following question in regards of repairing/restoring a parquet floor (see our 7 easy steps wood-guide for more tips and practical advice).

"Hi!

We have laid reclaimed parquet flooring in our lounge and dining room (which is currently one big room), and now we are starting to look at sanding and finishing it. Thanks - your website was very helpful! The sanding advice is nice and clear.

One thing though - because it is reclaimed, the blocks didn't always fit perfectly together; there are some small gaps. I know that after sanding, the sand-dust can be used to fill in these gaps, but is there a specific filler product to use as well? Bearing in mind that the area is very large (at least 9m x 4m), what would be the easiest way to fill all the gaps?

And another question - is it necessary to sand the floor lightly between each coat of HardWaxOil or varnish?

Thank you!

Our answer was as follows:

Thank you for your question and your compliments.

You can indeed fill all gaps, even in a large area like yours, but it really depends on how thick your blocks - or in other words how deep the gaps are.
We recommend Lecol7500. If you have many deep gaps it would be best to mix a small amount of the product and fill the gaps one by one with a spatel.
If you have many small and not too deep gaps (like with 10mm parquet flooring without T&G) you could mix a larger amount of product and 'plaster' this over the whole floor.

Sanding with grit 120 will remove all excess filler from your floor. If you plan to finish the floor with varnish or lacquer another sanding with grit 150 is needed.
HardWaxOil doesn't need sanding in between, if you apply the second coat within 36 hours - sanding between applying varnish layers depends on the brand, so always read the instructions on the tin and follow them!

Hope this helps
Kind Regards
Wood You Like Ltd

Q and A's on how to lay a wooden floor 5 - problem solving

Our most popular article: "How to lay a wooden floor, keep it simple" has a total of 3 pages of further Q and A's, in our opinion becoming too laborious for everyone to have to go through. We all know every home, every situation, every interior design style and/or wishes are different so no article on its own will ever answer all questions, but we can but try.

In this (and other) article we have grouped Q and A's from the original article per, we think, related subjects.

Problem Solving
Q: We had 90 sq m 18mm Oak T&G floating floor laid on screed this April. The wood planks are of various lengths, same width. The flooring was stored in its original packing in a heated room from December 2006 until April 2007. The carpenter stated it was fine to lay it straight out of the boxes as they had been in a heated room long enough. The carpenter used extra strong glue at the joints. We went for a floating floor because we wanted to lay underlay.

Unfortunately, gaps have appeared at the joints in some areas. In some cases these are up to 8mm wide, basically the joints have come apart. They seem worse, near the radiators. Same gaps appeared soon after the floor was laid. However, some large ones have appeared in the last few weeks since the heating has been on more constantly.

What can we do to remedy this?
Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Gugs

A: Dear Cugs
For a whole discussion and proper advice form various professional please see your own question from 31 October at the DIY-not Forum
A rather good forum in our opinion.

Q: I am about to fit a solid oak floor in a room approx 4.25m x 4.25m. I had the concrete floor levelled a couple of weeks ago and I have already taken delivery of 18mm thick solid oak boards each 150mm wide. I was planning on gluing the floor straight down onto the levelled floor assuming that there was no moisture problem as the concrete had been in place for nearly 30 years with a natural floor covering which always appeared dry.

However, the levelling compound has now dried with a crazy-paving like cracking pattern all over it and I am now concerned about the suitability of the floor for direct gluing. I can't really raise the level any further with anything as thick as ply or battens so I was considering using a self-adhesive underlay. Is this kind of underlay suitable for a solid rather than engineered floor or can you recommend another solution?
Thanks, Chris.

A: Hi Chris T.
Can I ask a question first: before applying the leveling compound did you prime the concrete floor? I think the concrete floor absorbed too much moisture from the compound which resulted in the crazy-paving cracked effect.

The self-adhesive underlay is one option, but since your underfloor is now level and your floorboards are wide enough you could also opt for floating installation on 3mm Combi-underlayment.
Hope this helps

Q: Thanks for the reply.
The old floor covering was glued down with some kind of flexible adhesive and they removed as much of it as possible before covering the floor in PVA. After this was dry (a week or so), the compound went down.
Perhaps the PVA and the compound didn't get on with each other?

Anyway, the compound appears to be stuck to the floor OK, just cracked. I was considering a liquid DPM and then glue but having seen this self-adhesive underlay it seems like a much easier option and with no risk of the sub-floor breaking up when the wood moves.

Using underlay, whether self-adhesive or not I was just trying to picture what happens as the wood moves as there doesn't seem to be anything to stop the boards from cupping or bowing other than their connection to the neighbouring board. At least with glue, I imagine it offers a little encouragement to stay flat.

I must say, if I do go down the underlay route, the self-adhesive stuff sounds easier to use as long as it's as good. At least it removes the danger of getting glue on the surface and you don't need to clamp the floor as you go. It's just hard to find a first-hand review of the stuff as most advice on the web seems to stop at secret nail or glue.

Thanks again for your advice. Chris.

A: Hi Chris
The weight of the wood itself will normally 'keep it in place' without creating extra movement. All wood works, no matter how installed. If you humidity reaches a too high level even glued down boards will buckle and if the humidity gets too low the boards will shrink, that's nature for you.

Self-adhesive underlayment (the right brand - watch out for inferior 'copy-cats') is a good product, but rather expensive and the first time round tricky to use.

Glueing the board fully to a crumbling concrete/screed floor is definitely asking for trouble.
Hope this helps

Q and A's on how to lay a wooden floor 4 - finishing touches

Our most popular article: "How to lay a wooden floor, keep it simple" has a total of 3 pages of further Q and A's, in our opinion becoming too laborious for everyone to have to go through. We all know every home, every situation, every interior design style and/or wishes are different so no article on its own will ever answer all questions, but we can but try.

In this (and following) article we have grouped Q and A's from the original article per, we think, related subjects.

Finishing touches
Q: Hi we are going to lay solid wood flooring from the hall into the kitchen, then put new skirting boards on so we don't have to use any trimming around the edges but I'm wondering what do we do when it comes the door ways? How do we do the edging in the frame of the doors, as we obviously can not put skirting there!

Please Help! Jenny

A: Hi Jenny
The simplest and neatest way is to undercut the door-posts and architraves to slide the floor under. Makes sure you also allow for expansion gap underneath the doorpost, so don't cut it to shallow.

Hope this helps

Q: am planning to install an oak floor in my bedroom. What I am worried about is the doorway. Will I, with the underlay, end up:

1. having a step between the bedroom floor and hallway floor - how can this be overcome?
2. having to saw off bottom of the door or get a new door ?

Many thanks John F

A: Hi John F
You could use a solid ramp threshold to protect the edge of the floorboard in the doorway which also creates a gradual step from the hallway to the bedroom.

As for your bedroom door, both options are feasible , it's down to personal preferences (or skills). A proper jig-saw and proper measuring how much should be cut off the door is not really difficult, removing old layers of paint from the hinges to remove the door out of it is mostly the biggest 'pain'.

Q and A's on how to lay a wooden floor 1 - methods

Our most popular article: "How to lay a wooden floor, keep it simple" has a total of 3 pages of further Q and A's, in our opinion becoming too laborious for everyone to have to go through. We all know every home, every situation, every interior design style and/or wishes are different so no article on its own will ever answer all questions, but we can but try.

In this (and following) article we have grouped Q and A's from the original article per, we think, related subjects.

Methods:
Q: Hi there,
I have got to lay flooring through out the entire ground floor of a house, is there a sequence to laying the solid flooring with four different lengths.
Thanks Terry

A: Hi Terry
Not specifically. It's even better to avoid a repeating sequence for the following reasons:
a) will look odd in the end (artificial)
b) might create a pattern every two three rows making the whole floor unstable (i.e. prone to more movement).

Q: hi there , just bought parquet flooring,and I'm laying it (brick affect), plus my room is an odd shape, just wondering is there a certain place to start.
thanks chris

A: Hi Chris

Depends in fact on how odd the shape of the room is (not straight walls, octangle?). Best is to try to imagine how the pattern would look near the walls if you would start in the exact middle of the room.

Best 'direction' would be where you enter the room to have a 'normal' focus point for the eyes.

Q: Hi, Silly question but I've been reading loads about how to install a wooden floor onto an existing wooden floor and I'm probably going to try the secret nailing method. (Here comes the silly question)...Do I have to nail all the floorboards? I only ask because I was wondering, how will the floor be able to expand and contract if it's nailed to the floor underneath?? Sorry if this sounds really daft but just want to clarify the situation.
Many thanks Chris J

A: Hi Chris
First of all, silly questions don't exist (only silly answers ;-))

Yes, you do have to nail all boards (every 40 - 50 cm but at least two nails per board) otherwise when the floor expands or shrinks the 'loose' boards can buckle or cup more easier.
Wood expands/shrinks due to changes in air-humidity during the various seasons, no matter what method you use for installation. The nails will hold them in place better to prevent gaps (when shrinking) or cupping (when expanding).
Hope this clarifies it for you

Q: I'm going to lay a real wood floor on concrete in hallway & joists in other 2 rooms any tips most appreciated as I've only laid laminate in the past. Andy

A: Hi Andy
Can I first redirect you to three other articles? If you still have further questions by all means ask them here again.

Installing floors onto joists
Type of underfloor is type of underlayment
and
One type of underfloor

Q: Hi,

really good information on your site...
We plan to put a solid wood floor (140mm wide oak planks) onto a concrete floor. House is 8 years old. Planning to do 3 adjoining rooms total of 42 m square. We've been given different advice - some fitters say glue straight to concrete, some say use underlay and glue planks together. Could you give us any advice on this, any help much appreciated.
Hels

A: Hi Hels
Both methods are suitable. Glueing the solid floor down depends on the condition and quality of the concrete underfloor (the 'weakest link')

We ourselves prefer the floating method (when the room isn't wider than 5 meters wide), installing a combi-underlayment and glueing (with PVAC wood-glue) all Tongues and Grooves.
Leave sufficient expansion gaps around the perimeter of the floor.
Hope this helps

Q: I will be installing a 3/4" X 21/2" walnut floor in 5 rooms and a hallway. My wife (ball and chain) wants me to lay the flooring without any t-moldings. Any tips for doing so? Steve

A: Hi Steve
All depends on how long your strip flooring is. If blocks up to 50cm long and presuming you will glue the floor down this can be done safely from one room into another without the use of thresholds. As 'feature', if you are installing a specific pattern like herringbone you could install the blocks straight - as 'soldiers' - in the doorway.

If longer and/or random length we definitely recommend treating every room separately and installing thresholds in the door ways, specially in the hallway where there is a different climate than in your other rooms.

Q: Hello,
We recently purchased a 1958 ranch home that has wood floors in the bedrooms. The previous owners had everything carpeted and didn't even know that the wood floors existed. We are going to install wood floors in the remainder of the house (entry, living room, dining room, sun room, kitchen & hallway.

My question is what way do we lay the hardwoods we are going to install? The wood in the bedrooms runs parallel when you walk through the door. My understanding is you lay floors perpendicular to the joists and in this case the floors are parallel with the joists.

Should we try to match the direction of the wood to the bedrooms in the rest of the house or should we follow the advice and have the wood go perpendicular to the joists when you walk in the front door.

Also, what direction is wood installed down a hallway? Should it go the length of the hallway or is it okay to have it going right to left?

We are just having such a hard time knowing if there is a standard process around this and we are getting mixed messages from a contractor. Thanks!! Tamiko

A: Dear Tamiko
It's always best to install the boards with 'the light' if possible. When existing floorboards you want to install over already go the same way as you want your new boards to go you'll have to install hardboard or plywood first to prevent movement - rocking etc.

As for hallways, go length ways, that's easiest on the eye when you enter your house, specially when you have a narrow hall.

Q: I am about to lay solid oak T&G floor onto oak joists in an old house (loft conversion). Each board is 13cm wide and 2.5cm thick, varying lengths.
There is no existing flooring (it seems to have been removed a long time ago and replaced with plasterboard... very safe!) but the top surface of the joists seems flat and level.
There is no ceiling below (i.e. exposed joists and board can be seem from below)

Should i float the T&G over the joists, or hidden nail into them, or even drill and screw through the top (plugging the sink with dowel and sanding flat)?

Should i contrive to have all the boards (i.e. including the odd short one) crossing a joist at some point in its length, or is it OK to have the odd short board suspended by only its T&G?
Giles

A: Hi Giles
If the joists are not further apart than 35 - 40 cm you can safely install the boards straight onto them, secretly nailing (in angle through the Tongue).

There is no need to have all boards end up a joist, as long as every board connects with at least 3 joists it's fine to haven them 'meet in the middle'
Hope this helps

Q: Hi, i am going to lay an engineered click oak floor in my lounge which is 6mtrs square.There are windows on the north and south walls and the door is on the east side. Which way do you recommend laying the boards,should it be from north to south to catch the light on the boards?
Thank you, Malcolm.

A: Hi Malcolm
You're spot on!
Always try to go 'with the light' especially when you have bevelled floorboards. This to prevent false shades when the sun in shining, plus the grain of the wood will show its best character this way.

Q: we are laying an oak floor in ur hallway, in one of your previous question you advised that you could use the floating method if the area was only small would this be suitable for a small hallway?
Tracey

Q: We are about to fit an oak floor into our small hallway, do we have to glue the whole of the floor down to the concrete or can we use the floating method in this small space ?
Angus J

A: Welcome Tracey and Angus
Answering both questions at once: wooden floors with T&G's can be installed floating in small areas like hallways. Although you have to make sure you stagger the boards even if the length of the area is one or even shorter than a whole board otherwise the floor could be unstable.
Hope this helps

Q: When fitting boards in a hallway is it best to fit the boards across a samll hallway or along it, as we have a large number of doorways we are wondering how to get around these without it looking a complete mess
Angus J

A: Hi again Angus J.
Not knowing the exact situation I would opt for installing the boards in the longest way to avoid it looking strange so you 'walk' along the rows instead of creating a kind hop-scotch area.

Doors can be tackled more easily if you undercut the doorposts and architraves first to slide the boards under (something quicker done with normal T&G boards than with the 'click-system' types.
Hope this helps

How to restore a Parquet floor - what to be aware of

This week we received another question on the subject of a rediscovered parquet floor:

Good Afternoon,

I wonder if I could pick your brains a little.  We have just uncovered a parquet floor - 6 bricks @ 4.5"x7/8" in blocks at 90 degree angles to one another. Floor area is 14'x11' & rectangular - no cupboards or inaccessible areas.  Mahogany wood or so I'm told - the wood is certainly very dark all the way through.  The floor has had some previous repairs after two rooms were knocked together & plumbing works (around 6 years ago).  We are planning on restoring the floor to leave it exposed now.

To do so we need to sand the floor & then seal & varnish it (need a pretty heavy duty finish as the only back door to our garden is through the living room & we have a dog with a number of very scratchy nails on each corner).

I wondered if you could answer the following questions:

1. Assuming that the floor is prepared & suitably coloured already would it be correct to say that I would need to seal the floor first (~4 hours to dry) then varnish 2-3 times (~ 8 hours to dry between each coating).  Is this about right (depending on the specific instructions on any manufacturers products of course)?
2. I am planning on having some quotes for professionals to do this work as well as costing it to do ourselves but I wondered could you give me some sort of 'ball park' idea of the cost of such a renovation?
3. What sort of time frame would you expect such renovations to take?
4. I cannot seem to find anyone registered with the BWFA in or near Wiltshire.  Are you able to recommend (or warn me to avoid) any companies local to me?

Hope you can help me - I'm trying to educate myself sufficiently as I have invited a couple of companies to quote to me.

Thank you so much,

Kind Regards

Mrs S N

Our tips on what any company quoting for a particular job like this should do/use and products we recommend:

Thank you for your question. Nice find a floor like that!

Who ever is going to restore this floor should note the following: any loose blocks? If so with what material were they glued to the floor - presumably bitumen. Any loose blocks should be cleaned off this black stuff as best as possible, likewise with the any visual residue on the underfloor. Then the blocks can be glued back to the underfloor with modern adhesive, but bitumen residue will have an effect on the bonding time (normally 4 - 8 hours, with bitumen involved it could take upto 24 - 36 hours!).

Also, when sanding the floor use a belt-sander not a drum-sander (ask any company who's quoting for this work what type of sander they're plannig to use and insist on a belt-sander).
A hard wearing finish could indeed be varnish - modern varnish sometimes include this so-called sealer - but we ourselves prefer HardWaxOil natural which brings out the natural character of the wood better than varnish, is hard wearing and small damages can be easier repaid than when varnish is used.

It's hard for us to give you a 'ball-park' figure without having seen the floor in situ - i.e. not knowing exactly the amount of work it would involve - but between low-end and high-end of work needed: between £ 35.00 and £ 50.00 per sq m ex VAT including the finishing materials.

Hope this helps

Kind Regards
Wood You Like Ltd

Hi Karin,

Just a quick note to thank you so much for you immediate reply which was much appreciated & which very definitely does help.  I also would like to compliment you on your extensive website which I have found fabulously useful & informative.

Kind Regards

Mrs S N

(If you have a question on this subject, or any other wood flooring related issue, fill in this simple form and we will personally give you our best advice as quick as possible)

See also our Wood Floor Guide: "7 Easy Steps to Repair/Restore Your Parquet Floor"

The ongoing battle of the floor installation methods: which is best?

Like "which is the best finish type for a wooden floor", this is a question that 'pops-up' frequently in our inbox:
Why does one professional (camp of professionals even) says:

"NEVER try to float a t/g glued solid plank floor. Whether you use slip membranes etc and gaps at edges there is a good chance it will eventually split in a zig-zag fashion following the line of least resistance of a board or a joint. Stresses within the floor do this and makes no difference that the whole thing can move. Apparently called "rafting"

and the other professional (again a whole camp of professionals) says: no problem.

Mr Ray Turner ends his questions with:

"I have 4 months to wait for concrete to dry so hopefully will they have this sorted out by then?"

Afraid not Ray - this is one of those 'battle of the methods' - which one is best? One camp will always follow one method - through own personal experiences with the method that gives them and their clients the least problems and/or the way they have been taught by their mentors during their apprenticeship - and the other camp will keep following their preferred other method of installing solid floorboards.

The best method? As long as the chosen method is done the correct way any method is fine, depending of course on the circumstances, the product and the preference of both fitter and client.

The example above on floorboards splitting when using the floating method is mostly down to incorrect glueing of the T&G's. Wood works and will indeed find the 'weakest' link in the whole construction. T&G's should be glued completely, not just with drips and drops. (See our own article on "The correct way of glueing T&G's").

We have seen fully bonded to the underfloor (concrete or sheet material) wooden floors come away because the adhesive was applied incorrectly - spread out flat instead of using a notched trowel - and we have seen whole floors 'rattle' on their battens when not thick enough battens (installed on concrete) were used with the secretly nail (50mm nails) method.

Will there ever be the one method that is followed by all camps - don't hold your breath I'm afraid. Manufacturers of solid floorboards have their own preferences too, but more and more they give various options in their instructions (fully bonded, floating, secret nailed) as suitable methods of installation, depending on the specific circumstances in your home.

Again, as long as your situation allows it any method is fine ONLY when done the correct way.

Q: Should I sand down a cupped floor?

Wood works, always. It adjusts itself to the moist-content in your home: expands when there is an increase and shrinks when there is an decrease. That's the reason why we recommend to leave a sufficiently wide expansion gap around the whole perimeter of your wooden floor - it gives your floor 'room' to move - and it will, no matter which installation method you use.

Cupping of a floor happens when the floor absorbs so much moist it fills its expansion gap completely - or is 'stuck' in one spot due to very heavy furniture, faulty installation method - and has to go somewhere - up.
Excessive circumstances can happen to everyone: a leak, a flood etc, but those are temporary circumstances. 9 times out of 10 it's a case of 'removing' the cause and the cupped floor will settle again to its normal state.

However, we frequently get the question: "Should I sand down a cupped floor?"

The picture underneath explains what will happen then (click on the picture to see its full size).

It will 'look' fine temporarily, but as soon as the normal house climate is restored the floor will 'crown' - forever!

Best solution to resolve cupped floors: find the cause first e.g. leak, heavy downpour causing more moist than normal in the void beneath the wood floor, new appliance in the room or connecting area that causes more moist than normal - think of a tumble dryer, dish-washer etc - sudden and hefty increase in air humidity outside due to the seasons.
Some of the causes you can resolve, some you can't - or not easy or quickly. But if you don't know what causes the cupping then you can keep having the same problem over and over again.

To reduce the strain in your wood floor that is causing the cupping-effect: remove beading or skirting along one side of the room that runs parallel with the direction the floorboards are installed - wood hardly expands lengthways - and saw or chisel off a small strip of the last row. You'll be amazed how little you need to cut off this way for the floor to 'settle into place again - so start 'tiny', you can always redo the procedure.
A circular plunge-saw comes in very handy in these cases - quick and simple.

Wood You Like to get The Doors?

When installing a wooden floor in any type of room there will be doors. At least one. Or seven in one hallway.
Doors are not a problem - tick layers of paint on the hinges, now that's a problem. In our (Dutch) eyes the door frames are most times a small problem - no existing high enough wooden thresholds to bud the new floor against (leaving the needed expansion gap of course!) and a whole layer of wooden (or MDF) strips in various designs as architraves.

But nothing proper tools can't handle to cut underneath or cut to the right new height required so the floor or flat beading slides underneath the door posts and a new solid threshold separates the room from others without the door scraping over it - or causing draft.

All part of the daily job of a floor fitter. Well, wooden floor fitter that is.
We stopped counting the times our clients ask us kindly to cut doors in completely different rooms or areas after a carpet fitter or tiler has finished his/her job without 'closing the door'.

Apparently that's only a wooden floor fitter's common courtesy, getting the doors back in and having them work properly without damaging the new thresholds, floor or causing draft.

FAQ: Can I install wood over carpet?

Question received
Hi
We are thinking of laying a wood laminate floor in our rented house. At the moment it is carpeted, with underlay, on top of concrete. The carpet is quite thin. If we give the carpet a good shampoo, is it ok to put the floor on top of the carpet, to all intents using this as an underlay for the floor.

Our answer:

Using a carpet underlay or a carpet as underlayment for wooden flooring is asking for trouble I'm afraid.
Cleaning a carpet will never get rid of all the dust, dirt (and bugs) it has gathered over its lifetime.

Best is to remove it, including the carpet underlayment and start 'a fresh'.

Wood You Like Ltd

Floor sanding, tips and best tools

Discovering an original parquet floor underneath an old wall-to-wall carpet is a great and valuable discovery. Specially if the floor is still in one piece, i.e. no rows or tiles removed for installing a central heating system or other 'modern' plumbing work.

(See also our Wood Floor Guide: "7 Easy Steps to Repair/Restore Your Parquet Floor")

Restoring the parquet floor to its original lustre is really a 'labour of love', but with the right tools and products it will regain its beauty for many years to come. First up is to remove all carpet residue, like the sticky (rubber) underlayment. Scrapping will get most off. If you need to use chemicals try it out first in a corner behind a door - ventilate the room sufficiently and READ the instruction before hand!

Many old parquet floors were stuck down with bitumen which over time can become very brittle and loose its bonding power. Loose blocks (rattling underneath your feet when you walk over it) could be the result. Most old wood blocks have small T&G's all around, lifting one of the block could result in a kind of cascading effect, more loose blocks. So be careful when trying to remove loose blocks.
Before you re-install the lifted blocks remove as much of the bitumen from block and underfloor as possible. Any large residue of the bitumen will make the floor uneven, plus the time the modern adhesive will take to fully bond with block and underfloor will be longer - in cases we've seen even days longer!

Some re-found original parquet floors only need a bit of extra TLC, remove all dirt and apply a suitable maintenance product.
Others however take more work, specially when blocks had to re-installed (or 'new' blocks found to fill in empty spaces), the wear and tear layer is rather damaged (by carpet grippers etc). Then sanding the whole floor is the only solution (such a shame to cover your valuable parquet floor with carpet again!).

Before you go out and hire the first sander you can find, a word (two words really) of advice: remove what's left of the old finish material and hire the proper sanding equipment.
No matter with what grit you start sanding, if your old floor still has layers upon layers of wax on and in it you'll spend a fortune on sanding sheets! Try out a tiny corner of the floor with a sanding paper by hand. If the paper fills right up and spreads rubbish (warmed wax) all over the floor you'll first have to remove this old wear and tear layer. Apply Wax and Polish remover - turpentine or white spirit based - on a cloth and remove the old layers as best as possible. Again, VENTILATE & READ the instructions on the tin/bottle.

For the best end result after sanding your original parquet flooring you'll have to use (hire) a professional belt-sander (and edge-sander). Like the description says a belt-sander has a continuous (or endless) belt, or rather continuous (or endless) sanding paper - called Belt cloth. These belts are very easy to 'wrap' around the drum of the sander (1 minute tops), but most importantly will give the smoothest results on your floor.

Most DIY hire centres can only supply you with the (much lighter) drum-sander. Drum sanders have sheets of sanding paper, that has to be wrapped around the drum and fixed firmly in place with a metal bar. This metal bar, when not attached correctly will create shatter marks all over your floor. The problem is that those shatter marks will mostly only show up AFTER you applied the finish product (varnish or HardWaxOil). Trying to remove these marks with a rotary sander will create another problem: circular marks in your floor.

So for a 'professional' restored original parquet floor use/hire professional tools.

More tips and advice on restoring existing Oak flooring see our Wood-Guide on the "Ageing Wood Concept" - retoring even the authentic patina of your Oak floor.

When to install a wooden flooring during renovations - DIY-SOS

During renovations or redecorations a lot of work has to be done; like cabling, plumbing, screeding, plastering, wall-papering, painting etc. When you also plan to have a new wooden floor installed it is very important to schedule this job at the end of the 'line'.

Basically you first have to do all the 'wet-work' in and around the room(s) you plan to have wooden flooring in, plus allow sufficient time for the excess moist of plastering and/or painting to evaporate.

We advised BBC's DIY-SOS team the same when we were asked if it would be possible for us to install one of our quality wooden floors (on short notice).

The short notice wasn't the problem, the fact we would have just one day to install it neither. The fact that there was going to be a lot of plastering and painting in the days before was the problem.
You really shouldn't install a wooden floor (wood-engineered included) straight after the last day of plastering or painting.

Since DIY-SOS is always working on a very tight time-schedule we advised the team to source another type of floor-covering. Of course, in the future we are more than happy to help them out - as long as their project doesn't involve massive plaster work beforehand.

In renovation projects like this it comes in handy when you have a hygrometer in the room(s) you're working in as a guide to when the moist of plastering and painting is gone. You can speed up this process with sufficient ventilation, where the excess moist in the air is drawn out of the room - even in winter, just open the windows for 5 - 10 minutes every hour.

For screed work (or new concrete) there is a practical 'rule of thumb': every inch (2.5 cm) of screed/concrete needs 30 days to dry-out naturally before any floor-covering (but especially wooden floors) can be installed without causing problems of expansion or cupping straight away. The moist in the screed/concrete should be around 2% - 2.5% tops before you can start the installation of a wooden floor.

When you install a wooden floor on a still too wet underfloor you will notice this pretty soon. The wood will absorb the moist of the screed/concrete (even when a combi-underlayment is installed) and expand very quickly.

So be patient and prepare your 'when-to-do-what-task' list carefully but practically.
Better safe than sorry.

Glueing, nailing, floating - what's what?

What is the difference between glueing, secret nailing and floating? And how does the width of the board effect the method you use?

Glueing = fully bonding the wood to the subfloor
Secret Nailing = nailing floorboard in 45 angle to batten (at least 4cm thick) or joist
Floating = installing underlayment first on subfloor, installing floorboard 'floating' on the underlayment and glueing the T&G's.

Glueing is mostly used with design parquet floors and strip floorboards (narrow boards up to 100mm) or when you have many small lengths of wider boards. Most manufacturers recommend glueing down all floor types when UFH is involved to prevent air-pockets.

Secret nailing: when installing directly onto joists (or sometimes on a subfloor of thick enough plywood - never nail on chipboard, this will split).

Floating: most solid and wood-engineered boards can be installed floating. Note for solid: as long as the width of the room is not wider than 5 - 6 meters, otherwise it is best to glue to solid floorboards.

Did you install your wooden floor yourself and are you darn proud of it? Enter our DIY-Triumphs contest!

How to glue T&G boards the correct way

There seems to be some strange advice around on how to glue T&G boards when using the 'floating installation' method.

Recently we have seen how wrongly applying the PVAC wood glue can cause problems - in the short and long run - where the adhesive was applied on the underlayment in front of the already installed row of boards with the idea that installing the next row would 'scoop' up enough glue to bond the boards together.

A) it doesn't and some parts of the T&G will not have enough adhesive, creating a 'weak' link
B) residue glue will be left on the underlayment, bonding part of the boards to the underlayment which can cause obstruction when the wood expands or shrinks

Another 'bright' idea is to apply drops of adhesive instead of a whole length. Again, this will cause many weak links in the construction of your floor.
With the floating method all T&G's have to be glued completely, no two ways about it, no 'saving' money in the short run (and really, bottles of PVAC wood glue aren't that expensive, compared with the costs/time of having to re-install the floor and probably  replacing many damaged boards where the T&G's have broken off because of this 'drip and drop' method).

So, what is the best method?
A PVAC wood glue bottle comes with an 'adjustable' nozzle. Depending on the size of the groove (narrow, medium or wide) you select where to cut off the nozzle. Remember: you can always go 'bigger', you can never 'knit' it back on.

Hold the board you're about to install in your hand and apply the adhesive in the bottom part of the groove, the whole length of the groove (you'll find your own 'best practise', we normally start at the lowest end of the groove, working our way up). Do the same with the short end groove.
When installing the glued board the sliding movement will spread the adhesive 'around' the Tongue of the boards of the row already installed. This is especially important with Wood-Engineered flooring where the Tongue is made of cross-layered wood (pine) which has a more open structure. Not enough adhesive on this open structure could create a weak link.
Any seepage out of the adhesive on the top of the board should be removed with a damp cloth straight away.

As with more installation methods: keep it simple and keep it clean for the best results.

Did you install your wooden floor yourself and are you darn proud of it? Enter our DIY-Triumphs contest!

Traditional herringbone woodblock floor on a concrete

Q by Stephen Brown:
Hi.
I want to lay a traditional herringbone woodblock floor on a concrete base. Can you tell me

1. What adhesive I should use?
2. Whether the blocks should only be glued to the concrete floor or whether they should also be glued together with PVA?
3. Is there a best time of year to do this from the point of view of shrinkage / expansion of the blocks (each block is about 11" x 3")? i.e in the summer when the air is moist or in winter when the air inside the house is dry?
4. I have seen advice that says you should start a herringbone floor in the middle and work outwards. Is this correct? I'm thinking of a double herringbone pattern with a two block border. Unfortunately it is not a straight rectangular room but has a hearth to work around!

Thanks.

Our answer:

Hello Stephen

1. You can use any normal parquet adhesive (Lecol5500 or Styccobond B92 - see our online-showroom for more details).
2. If your concrete floor is sound, level and dry you can glue the block directly onto the concrete, using a notched-trowel and placing the blocks into the glue will make the adhesive 'seep' upwards to bond the blocks together also
3. No special time of the year is favourite. You just have to make sure the wood is acclimatised in the room(s) you plan to install it; the rooms are wind and weather tight; the air-humidity is between 45 - 65% and the temperature (effecting the bonding time) is between 17 - 23 degrees Celsius
4. To start in the middle is the best way forward (install your first two rows and let that fully bond with the underfloor so it will act as a fixed 'barrier' to install all next rows to), even in rooms where there are apparently no straight walls. The installed pattern will work as a 'straight' focus line for your room. As for the hearth, install your border also around it, much nicer look.

Hope this helps

Wood You Like Ltd

Did you install your wooden floor yourself and are you darn proud of it? Enter our DIY-Triumphs contest!

To kit or not to kit?

Q by Steven Derix: To kit or not to kit?

We are laying (or rather: having laid) a floor of so called 'industrial parquet'. The floorpieces are solid oak, about 16 cm in lenght, and 6 cm wide. The pieces are glued on an wooden surface. They will get a finishing of oil.

Naturally - the strips of wood being natural oak and quite small - there are small gaps between the floorpieces. The manufacturer advised us to fill in these gaps with a mixture of sawdust and some filling materail, a glue based on solvents, ore on a water-base. However, my 'parquetteur' (French for floor guy) is not keen on doing this. According to him, the kitting will come loose because of the shrinking/expanding of the wood, and because of the vibrations of the wooden underlayment caused by walking accross the room. Both arguments I put to the manufacturer. He says this is nonsense. The parquetteur however, persists. Whom to believe?

Our answer:

Hi Steven

Thanks for this question.

There will be small gaps indeed (if your parquetteur (parket-legger in Dutch, floor fitter in English) does his work correct it wouldn't be too many and only tiny ones.
And if he collects the sand-dust of the seconds sanding (grit 80, mixes that with wood-filler (like Lecol 7500) and 'plasters' this over the whole floor all gaps will be filled. After this has dried (goes rather quickly) the third sanding will remove any excess filler from your floor.

We've done this many times over and never had any problems with the filler coming out of the tiny gaps. So the manufacturer is right.

Just wondering however about the grade you mention: Industrial Grade Mosaic is normally only used as subfloor for Design Parquet Patterns (like herringbones) when installing on concrete floors.

Hope this helps.

(received kind reply back from Steven: It is, thanks. Actually, I got the same advice everywhere. I ordered the Floor Fitter to fill in the gaps.)

Installing floorboards in small areas: to float or not to float?

We received a question this week if it was possible to install wooden floorboards in a small hallway using the floating method.

A 'floating' floor means the floorboards (solid, wood-engineered, veneer or melamine laminated floorboards with T&G's all around or click-system) are placed on top of the correct underlayment, and not secretly nailed on subfloor or on joists or fully glued down on level and sound underfloor. It's the most simple way with the least hassle and preferred by many DIY-ers and professional floor fitters.

The reason for the question was the worry if the weight of the floor in a small area would hold the floor down sufficiently even if installed underneath skirtingboards.

That worry is really uncalled for: the floor has no place to go if

• installed properly on level underfloor
• sufficient amount of expansion gap is kept all around the perimeter of the floor
• door posts are cut under so the floor slides underneath (for neat finish and extra 'holding down power')
• even if flat beading or scotia/quadrants are used to cover the expansion gaps instead of skirtingboards the (light) weight of the wooden floor, the furniture, the 'holding down power' underneath door posts, installed thresholds etc will hold the floor down and allow for the seasonal natural movement of the boards.

We've installed many floors in small areas (hallways, landings etc) using the 'floating method' without any problems.

Did you install your wooden floor yourself and are you darn proud of it? Enter our DIY-Triumphs contest!

Filling large knots

Question:
I have 45sq mtrs of European oak tg flooring 190mmx20mm to lay on joists in my loft conversion, lengths mostly 3mtrs plus, I am going to finish the floor with 2 coats of Liberon floor sealer plus 2 coats of Liberon floor wax. There are rather a lot of knots that will require some sort of filling. What is the best way to deal with knots in European oak to provide the most descrete finish?
thanks!

Answer:
The best option is to sand the floor once it is installed with at least grit 80, collect the sand-dust, mix that with wood-filler and fill the knots with it. After it has dried you sand again with grit 120 to remove any excess filler.

Installing a wooden floor on joists

Andrew Baker asked us the following question (see here for his original comment):

It's a 200-year-old listed mid-terrace cottage. The majority of room still have the original boards, which are in a serviceable condition (which is a great testament to the use of oak in itself). The room I am looking to work in has a few original boards but the majority of it is new ply or pine boards, all covered with carpet.

The existing boards are laid directly on joists. Joists have centres of around 400 to 500mm. All boards nailed to the joists. The underfloor void is about 300 to 400mm high above bare ground. This void is not currently ventilated with airbricks, and while this isn't causing too many problems it is something we are looking to rectify. We are also looking at ways to enable ventilation between the room and the underfloor void.
Being in a listed property, when I replace my flooring it will have to be solid planks (no tongue) and on a suspended floor (ground floor).

So my question is, how does this affect preparation and installation? I'm thinking specifically of underlays (something to protect the wood, not cause condensation and reduce sound transfer, but remain breathable). Also of fixing methods - I would rather not glue (difficult to take up again), and secret nailing will be difficult - what are the alternatives?
Finally, I'm also interested in the choice of wood. I have read 18mm thick wood is not sufficient for a suspended floor?
I hope you may have an opportunity to address these questions, and am fairly sure the answers will interest a broad range of people.
Thanks and regards.
Andrew Baker

Answer (options, tips and issues to be aware off)
Installing directly onto joists above a void (which should indeed have airbricks to insure ventilation especially for removing excess humidity) asks for floorboards that are at least 18mm thick, 20 – 21 mm is preferred. Another issue to consider is the space between the joist: 300 - 350 mm is best otherwise the boards may ‘flex’ too much and could even break/snap.

Normally we would advice solid (or load-bearing Wood-Engineered floorboards) to be installed directly onto the joists by secret nailing in the tongue. If the void underneath is ventilated properly and doesn’t show any signs of moist no extra underlayment is needed.
Ventilation causes air movement = draft, but is important to keep your house climate healthy.
The ‘modern’ construction of the T&G boards allows movement (shrinkage especially) of the boards without feeling the effect of this draft. (Filling gaps between ‘old-fashion’ floorboards is just a very temporary solution, after a while because of seasonal movement the filling material will drop in the void and you can start all over again and again and again.)

Oak floorboards of 21mm thick without T&G can be face-nailed on top of the joists (but note maximum space between joists), as long as every board rests on at least three joists. Because the short sides of the boards don’t have connecting T&G’s for stability between the boards it’s recommended to end every board on a joist.

As mentioned above, non T&G boards can create draft, but we see another problem also: sourcing proper Oak floorboards suitable for installing as floor. These boards need to be dried to floor specifications, which is between 9 – 11% moist. Most kiln and dried timber contains 15% moist.

Can we suggest two other options to consider?

Option 1
Install plywood on top of the joists first, creating a stable and sound subfloor, minimising draft. Using Elastilon’s self-adhesive underlayment you can then install Oak overlay strips (solid wood of 6 or 10mm thick) tightly, which creates a ‘floating’ floor that can be ‘lifted-up’ easier than glueing boards or strips directly onto the plywood.

Option 2
Select ‘standard’ Oak 21mm thick T&G floorboards with square edges (non-bevelled) and with secret nailing install the floor directly onto the joists.
The unbevelled boards will create an ‘old-fashioned’ appearance but the T&G’s will avoid draft and are easier installed.

We hope this answers your questions, we welcome any further comments on this post if you need further advice or have more questions.

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How to lay a wooden floor: Keep it Simple

Installing a wooden floor (solid or wood-engineered) as DIY-er isn’t rocket science, more a case of common sense, patience, buying the right quality, using the correct materials and making the correct preparations.

Some things are so obvious we won’t go into them in detail (like buying wood that is suitable to be installed as floor and dry enough, meaning: timber wood – 15% moist or more – isn’t suited and that the room is wind and weather proof, wet decoration work finished etc).

Correct materials and correct preparations:
Quality products might be a little bit dearer; in the end it will save you time, aggravation and possibly even regret and money.

• Make sure you have one type of underfloor and the underfloor is ready (dry, level, - remove existing floor-covering timely enough to make good any defects or unevenness in time)
• Buy the correct underlayment (with the ‘floating-method’)
• Have all the materials in house before you start, make a list of everything you need at least one week beforehand and make sure it can be delivered or collected on time (because some materials just run out of stock, you’ll know Murphy’s Law)
• Make sure all tools you need are in the house, are working, sharp and safe (if you have to hire specific tools, place a reservation on them with the hire company so you’re not going to be disappointed)
• Store the wood in the same area you plan to lay it (or in an area that has the same ‘climate-conditions’ – garages are a definite No No) 2 – 4 days before you start the installation; leave the wood in the packs (if wrapped in packaging material and according to manufacturers instructions, some do differ, most not).
• Clear all furniture out of the room beforehand, dust from sawing will get in anything!
• Remove – if needed – skirting boards, mark them when you do so you know which one to place back where to avoid mix-ups and extra cutting work when placing them back.

Preparations on the day (floating method with standard T&G fixing)

• Ban little children from the room! (And cats, dogs or other pets.)
• Check again if all materials and tools are there.
• Materials: wood, underlayment, pvac-wood glue, spacers, beading or scotia, radiator-pipe-covers, thresholds, cloth (to remove excess glue as soon as you notice) and felt pads (for underneath furniture)
• Tools: hand saw or Jig-saw, tape-measure, square, Stanley knife, pencil (at least three, they disappear in thin air), knocking block + Jemmy bar (both can be part of any DIY installation kit you buy - but are not always of the best quality), hammer, heavy duty bin bags, work bench (tool box should do fine also as bench, watch out for sawing into it).
• If needed, remove doors and undercut architrave and/or doorposts (chisel out the last bit).
• Open two packs of wood, check for any damages to the surface, tongue and groove or click-system. If any and on more boards, re-pack as best as possible and return every pack straight back to your supplier for new material or re-fund. In no circumstances open more packs to check for damages, this might render your guarantee useless.
• Check if the boards are straight by laying them with the groove side on the (level) underfloor. Also check for bowing – cupping. Slight bowing (middle doesn’t touch the ground) of long boards is normal, extreme cupping (the ends stand up and leave a gap of over 5cm if turned up side down i.e. top surface faces floor) not.

If everything is OK and in the wood-type, grade and finish you selected mix the two packs to get a natural look and colour, shade mixture (all boards differ in colour and characteristics). During the works, keep checking for surface damages before you install a board, once down and between other boards/rows it’s a pain to remove it. (Murphy’s Law: it will always end up in the middle of the room where you would notice it most - afterwards.)

Do read the fitting instructions (if any) the manufacturer supplied with the floor, some might differ on some points and not following their instructions could render your guarantee worthless. When in doubt, call your supplier.

Installation tips, READ MORE HERE.......

(Already have a wooden floor that needs restoring? See our "7 steps to repair/restore your original floor" guide)

Case-study: Duoplank on Underfloor Heating

"As self-builders, we are very involved in specifying the materials used in our house.  We wanted the look and feel of real oak planks but without too many of the difficulties associated with the shrinkage of natural oak.  We quickly identified the Duoplank product through its UK distributor Wood-You-Like in Kent. This is an Engineered Board made with a wide top solid layer of natural oak and a high-quality birch ply substrate, critical to us because we were installing on concrete with UFH embedded in the floor. 

We visited the showroom near Ashford and received plenty of good advice from the company and felt we were dealing with people who actually installed the product, as well as supply them. 
From the wide range of oak qualities available we selected the 'Rustic' range as being closest to the effect we sought to create in our new-build, which is a Georgian-style farmhouse of brick and tile exterior.

Installing the product was easier than we expected, the longest task being the selecting and cutting of the planks.  As we tackled each room, we initially placed them in position 'dry' on the floor to check for colour-match and fit.  The planks slot together using a tongue-and-groove formation.  The Duoplank manufacturer had taken care to chamfer the bottom edges of the planking, avoiding any chance of surplus glue seeping into the tongue-and-grooves.  We used a chop-saw to cut each edging plank to length.  This made light work of the cutting task; the engineered product seems as dense as working with solid oak. We glued the rows of board to the floor, three or four at a time.  Wood-You-Like had given us a clear fact-sheet on how to pre-condition the boards and the temperature of the floor during the installation.  This ensures that the boards have a normal amount of humidity on installation.  Unlike a conventionally heated house, using UFH wood flooring shrinks slightly in the winter whilst heat is drawn up through the floor.

Wood-You-Like advised us on the size of the gap to leave around the wall edges - 15mm in our case  - and we used chipboard spacers to maintain this gap and hold the edges firm whilst we glued and fitted each successive row.  We found a notched trowel to be the best tool for spreading the glue evenly.  It was important for us to eliminate air gaps under the boards to maximise heat transfer from the screed into the wood.  We managed this by spreading the glue 'notches' at 90 degrees to the board lengths, which enables one to see better where the boards are not fully seated, as glue oozes out slightly at the working edge.  We used bricks as a temporary method of holding down any 'high' areas of board during setting; this task certainly showed up minor inadequacies in the flatness of the screed subfloor!  Fitting the 25mm wide skirting board around the rooms to cover this gap has completed the finished appearance.

The glue sets in 24 hours and we followed the detailed instructions for gradually applying heat into the flooring to slowly dry out the wood.  During our first winter heating season this has opened up a 1mm gap at many of the board long edges - or about 0.05% total shrinkage compared to the summer state, when we expect the gap to close up again.  We are more than happy with this result over UFH, and our choice of Engineering Board to provide the visual effect that we sought."

John and Julie - West Berkshire

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Always, always, always

When applying any type of finish, READ the instructions on the tin! And follow them, they're there for a reason.

Didn't mean to shout, but lately on various DIY-forums we encounter the same 'problem' being posted: after sanding and applying two coats of HardWaxOil the floor looks patchy. When we then ask how soon after the first layer the second layer has been applied, most times the answer is: after 4 - 5 days.

Never, ever leave it that late between applying the two coats of HardWaxOil; all brands (be it Osmo, Blanchon or other) specifically write on their instructions: apply the second coat within 36 - 48 hours. Otherwise, the grain-hairs of the wood 'stick-up' and the floor needs a light sanding first.

Read the instructions, and when still in doubt: call for advice - every proper supplier has either a company sticker with contact details on the tin, or the manufacturers help-line is printed on it.

Q: Installing Solid Oak various rooms

Question:
I have 60 mm of Solid Oak 180x18 to go in new extentions on top of concrete, damp course and 8cm of screed on top.
Which is the correct way to lay floor, please?

P.S. The area is spread over four rooms, biggest being 8m x 6m

Answer:

We recommend installing the floor floating - any slight unevenness of the screed floor can be much better tackled this way than with fully glueing the floor down. Also, install every room separate (especially when two connecting rooms differ very much in width or have a small door opening) and install wooden thresholds in between.

Lay a DPM and sound-insulation underlayment first (look for a combi product) to prevent any residue moist from the screed going into the wood. The board can be installed on top of the underlayment, glueing the T&G's completely.

Rule of thumb for expansion gaps: 3mm per meter width of the room, minimum of 10mm all around. For the room that is 6m wide this should be at least 18 - 19mm. Cover expansion gaps with flat beading or skirting (thick enough to cover the gap of 19mm, plus leaving extra thickness for possible skrinkage).

Q: Floating or Glueing?

Q Phil:
have just purchased £1000 worth of solid oak for 35 MS lounge concrete floor 15 year old house no damp do i float floor or seal floor and stick to floor as guy in shop sugests at £150 for adhesive.

the room is 9Mx5M the solid wood is 120mm wide 18mm thick and various length planks

A WYL:
You can install the floor floating: use proper sound-insulation (preferably a combi-product that includes DPM and sound-insulation foam) and glue all T&G's with PVAC wood glue. Leave a minimum of 15mm expansion gap all around.

FAQ Installation

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