Laying wooden flooring

[Mark BR]

I'm planning to lay solid wood T&G flooring as a floating floor. The sub-floor is concrete

Currently there is an old carpet with little pile and underlay.

I see differing advice on laying the wood flooring on top of the carpet. All seem to agree that it can be laid on top of vinyl. All agree you need some underlay.

Why is the thin carpet, or the existing underlay no good?

As a supplementary, how much expansion space is needed for a wooden floor? ie how many mm per metre of width/length?

Thanks

--

Mark BR

[harryagain]

Anything under your floor needs to be pretty rigid or you may get joints opening up. Also you don't want anything that could hold water (from a spill).

You needn't concern youreself about expansion. The concern is how dry your floorting is. Any dampness at all and it will shrink leaving ugly gaps. You need to leave the floorboards indoors to dry out for a few weeks somewhere flat so they don't warp. flooring is laid as tight as possible to minmise gaps as it drys out.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

It's common to lay a vapour barrier. Old carpet may not do this.

[Rick Hughes]

My recc is to use engineered wood floor... lay it floating, over a 3mm closed cell underlay

[Martin Bonner]

Good luck with that. If your flooring is currently drier than the peak moisture content of the room, it will absorb water and expand. With luck, this will cause the floor to buckle. (I say "with luck", because the alternative is it will push a wall over. Expanding wood generates *huge* forces.)

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I've just finished doing this but over a suspended wood floor so secret nailed. Very, very pleased with the end result. But I removed the skirting etc so it looks like it was made that way - goes underneath it rather than butting up to it.

[Mark BR]

Engineered wood is too pricey for what I need/can afford - Also I prefer the natural wood and can get a plank the full length of the rooms, up to 4.2m, so no joints.

I will be leaving an expansion gap, I'm looking at about 5mm all round the edge of the flooring. I gather there is no expansion due to heat/cold, or at least very little unlike laminate. Suspect my major problem will be the wood drying out rather than it expanding.

I'm thinking it would be a good idea to lay the flooring, but not put in the skirting board for a week or so to see how much expansion or shrinkage there is. Then I can adjust later. Don't think it will push the walls over, they are 60cm thick.

Thanks for the comments,

--

Mark BR

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Have you checked Ebay? You'll have to actually phone those advertising to get the real price. I found them anything up to half the price of the more usual suppliers. But don't expect it to be as easy as a usual Ebay purchase. But of course I doubt you'll find 4.2m in engineered.

[ratiram.kxi]

Options Unlimited is devoted to provide excellent and premier wooden floori ngs to clients.Our floors not only complemented with high quality but with peerless durability, artistic tastes and innovative designs that adds beaut y to your treasured space and offers remarkable value for your invested mon ey.

For more information you can visit on ->:

en-flooring.html