Wood floor dilemma

[antgel]

I'm now opening a new can of worms as I decide what sort of floor to lay in my lounge and hall. I don't want carpet as it holds too much dust. My thinking has gone something like: I want laminate - my flat isn't a palace and it will be okay. Look at laminate in stores. Decide that I don't want laminate. I want engineered wood. Decide that nail-down wood is the only proper wood and will look and feel better than engineered. Decide that proper wood is too old-fashioned for my modern (1980s) flat. Decide that actually, it's fine as long as I choose the right wood.

My floor is chipboard on floating battens on a concrete subfloor. I just spoke to a hardwood flooring supplier who didn't inspire much confidence. I told him that I wanted to rip up the chipboard, screw the existing battens into the concrete, and nail the new floor across the battens. He said that nailing into softwood battens can cause them to split and I'd be better off nailing into the chipboard. I don't fancy this as the chipboard creaks, is slightly water-damaged, and needs making good where a stud partion once was.

Is he correct? Can / should I nail a wooden floor over chipboard? If not, presumably I should nail straight into the battens (which should be screwed into the concrete, not left floating)?

The other point is that this is a lounge / kitchen, not just a lounge. I was going to lay a couple of rows of slates next to the kitchen part.

- I also need to install the kitchen. Is the best thing to keep the chipboard in these areas or replace it with plywood?

Antony

[Derek *]

I've had one like that for 20 years. Professionally installed, the guy used hardwood "overlay flooring" about 8 mm thick. The disadvantage is because of it's thinness you can only re-sand it

2-3 times. We haven't re-sanded it yet :-)

Elsewhere in the house I've got solid maple boards which were laid on tanalised laths screwed down onto the concrete. That gives you the opportunity to precisely correct the levels by packing under the laths and has proved to be very satisfactory.

IMHO there's always the chance of a leak, condensation drips, or a spillage in a kitchen, and regular quality chipboard is best avoided.

DG

[Jeff]

Factory where I used to work had maple floor laid, this was concrete with 2 layers of chipboard and maple nailed to the chipboard and yes it was floating

Regards Jeff

[Andy Hall]

Exactly. You've seen the light.

There is no issue with nailing into battens and if anything it will hold better than chipboard as well.

I have several large areas of oak floorboards secret nailed to battens screwed to concrete and it's fine.

I would replace with WBP ply. Keep in mind that the wooden floor plus battens will be higher than the other floor plus slates so you may want to use two layers of ply or equivalent

[WoodYouLike]

Wood-Engineered flooring nowadays comes in full plank versions wit bevelled etches (when it's installed you wont' know the differenc between this product or solid ;-))

If your subfloor (chipboard) is level, why not just leave it (where i creakes, put some nails/screws in it) and install the wooden floorin with the floating method? Install some underlayment (2 - 3mm) first fo sound-insulation

-- WoodYouLike

[antgel]

Did it ever occur to you to leave the battens floating? My current chipboard is on floating battens but I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not, or if it can apply to .

I just had another disastrous experience with a "professional", this time a carpenter. Having used my lunch break to go and meet him at my flat, we had dialogue such as:

"Can you recommend somewhere where I can go to purchase the wood?" "Er, um, not sure, there is that place, erm..."

"Would I be better off laying the wood on the chipboard or battens?" "Um, er, um..."

I have asked him to quote for two scenarios:

1) Replacing warped chipboard in the kitchen, laying engineered wood floor. 2) (Assumes I rip up the chipboard.) Laying "real" floorboards across battens.

But after the impression I got, I think I'm going to do it myself, and the saving I make on labour costs will enable me to do (2) for sure.

Antony

[antgel]

The chipboard isn't totally level. Quite a bit of it looks warped - mainly in what used to be the kitchen. That's why even if I put the engineered floor down, quite a bit of chipboard will have to be relaid.

Is it _really_ the case that once installed, there is no difference in look or feel of engineered vs solid?

[Andy Hall]

No. The battens are screwed to the concrete and the boards secret nailed to the battens. There is very little sign of movement - perhaps a fraction of a mm in the gaps between boards between summer and winter.

If you do, then do rent a good flooring nailer that pushes the boards up properly.

[WoodYouLike]

Yes, it's realy the case ;-) I'm trying to upload a picture for you t see, but not sure if it will work (first attempt) If it doesn't show please see 'here

Duoplank can be installed directly onto joists, perhaps anothe solution for you (remove the chipboard and install the boards secretl nailed?

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