Wooden flooring.

[kwackers]

I've got some 80mm x 18mm solid oak flooring that I want to fit in my living room. The house is around 8 years old and the floor is presumably concrete with some 'black' stuff over the top.

Browsing around the net and groups for the past few hours has left me more confused than ever, hopefully someone here knows enough to answer a few questions....

The instructions say I can glue it directly to the concrete floor. Is this true? If so how does the glue allow the flooring to move enough to prevent it buckling or opening up?

If I can glue it - B&Q sell 'parquet' glue, is this what I use?

Would I be better putting some sort of underlay down and floating the floor - perhaps glueing the t&g? (Someone mentioned an underlay that was 'sticky' - although I've been unable to find anything like it since).

As always, any advice, links etc gratefully received.

[Grunff]

I would be inclined to screw battens down on the concrete and secret nail the wood down (assuming it is T&G).

[bigcat]

answer

yes, you can, but its really not advised.

it doesnt. Also expect cupping, which ruins the finish, and in some cases condensation and rot.

much better option. It is essential to leave enough gap round the edges though, failure to leave sufficient gap can cause structural damage.

the oak will all need to be glued to its neighbouring oak strips if you do a floating floor. And clamped together while it dries.

never heard of such a thing, and cant think of any reason to want it either.

The 3rd option is to put 2x2 battens down and screw the oak to those. A floating floor is much better though, as it has the advantages of crack resistance, additional soundproofing, and doesnt add as much height as screwing to 2x2s.

NT

[nafuk]

You can glue it using the correct glu. I've just seen a builder do it (someone I trust who builds hi spec homes). He used the correct glue (black stuff applied with a notched spreader) and left the expansion gap. He also used a wood glue for the tongue and grove. For those interested he bought the wood from ebay at £22/m2, beech effect. It looks great and I'll be buying some for my house. Neil