Mismatched floorboard thicknesses

[Lobster]

Went to my Wickes the other day for a pack of 5" T&G floorboards to do some patchwork repairs to the floor following some plumbing escapades: however it emerges that the new ones are 17-18 mm thick compared to

20-21 mm for the old ones. I'm presuming both are nominally 0.75"?

Should I be able to get thicker boards, or are these new ones now the 'norm'? It's a right PITA: the thickness difference is definitely enough to be noticeable on the floor, and also the T's and G's don't match up either.

If I do have to use these, I'm trying to think what I could use as packing? It's too small a gap for any form of plywood or hardboard.

David

[Phil L]

You can get plastic packers which are used by double glazing fitters, they range from 1mm to about 3mm and are approx 4 inch by 1 inch. I've not seen them on sale anywhere but you should be able to get them from a local window manufacturer...you can screw / nail through them without them shattering.

[MarkK]

Yes you can get thicker T&G. I went to my local timber merchant recently and found what I needed, which happened to be 18mm. There's quite a variety of widths and a few thicknesses available. I remember some were thicker than I needed, so am 99% confident you will be able to get the 20-21mm boards you need.

Mark

[Owain]

Lift the floor in your smallest bedroom and use the boards for patching round the rest of the house. Buy new floor for smallest bedroom.

Owain

[Cicero]

========================== Cut strips from vynil floor tiles and lay them across the joists.

Cic.

[chris French]

Or thin MDF, you can get 2mm MDF

[Christian McArdle]

Both sizes are pretty much standard thicknesses. You need to take them back and buy thicker ones.

Christian.

[The Natural Philosopher]

It is not. You can get 1/64" 1/32" and 1/16" ply from any model shop or use veneers.. our use slips of cardboard,. thin plsatic or even just bed onto a layer of car body filler.

Or sand the whole floor level when finished..

[Mogweed]

Go to a proper timber merchants taking a small piece of your existing floorboards with you. That's what I did with my 137-year old floorboards and they matched it perfectly.

Mogweed.

[Steve Walker]

strips of 4mm hardboard, glued to top of joists.

[jim_in_sussex]

Both sizes - 18mm and 22mm are 'standard', ie are the 2 main floorboard sizes sold by timber merchants. SFAIUI they derive from ?20mm and 25mm timber before thicknessing and planing. Not so long ago they would have been sold as 20mm and 25mm nominal.

You need 22mm on joists 400mm between centres for a firm floor. 18mm is penny pinching and will give you a floor which tends to bow when walked over it.

The sizes correspond to standard flooring chipboard sizes & the same goes for their relative strengths.

It's quite likely you will find position of the tongues varies between batches. A router then comes in handy. eg fill & glue the mismatched groorve with wood & reposition it with the router.

HTH