reclaimed floorboards

Any demolition firm I would have thought.

If the loft conversion is the 3rd floor, this might not be legal, as tongue and grooved boards might be required for fire safety. Your building control department might allow you an inch of plasterboard instead, but it isn't guaranteed, as it allows air to circulate in the cavity. Alternatively, hardboard under the boards might persuade them, as it prevents the convection currents and smoke rising.

Christian.

Its one of those funny houses where you go in at ground level and then go downstairs to the bedrooms. The idea is to put a couple of rooms in the loft to benefit from the views and to make the house feel a bit less upside down. Good points are that fire escape windows will only be equivalent of first floor (on that side of the house). I was hoping to use UFH in the loft as there will be very little wall space as we 'need' lots of storage in the bits of the loft that are too low to be habitable. However I've read that UFH and wood plank floors aren't necessarily a good mix. Might still end up going for chipboard and carpets except maybe a bit in front of the 'veluxes'.

CJ

Underfloor heating works just fine with wooden floorboards. You must ensure that a very low flow temperature is used so not to warp the wood.

You will still need to ensure that the fire spread regulations are met with respect to the top floor. This may require non-gappy flooring. Speak to building control to get their interpretation.

Christian.

Then why not use tongue and groove reclaimed floorboards ?? They've been around for quite along time.

Andy

You can also cut the tongue and groove into standard old floorboards. Obviously, you may need an extra board or two, for the reduced width.

Christian.

Yes but, as Andy said, even re-claimed floorboards usually are tongued and grooved. You have to look hard for floorboards which aren't.

Mary

Odd. Every single Victorian house I've been in with original floorboards has straight edged boards. I wonder where all the T&G is coming from?

Christian.

Ditto.

I've not seen T&G reclaimed in any of the reclaimation yards that I've visited either.

Planing it is considered a fairly risky business 'cos of the old nails and debris that are normally found in reclaimed stuff - dread to think what would happen if you hit an embedded iron brad with a spindle moulder...

-- Richard Sampson

email me at richard at olifant d-ot co do-t uk

My parents' house (c.1898) had tongue and groove, even in the attics.

When I relaid a flolor in my Vic house, I took up some t&g that had been put down later, the rest of the floor, and went to the reclamation yard to get some more original size boards. I also too the 6'x15' worth of t&g I had to see if the rec yard wanted to buy it...but they didn't..."We don't buy t&g" I was told...I even offered it to them for free...still "No"....

My 1900 Edwardian house has plain floor boards. It has a T&G wall though, separating the stairs from the dining room, and those boards are nearly an inch thick.

Hi folks. You can groove it with a circular saw, its the fastest way. A circ will give you the following board profile: ____________ |_ |_ |____________|

You can buy a circ blade (from screwfix) that does both wood and embedded nails. The boards will need 2 passes on each edge, unless you have a wobble blade or dado head. Hope that helps... if that profile is OK. If you need the 3 level profile that can be done too, its just rather more work.

Regards, NT

You're not living in the next house are you?

Christian.

Mine also which I believe is 1870 (though not had the deeds through yet so still to be confirmed).

Post Victorian. The earlier ones are snapped up, that's why you normally only see the T&G ones. Well, those are the only ones I've seen.

Believe it or not there are houses up to a century old which have been demolished :-)

Mary