In the next few days I'll be laying an 18mm thick oak floor to my lounge. the wood is 120mm wide and in various lengths from 400mm to
1800mm. Its tongue and groove all round.I've prepped the concrete floor by screwing 6mm marine ply to it (original floor had marley tile with bituminous adhesive). I'm using a specialist batten adhesive which I'll be putting down at 90 degrees to the planks and at 150mm centres. I plan to measure out one plank width from the long wall and mark a chalk line to lay the first strip to.
Now the questions... What expansion gap should I leave all round? Obviously it can't be more than the thickness of the skirting board that will be fitted after the floor (about 20mm I think).
The instructions for the batten adhesive say I should lay it 10mm thick and that it shouldn't be compressed to less than 1.5mm. What is the optimum compression and how do I ensure I bed down the whole floor uniformly? Spirit level I suppose?
TIA,