Wood floor on Marmox???

[tom.harrigan]

Hello

The wife has changed her mind again. No longer happy with the

500x500mm 20mm thick Welsh slate tiles I purchased for the living room floor, she now wants wood. Trouble is the Marmox board is already down.

I've got enough 9"x1" boards to do the job. The wood is about 50yrs old, from an attic store room and has never been nailed. Can I lay it directly on the Marmox? If I have to put some plywood down it will play havoc with my levels.

While on the subject of wood. Has anyone noticed that timber from

50years ago seems a lot harder/denser/stronger than today?

Regards

T.

[Grunff]

Only if you intend to lay it floating. Are these boards T&G, and are they end-matched? If so, you could lay it floating. If not, then you need something solid underneath, so ply is a must.

My guess is that this is more to do with how wood ages than with inferior manufacturing :-)

[Andrew Mawson]

50yrs

No, I believe that it is the speed of growth that affects the density of the wood. When a rafter was changed in my roof 23 years ago I compared the original (1903 Baltic Pine) with the replacement likn dried and pressure treated timber going back in. The Baltic Pine was 3 times the density ! (yes sad person that I am, I weighed samples!) Comparing the end grain the original had growth rings far more densely packed, so was slow growing, whereas the kiln dried had widely spaced growth rings.

AWEM

[dennis]

Something to do with GW? Trees grow faster in the warm. ;-)

Its also the size of the trees.. these days they are cut down as soon as they can make a plank out of them. In the olden days you could get 18" boards but not now.

[tom.harrigan]

I concur! The old stuff is way heavier, and surprisingly still smells very strongly of pine when you cut it. It looks much slower growing wood.

Regards

T.

[tom.harrigan]

Thanks for the advice. I have used it to persuade my wife to stick to our original plans. I have however compromised a bit by agreeing to install electric underfloor heating, which I hope we will use only occasionally.

Regards

T.