Laying Engineered Herringbone Parquet In My Narrowboat

[lckNB]

Hello, 

 

I'm looking for advice. I'm laying a new floor throughout my 57 ft NB.

 

I’ve just ripped up all my floor so I can lay a new one, I’m down to my subfloor which looks in pretty good condition.

 

I’m going for an engineered, tongue and groove, parquet in a herringbone pattern (sample in pic). The manufacturer recommends gluing it down with a flexible glue.

I don’t want to glue it directly onto my subfloor because if it ever needs ripping up for an emergency or otherwise, that would mean destroying both the finished floor AND the subfloor and that’s would be a real nightmare. So, I’m thinking to put down a second subfloor - a thinner layer of marine ply to glue my finished floor onto.

 

Should I put a layer of insulation or something between the 2 subfloors? If so what?

 

When I ripped up my floor there was insulation between the layers and I noticed there was moisture trapped between so I’m unsure it’s a good idea. The floor I ripped up had out of use underfloor heating + t&g + insulation + laminate on top though so it was a bit of mess. Maybe just a thin layer of insulation would be good?

 

Tia

[BEngo]

Lay it on a fairly substantial (athicker than 6mm) sub-sub floor.  Ensure there is a vapour barrier  below the sub-sub floor.  Builders 1000 gauge polythene is good.

 

Ideally you want some access hatches to below the sub floor.  One at the back to get at any water that builds up in the bilge  and others so you can adjust yhe ballast.

 

N

 

[Bee]

Is that a damp issue below the left hand side of the front door? Looks like one of those difficult to trace and fix leaks to me. Personally I have always used carpet, it is a warm surface, it is insulating in itself (especially with underlay)  it is not expensive unless you choose something special and it is virtually disposable, when it gets dirty you can replace it. Its all a matter of taste but it makes sense if you have to get the floor up.

[pearley]

You could look at underlay for Luxury Vinyl flooring. That used under our Karndean was self adhesive on the upper side.

[ditchcrawler]

1 hour ago, Bee said:

Is that a damp issue below the left hand side of the front door? Looks like one of those difficult to trace and fix leaks to me. Personally I have always used carpet, it is a warm surface, it is insulating in itself (especially with underlay)  it is not expensive unless you choose something special and it is virtually disposable, when it gets dirty you can replace it. Its all a matter of taste but it makes sense if you have to get the floor up.

I use carpet tiles, even easier

[Alan de Enfield]

15 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

I use carpet tiles, even easier

 

 

As do we, you buy a few extra and can replace an odd one if it gets stained, oil spilled on it etc.

 

As our floor lifts in sections it is easier to lift (say) 6 carpet tiles than try and roll up a long length/width of carpet.

[ditchcrawler]

2 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

 

As do we, you buy a few extra and can replace an odd one if it gets stained, oil spilled on it etc.

 

As our floor lifts in sections it is easier to lift (say) 6 carpet tiles than try and roll up a long length/width of carpet.

Exactly 

[matty40s]

Both boats we have had in over the winter for sub floor replacement have had vinyl over the top, in both cases, water problems underneath remained hidden, and once rectified, the sub floor ply and battens couldnt dry out as sealed in by said vinyl.

If you are going to put insulation in, make sure it is breathable.

[jonathanA]

I would do it as a "floating floor" glue the pieces together but don't fix them to the sub floor. I'm assuming it's not one of click together type laminates. 

 

I replaced my carpet with a laminate floor and used a laminate floor foam underlay from screwfix under the laminate. Think it was 2or 3mm and allowed for any imperfections in the subfloor.

 

It's a bugger flooring in a boat as everything a has a curve  I had to find the centre line and work out to each side.

[blackrose]

As far as I'm aware there's no insulation material that's suitable for a wooden floor. LVT underlay is typically only a few mm thick and won't actually provide any significant thermal insulation under a wooden floor, especially as the dense wood itself will have a high specific heat capacity (the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of a gram of materials). So whatever you put underneath, a solid or engineered wooden floor will always feel cold underfoot in winter. 

 

If you fit a wooden floor in a boat with a floor that's under the waterline, you just have to accept the fact that it's going to be cold and you'll be wearing shoes or slippers inside in winter, or you'll have to lay some rugs down - which effectively means you've done all that work to fit the floor but you've ended up with carpet!

 

In terms of gluing it down or having a floating floor, does a herringbone pattern work with a floating floor or will the OP end up with lots of bits of wood rattling around? I honestly don't know, but the OP needs to find out before deciding. If he's gluing it down on a sub-sub floor then as someone else said, he needs to cut a couple of inspection hatches first.

Edited March 30 by blackrose

[jonathanA]

I think you have misunderstood. Floating floor just means it's not fixed to the subfloor all the bits in this case are glued together. It's not actually floating on water or anything so there won't be any bits "rattling around" although as is good practice there should be allowance made for expansion at the edges and around anything fixed (eg pipes)

[lckNB]

Thanks everyone for your replies.

 

Aesthetically I absolutely could not stand carpet tiles, so thats out of the question. Likewise LVT, I looked into it before but its a no from me.

 

I think I'll be laying some thinner ply on top of my subfloor and will glue my parquet to that, of course allowing for access hatches. Probably wont bother with a layer of insulation.

 

Fingers crossed!

 

 

[Jen-in-Wellies]

5 minutes ago, lckNB said:

Probably wont bother with a layer of insulation.

If you are planning to be on your boat in winter, don't underestimate how cold the floor can get. There is no insulation, only steel, concrete and a bit of wood between your feet and the canal that's hovering around 0C. I have a reputation for being cold resistant, wearing sandals on bare feet through much of the winter, but I notice the cold striking up through the non carpeted sections of my boat floor.

[lckNB]

17 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

If you are planning to be on your boat in winter, don't underestimate how cold the floor can get. There is no insulation, only steel, concrete and a bit of wood between your feet and the canal that's hovering around 0C. I have a reputation for being cold resistant, wearing sandals on bare feet through much of the winter, but I notice the cold striking up through the non carpeted sections of my boat floor.

I've spent 2 winters on this boat and it's been fine on the floor but it did have a huge lasagne of layers up until I ripped it up.

 

No one seems to be able to agree on an insulation that I could use between my sub and my ply layer that is both breathable and insulating so what am I to do! Slippers, thick socks, central heating and the multistove will suffice I'm sure. Unless you can suggest an insulation layer?

[Jen-in-Wellies]

3 minutes ago, lckNB said:

Unless you can suggest an insulation layer?

Carpet! Not the suggestion you want to hear, but It's the only one I've got personal experience of.

[Tracy D'arth]

1 hour ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

If you are planning to be on your boat in winter, don't underestimate how cold the floor can get. There is no insulation, only steel, concrete and a bit of wood between your feet and the canal that's hovering around 0C. I have a reputation for being cold resistant, wearing sandals on bare feet through much of the winter, but I notice the cold striking up through the non carpeted sections of my boat floor.

A scientific point, the floor will always be at around 4 degrees C or higher  as will the water under the boat unless you are in ice as thick as your draught.

[Jen-in-Wellies]

9 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

A scientific point, the floor will always be at around 4 degrees C or higher  as will the water under the boat unless you are in ice as thick as your draught.

Still a bit parky on the toes though.

[Tigerr]

Your subfloor appears to be sound.

Like you, I'd always go for a wood floor. 

It's impossible not to track mud and wet into the boat, and our first boat had carpet tiles, with a big stack of replacement tiles.

Never liked them, and we replaced with karndean planking over a ply base - looked like a boat, and could be mopped. Once down, you'd be hard pressed to tell it wasn't a lovely oak planked floor. It was faultless for 10 years, could be mopped, very hardwearing, and looked lovely. 

Yes, it was cold. We wore thick socks, and in the summer the dog loved cooling off on it. 

I'd have liked proper wood, engineered or other, but you do have to be confident of dry conditions. Wet or damp will destroy that lovely wood flooring, staining it in an instant, and then warping etc. You must be completely confident of having a dry, reliably dry, subfloor. 

We did have a problem in the bathroom, and all that was needed was chopping out some subfloor, and replacing the karndean - easy job. I suspect not so with a solid glued wood floor. 

It only takes a couple of hours of an open hatch dripping to ruin an engineered floor. An ongoing damp bilge might take longer, but in the end it's going to grow mushrooms. 

You do have an obvious issue of wet related rot by the door. That is a huge warning indicator. 

I am not connected to Karndean - just think it's an ideal boat flooring solution.