Fitting a wooden floor

[sanseriffe]

I am thinking of replacing a carpeted floor with a (real) Oak wood floor. Has anybody found problems doing this or perhaps give any advice ?

[Tomska]

Just done this:

 

 

It was surprisingly easy. Made easier by some great advice on this forum:

 

Here and here.

 

In my case it was complicated by the fact that the room tapers at the ends, so I had to start along a centre line and work out to each side, then cut the irregular edge boards. On a narrowboat I'd imagine it's somewhat easier as (assuming your walls are straight) you can just work from one side to the other.

 

If I had to do one thing different I'd have used felt underlay rather than foam as it's thicker and would have evened out some of the bumps from the ply floor beneath, but that's a minor thing - it all works fine.

 

Edited to add that I chose the floating floor method in the end (no nails or screws - just glue).

Edited February 12, 2009 by Tomska

[koukouvagia]

I am thinking of replacing a carpeted floor with a (real) Oak wood floor. Has anybody found problems doing this or perhaps give any advice ?

 

Everyone’s got different methods of laying a wooden floor. You don’t say whether you’re laying timber on top of a ply floor that’s already there or starting from scratch. I decided not to have a ply base.

The boards need supporting at 3 foot intervals at least. Also I would recommend buying good quality second hand floorboards – they’ll be seasoned and are much cheaper than new ones.

I used inch and a quarter pitch pine boards which came out of the Tate Gallery! They’re as firm as a rock and haven’t moved in over ten years.

 

[sueb]

Oak goes black if it gets wet. Were given this gem of info just as we finished our fit out. It is true.

Sue

[Ex- Member]

Oak goes black if it gets wet. Were given this gem of info just as we finished our fit out. It is true.

Sue

 

 

Hi Sue

 

Just protect the floor with varnish, annoying if you wanted a natural look though. A good varnish or sealer will protect the oak though. on Oak faced panelling we used burnishing oil which gives good sealing protection, it darkens the Oak slightly though.