Oak Wood Flooring - Suppliers and Alternatives

Hoseman

Hi everyone, my other half is insisting on oak wood flooring and we have had one quote for our living area.

I live in London so would like to get other quotes so can anyone recommend any good but competitive suppliers?

The quote we've had is just under £3k which isnt exactly cheap so was wondering if anyone can recommend any cheaper alternatives which look just as good. She is insisting she doesnt want laminates but im not sure I would rule it out completely. Is there anything else worth considering?

Please help.

ginvzt

I think you should say what size room you are talking about and if you prefer solid oak or engineered (still all real wood, not from one piece). Would you do it yourself or want someone to do it all for you?

Last year we bought engineered oak flooring from B&Q and fitted hallway/living room/dining room, probably about 25 square meters in total, and we spent about £800, including underlay, I would say. But that we did ourselves and it was a good fun!

Clive_Woody

For real Oak floor you still have a couple of choices, either solid planks of oak (more expensive and needs to be glued to the floor) or real wood laminate where you have three layers of wood and the top layer is oak, the bottom two are not. The advantage of the oak laminate is it fitted as a floating floor (doesn't need to be glued down) plus it is cheaper.

We just ordered our from Allied Carpet, it was a little over £2k for around 35 square meters. We went for real oak laminate (price included underlay, edging and fitting).

Have a look at the FAQs on some of the websites that supply wood floors for some guidance.

debbie42

I bought Kahrs engineered oak from here:
http://www.wood-floor.co.uk/productinfo.html

It was very easy to fit and looks really nice now it's down. I also used the above supplier for solid oak skirt + architrave and all the fiddly riser bits etc.

I did consider solid oak plank, but got put off by the extra thickness and also the fact that it isn't as "stable" as engineered plank and so (according to my chippy) is more liable to warp etc.

I've had mine down for nearly a year now and am very pleased with it.

misgrace

debbie42 wrote: »

I bought Kahrs engineered oak from here:
http://www.wood-floor.co.uk/productinfo.html

It was very easy to fit and looks really nice now it's down. I also used the above supplier for solid oak skirt + architrave and all the fiddly riser bits etc.

I did consider solid oak plank, but got put off by the extra thickness and also the fact that it isn't as "stable" as engineered plank and so (according to my chippy) is more liable to warp etc.

I've had mine down for nearly a year now and am very pleased with it.

Good choice debbie, my floor is Kahrs engineered oak as well, mine comes in single planks, and called I think 'london'

Hoseman, I will try and find my post from the other year when someone else mentioned the wanted Engineered flooring, and I suggested this company to purchase it from.

Where about in london are you, and is the price you quoted for the flooring as well as the fitting?

I know an excellent floor fitter, he fitted mine, but dont know how far into london he travels.

misgrace

Hoseman, I have found the link, its another thread from last year, again about engineered flooring, read the posts, and mine, as it gives the actual company we got it from.:D

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=375853

fifth_ave

Hi Hoseman,

We bought our flooring from this company. We went to a home show at Exel a few years back & saw the company there. They delivered to us in Hampshire no problem at all. It's now been laid by my hubby & I'm very pleased. It's a plywood flooring that clicks together like laminate, but has a 4mm solid oak layer on top. It looks a lot nicer that laminate.

http://www.flooringsupplies.co.uk/browse.cfm?type=solid

economiser

Is this a suspended floor? If you are not covering the whole storey of the house watch out for thickness differences compared with any other flooring you are retaining. Solid wood usually comes in 22mm or 18mm. Engineered, which is usually about a 3mm top surface on another timber backing, is often only 15mm and needs some form of stiffening underlayer if on joists but I have heard good reports on its durability. We laid Junckers oak flooring 18 years ago and it's still as good as the day it went down but it's very expensive.

Hoseman

Hi and thanks for all your responses.

The area being done is 38sq m and the actual quote £2.7k includes fitting for non engineered. We are looking to get it fitted and are looking at both engineered and non engineered but I know the former is more expensive. I guess we're not likely to get a better price for engineered wood.

misgrace Im in NW London or Willesden to be precise. Please PM me the details of your fitter.

economiser, we're not doing the whole ground floor. Its actually everywhere except the kitchen at the back of the house. Therefore it is worth bearing in mind the differences between floor levels as you point out. Its being laid on the original planks if that is what you mean with regard to your question.

roses

Try these two warehouses near Heathrow, I will be buying mine from one of the two at £18/m for solid oak!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=120307870474
http://www.easystepflooring.co.uk/

I got samples and they are identical. I plan to go in person and see which one will give me a cash discount.

b21playa

Hi

I know this thread is old, but im going to be buying about 45sqm of flooring and got sample from easystepflooring which seems ok, but what is the other like (look different)?

Also what discount did you get in the end and who from?

many thanks