Solid Wood Floor installation....confused

The_Doctor_3

:xmassign:

Hi all.

I am assigned to purchase and install 34 m2 of solid oak flooring by May of next year. Not a problem I hear you all shout. The "problem" is related to the installation. My ground floor has a concrete subfloor and thus no joists.

The problem I have is determining fact from fiction with regard to the "glueability" of solid wood floors. Some retailers promote their solid wood floors as glueable while others (flooringsupplies.co.uk) say it is a waste of time and that 8/10 glued solid-wood floors have to be taken up within 5 years. In fact, I am being pointed towards installing a floating floor construction using engineered planks rather than solid wood.

I know of family and friends who have glued solid wood boards directly to the concrete floor as well as installations where the boards are glued together along the T and G.

All advice will be appreciated.

Jacster_2

Hi,

Last year I laid an oak floor over concrete.

The different tales about what you could and couldn't do drove me nuts.

The thing that made up my mind was that there is a lot of moisture in a concrete floor. Therefore it's best to ensure that no moisture can get from the concrete to the wood or your lovely new solid wood floor will warp.

I laid a layer of visquine, then the green underlay stuff they put under laminate (but with the shiny moisture barrier on the bottom side), then floated the oak boards on top, nailing and glueing them together.

A key factor will be how long your concrete floor has been there. If it's new, moisture will be an issue. if your concrete floor has been there for years, moisture will be less of an issue.

HTH:xmassmile

George_Bray

Would it not be possible to screw each oak floorboard directly to the concrete floor, inserting rawlplugs into the concrete? If enough screws are used, then any risk of warping may be reduced, if not eliminated. It would take longer than using glue, but it must be more secure. The holes in the floorboards could be filled and wouldn't look wrong, I suggest, since many/most traditional floorboards have holes/nails from fixing to wooden joists.

Maybe you could coat the underside of each board with linseed oil or something, to help guard against any moisture.

I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who thinks this approach wouldn't work, before I try exactly the same thing, albeit with pine, rather than oak! I expect oak would be too expensive. But is it? Does anyone know of affordable sources?

Regards
George

kevc_2

:snow_laug I have been succesful in laying floating floors in oak over the visqueen damp proof membrane(1000 guage) over concrete and just nail/glue the boards to themselves.
More important in my mind is to bring the wood into the room at least two weeks before laying to aclimatise the timber to the room temperature.
Allow 10 to 15mm all round the edge for movement either with quadrant or by removing the skirting board and refitting after floor laying.
Good luck! :beer:

Mr_Proctalgia

There is an adhesive membrane available, it is waterproof, sticks to floor and wood, it sticks like poo to a duvet, its German and I cannot for the life of me remember the name. I have seen it on eBay before and read about it on other sites where it got rave reviews,if I find it again I'll post its name.

No help at all really is it? LOL

Found it! Its called Elastilon just google it. Also this guy on eBay seems to be selling something similar search for item number 6024480076

albalad

there is some good info to be found here including a section devoted to installation.

i have used the glue only system in the past (3 years ago) and it still looks as good today as the day it was laid - no movement or gaps , although i have also done a couple of junckers floors without glue and just the occassional nail round the perimeter again no problem.
definately lay a dpm down over the concrete prior to installation

George_Bray

kevc wrote:

:snow_laug I have been succesful in laying floating floors in oak over the visqueen damp proof membrane(1000 guage) over concrete and just nail/glue the boards to themselves.

kevc

If I try this is, it will be with straight 'planks' of wood, with no fancy tongue and groove edging or anything. If that's similar to the material you used, how exactly do you nail/glue the boards to themselves, please?

Regards
George

tomstickland

Can't you lay pine joists onto the floor with damp proof membrane of some sort, then fix the boards to the joists as per normal floors.

The_Doctor_3

Went to floors2go store in Brighton and picked up 34 metres of engineered oak flooring which is designed for floating entirely over concrete. No nails....glue optional as far as I'm concerned. Half-price in their sale as well (£16.50/m2 incl VAT)!!! The wear layer of Oak is 4 mm which is standard in much more expensive engineered flooring.

George_Bray

tomstickland wrote:

Can't you lay pine joists onto the floor with damp proof membrane of some sort, then fix the boards to the joists as per normal floors.

In my case, I think the addition of pine joists on to the concrete floor would raise the overall floor level too high.

Richard_Groves

Mr Proctalgia

Your advise on wood flooring and your reference to Elastilon has answered a dilema that I have been investigating many sources and trawling the internet for. Cheers.