Engineered wood flooring. Help! Opinions?

vertical_fool

Hi all.

My predicament is that I intend on laying flooring in my flat in the living room and hallway. So on Friday night I went to Ikea to get the tundra range of laminate, they didn`t have any of beech so I got the antique (on the net it looked lighter) aswel as the Niva floor lining, they didn`t have any of the plastic sheeting. However I`ve decided it is too dark for my flat so its going back.

So after going to other supliers I think the beech or similar is the best. I then saw the engineered wood which loked in a diferent league to the laminate for not a lot more money.

So I now want the engineered wood flooring if I can get hold of it at the price I saw it for (it was sold out bar one pack).

So if I get it what will I need to lay it on as I`m in a second floor flat with a concrete floor?

How easy is it to lay?

Any opinions on how it looks especialy after a long period of time?

Plus, any tips on how to remove a skirting board?

Thanks

Vertical

Mr_Proctalgia

Engineered Wood flooring is great stuff as it is real tree wood and has all the variations you would expect - However it can sometimes look a little too perfect, nevertheless it is a good product.

I am currently laying solid wood onto concrete using a product called Elastilon which is a foam membrane (looks and feels like neoprene - but isn't) which has the stickiest thing known to man on one side and a plastic sheet over that. A UK version is also available in B & Q's, it is about £44 for 10 sq meters and looks to be very similar, however Elastilon is almost double that price! You unroll the stuff at 90 deg to the direction of the new floor and trim it to the walls - Do not uncover the sticky upper side yet! You then need to make sure that you have the first two rows of flooring ready and trimmed to fit and some spare plastic sheet as well. Peel back about 10" of the cover plastic to expose the glue then lay the spare plastic over the glue and fold it back on itself towards you - next lay the first two rows of floor, make sure the joints are nice and tight and pull the plastic out so the wood is now glued to the sheet and the "spare" plastic is free and can be chucked away, you should now have 2 rows of flooring stuck down with a flap of plastic sticking out the edge, lay more floor and continue pulling the cover back as you work - Hey presto a floating floor. It is a lot like sticking Fablon down except that the glue is uppermost this time. It grips like hell and it is almost impossible to remove the floor once stuck so try to get it right first time.

I stood on a sticky bit when I was about halfway across my room and could lean over at all angles like a cartoon act in a silent film and had to cut round my shoes to get off the stuff!!!

You have to work very cleanly, hoover hoover hoover, saw the floor either outside or in a different room, dry fit each piece to ensure it is perfect, check the edges for varnish overspray or damage, use a few different packs at once to mix the grain up, save any odd looking bits for the ends that will be sawn.

If, as you asked, you are going to take the skirting off then clean any plaster out where the floor is and allow a good 1" gap to the actual wall as real wood expands a lot more than laminate!! (I "sticked" my floor for 3 weeks in the room it is going in and it is still changing size on a daily basis - So will wait a while until the skirting goes back)
I found the easiest way to get skirtng off with the minimal damage is to use a pry or wrecking bar and a club hammer and lever between the skirting and the floor, gently does it and work your way around the room, levering a little as you go and it will come off relatively unscatched, modern skirting almost falls off but older stuff can be a nightmare and you just have to take your time - DO NOT BE TEMPTED TO LEVER BETWEEN THE SKIRTS AND THE WALL - unless you enjoy plastering!!! Also be careful to check for cables and pipes, as, although as you have a solid floor it is unlikely there would be much doing downwards it is always worthwhile checking inside the socket back boxes to ensure that some muppet hasn't run the mains behind the skirting as wrecking bars are very conductive!!

I do not know where to suggest you buy the flooring from as price is a decision that only you can make, it is available all over the place as a quick google around will show.

HTH

vertical_fool

Great reply Mr P.

I don`t want to use the Elastilon because I would like to be able to remove easily if I move or if I damage any of the boards. Although it does sound like a great product for long term use and good for a laugh if you get stuck.;)

I decided to try to get the skirting off at around one this morning. I managed to get two small pieces (10 and 20 cm) off using a kitchen knife, palette knife, screwdriver and some sort of pie/cake serving object that has a sharp edge and a serated edge. It took alot of cutting, proding, wiggling, prising etc but it came off undamaged with only a small piece of damage to the plaster which may be covered by needing to raise the skirting. Hopefully the rest won`t damage the plaster too much. It was held on with a combination of screws, nails, no nails or similar product and silicone ( maybe some sort of decorators caulk, it was used to fill the gaps).

I though that engineered wood expanded and contracted very little because of the way it is constructed. Also I thought that you need to let the wood acclimatise for 72 hours, was it recommended to you or manufacturers instructions to leave it for longer.

I`m off to see if I can get it this afternoon.

Vertical

point3

I though that engineered wood expanded and contracted very little because of the way it is constructed. Also I thought that you need to let the wood acclimatise for 72 hours, was it recommended to you or manufacturers instructions to leave it for longer.

This is one of the advantages of engineered boards over solid wood - it does not distort or warp as much as solid wood does. Engineered boards fit more neatly together for a flusher finish and by selecting the top grain and 'slicing' it into many thin sections it is possible to get a more uniform pattern than when using solid wood.

Engineered boards and solid wood come in different quality grades as well as prices - look around rather than settling for the cheapest!

I had Kahrs oiled oak boards fitted 6 years ago (£50/m2) and it still looks as good as new with minimal maintenance. I don't know what was used to fix the floor, as the nice fitter man sorted it!! P.S. The skirting was not touched - Scotia beading was fixed over the edges instead.

vertical_fool

I`ve just been to B&Q looking at the displays and I noticed how many marks/indentations are on the wood. I tried my key on the wood and it did indent it very easily. Now the first time I went I was seriously concerned about this thinking I`ll get laminate, however after a return visit with my dad I started to accept that this is what happens with wood. As I type this on a wooden table I can cause indentations so I suppose this is exactly the same.

Does your flooring do the same (admitedly its not £50 m2 Kahn`s)? What does it look like? Does it stand out? Is there anything you can do to lift these out e.g. steam ?

Also it comes with a ten year guarantee. What does this include? Will it need to be laid professionaly?

If I get it fitted by a professional (I was going to do it myself). What sort of price could I be looking at?

Thanks

Vertical

vertical_fool

Hopefully I`m picking it up in the morning!

undercover_elephant_2

I just got a load of bamboo flooring made by this lot. It's harder than most hardwoods, even Oak, it's very environmentally friendly (grows in 3 years, cut from managed forests), and it looks the bees knees.

vertical_fool

Picked it up on Wednessday afternoon, so the 48 hours acclimatisation period will take me to Friday afternoon but will start Saturday.

My next problem is that the floor is uneven, aroud the door it is probably 4-5 mm out over around 1-1.2m. Does anybody know if I can lay something underneath to eliminate this? I`m thinking of just putting down some self levelling compound.

Thanks

Vertical

startrekker

self levelling will do the job perfect..any diy store has it..by the way it doesnt just level itself you have to trowel it just as you would plaster...take your time and im sure your floor will look brilll....have fun

point3

vertical_fool wrote:

Picked it up on Wednessday afternoon, so the 48 hours acclimatisation period will take me to Friday afternoon but will start Saturday.

My next problem is that the floor is uneven, aroud the door it is probably 4-5 mm out over around 1-1.2m. Does anybody know if I can lay something underneath to eliminate this? I`m thinking of just putting down some self levelling compound.

Thanks

Vertical

Hi Vertical!

Wood is pretty easy to scratch and indent with keys, etc but unless you deliberately apply this much pressure there isn't really a problem in day-to-day use. We have a good bristle floor mat at the front door which traps grit, etc and prevents it from being trampled indoors. No-one I know wears stiletto heels...and the kids tend to kick off their outdoor shoes as soon as they get indoors anyway. There are some tiny (really tiny ) scratch marks where some wine glasses got smashed, but it cleaned up well and no "red wine on cream carpet" scenario !!

If the floor were to get badly scratched then you can sand down the top wood layer and re-finish it. The thicker the top wear layer the more times you can sand it down - with a standard 3mm wear layer you can sand down 2 times without any problems.

As an alternative to the floor levelling compound, if you have just a small section where the floor is sunken then you could just add an extra layer of the underlay foam to the area to even it out.

Good luck with the floor laying!

:cool:

vertical_fool

I don`t think I can get away with using extra underlay, especially the foam as it will it compress when pressure is applied anyway.

I`ve also just now discovered what i`ve been told is a layer of asphalt so I need to look into this further.

Vertical