Laying Solid Oak Flooring - Need Advice!

thatdarnguy

Hi folks, really need some advice here! We've had some beatiful solid oak (18mm thick) flooring sitting in our dining room since December, we're going to be laying it in our open plan living + diningroom and hallway.

We've had about 6 joiners out to give us quotes now, every single one of them expressly state a different way of fitting the flooring! The problem is that we have a Concrete floor with vinyl tiles on top of the concrete (they seem sturdy enough and none are loose).

So far we've been told that we need have this fitted 3 different ways!

One insisted that we glue the flooring directly to the tiles with a troweled adhesive. We were quoted £1k for this quite a while back, including fitted new MDF skirtings and facings.

The next guy came along and insisted that the best way to do it is to lay plywood throughout, then nail down the flooring and glue the tongue and groove. Still waiting for the quote for this one (Was just yesterday).

Then the next guy showed up tonight and said the only way to do it is by having it as a floating floor, gluing the tongue and groove with a damp-proof foil membrane underneath to protect the wood from the dampness from concrete. He gave us a quote of £15 per sq. m of flooring laid, which works out as £495, then 1-2 days work @ £156 a day for the skirtings which we choose and purchase, then have him collect them. This doesn't include glue or the foil membrane, which is roughly £30 per 10 sq. m.

All of them sounded very confident in their methods, but which one is right!?? And also importantly, are these reasonable rates? They claim that the whole job will take 2 men around 3 days to complete.

Really don't know how to go forward with this, but very anxious to get it done! Any advice would be very very much welcome! Many Thanks!!

giantrider

There are several ways to lay a solid wood floor, including the methods you mention.

As for costs - difficult to pass judgement on these without seeing the job/ knowing the area where you live but 156 quid a day for fixing skirting seems a bit steep and why such a long job (2 days for skirting??).

shopaholicjules

It all sounds more complicated than I ever imagined.
I have just purchased my 18mm solid oak flooring and have hte original floorboards down. Will like the previous poster something have to be laid before the wood is put down?
More money I think

Jules

chaddythebear

I am a joiner and experienced with all types of floor coverings, only one of them is right and that is the last one, solid floors can either be nailed down which is the most common, but in your case it should be treated as a floating floor, and he is 100% right in using a damp proof membrane, his prices seem ok, my weekend rate is £12 a m2, so if he is self employed that seems ok,
hope this helps

Doozergirl

I'm not a joiner! and the third one is the only one that makes sense to me too

If you glued it to the floor, unless it was entirely level, the boards would be out of kilter everytime you hit a dip in the floor.

Plyboard is used to make a more rigid base than existing floorboards isn't it? Why would you need a more rigid base than concrete?!

misgrace

The third suggestion, ie the floating floor is the right suggestion.

I think £15 per sqr mtr is pretty good, as we had quotes and they normally came in at approx £20- £30, but luckily we got hold of a drinking friend of my hubby and he did it much cheaper.
It does get expensive as you have to have the menbrame also, plus we had to get a compound to level our floor.

Here is a link to a flooring company that we got our flooring from, and if you click on the hints and tips section, it will tell you what is the best way to lay certain floors.

The plus side is, that at least your flooring has acclimatised,we left ours for about 2 months, we had no choice really, as like you we were getting different opinions.

http://www.flooringsupplies.co.uk/?w...OVMTC=standard