diy help

[esprit22]

Going to lay a solid oak wooden floor, B&Q type. Has anyone done it before and can give any tips or things to avoid.

[snuffy]

I gave two blokes some money to do my lounge floor, that was a better option.

[Paul C]

You need a gap around the edge for expansion, about 5mm. If you don't and fit it

tight to the skirting it will bow in places (if fitted in winter) or show gaps later (if fitted

in summer).

Two ways to do this:

1,The neatest way. remove your skirting. Floor to wall with gap, refit skirting to hide gap.

2,The cheap and easy way, get those already white sections of quadrant/anglebead and fix

to bottom of your skirting to hide the gap. Like they do in new houses for speed.

Is it 100% solid wood? If it has an MDF backing then it can still warp and blow if it gets soaked

so consider this when flooring to a front door. Lay in a way you could replace these sections if

needed should they wear more or get wet. (in our case a cat routinely pissing up the door).

Don't run in socks.

[Simon350S]

Alex is the DIY expert, drop him a line

[andydclements]

If you have a dog, don't do it (unless you want a laugh).

I whole heartedly go with the option of removing the skirting and replacing that, I've done it hat way and it's so much tidier.

[red vtec]

I'm in the middle of laying 175 Sqm of laminate flooring in our photostudio.

As said above leave a gap round the edges or it will turn into the himalayas. And use a good underlay. Not sure how the real wood fits together, but the laminate stuff clicks in then give it a wack with a hammer and a block.

Oh and its a sod until you get the third row down as it keeps moving until it gets some weight into it.

Good luck

(PS get some knee pads!)

[superdavelotus]

Check first to see if it clicks together or you do indeed hit it with a hammer. The more you pay the better the system. Don't try to hit a click system into place as you'll losen the joints later. Here's the way to do it and it will save you time:-

1. Work out which is the best wall to lay from, the longest straight edge will be easier.

2. Start off with your first full piece and join it to the next (length ways) so you have you first strip.

If necessary, make your little cuts around radiator pipes. The way to do this is measure the gap between pipe and wall. knock off 5-6mm and mark this on your piece of flooring. Don't try to jigsaw it out as the blade won't cope with such a tight radius. Instead use a 13mm drill and drill a hole then use a hack saw and cut the little piece out so you have a U shape. When you fit this to the radiator then use the offcut to fill in the gap on the other side of the hole! No unsightly gaps!

3. Don't put your spacers in yet until you have a few strips laid or if you come to a cut anywhere. The reason I say this is because if you put the shims in which usually requires two put together then everytime you try and click or hit the next row in (first three rows) then the shims just bounce out!

4. As soon as you come to a cut or have laid a few runs then put your shims in between the wall and first run. Make sure it's straight and supporting the flooring and don't assume your skirting it straight.

5. When you have quite a few strips down, when putting the next strip in, stand or sit on the side you've already laid as your weight further aids the shims from popping out and unnecessary strain on your skirting.

6. When you come to nooks and crannies or your last strip where you haven't got the space to click it in or use a hmmer then try using a very large flat bladed screwdriver, better still a crowbar but put a piece or offcut between skirting and flooring to spread the load and reduce damage to both the flooring and skirting.

7. Make sure you buy a fixing kit which contains and plastic hitting block which is shaped to fit in tongue so you can hit it without deforming the tongue. The kit also contains the shims or spacers.

8. If you do your cuts close to skirting and they are good then you can small a smaller profile on which looks less unsightly.

Hope this helps.

David Walters

[arbell9]

Someone need DIY SOS????

I have laid laminate floors several times. You only need a rough 5 mm round the edge. Get the gadget tool for help locking together when near the edges for the room and get a nice pice of longish straight timber to hammer a click into place. Each type I have laid has a slightly different click system and so you will quickly get the knack. Be prepared to lose a cople of pieces when you 1st find out the click resistance etc and what that knack is.

Also different grades of laminate cut up differently. Invest in a sharp new saw - dont use an old shitty one to save money. Its false economy.

If its unsealed laminate it will soak up water if not removed swiftly. A good wax though would prevent most types of spill though. You just need to wax wear more often where the wear and tear is.

NO screwdrivers should be needed so that should mean you are pretty safe doing this job.

Alex

[Katie]

D.I.Y. ...... Don't Involve Yourself!!

[snuffy]

The gadgies that did mine talked me into them removing the skirting board. What a bloody disaster that was !! It came off, with the paint and some of the plaster board. They had to put new boards back on and then we had to paint the bottom of the walls. I'd leave it well alone.

[davegtst]

I don't believe you need to leave 5mm round the edges. I did my kitchin in laminate and didn't leave a gap at all and it has never moved in 3 years.

[mayevora]

Solid oak floor. Is this to be floating or stuck down? Floating fine if the click together type and stuck down if the thicker oak which you need to cut yourself. If its the thicker type, make sure none of the wood is warped before laying/sticking.

The whole of our downstairs is wood. You will have to get used to the almost echo effect to start with. We have now even carpeted over the lounge wood (massively more comfortable lying on a floor with carpet watching the box than a wooden floor) Can seem cold this time of year but remains alot cooler in the summer.

[slewthy]

We've had lots of wooden floors of all types laid in our family over the years, both DIY and professionally.

One thing I remember being important, at least for some of them was to allow the wood time to 'acclimatise' in the environment where it is going to be laid. This, apparently, helps it to get close to the average humidity and heat your central heating creates and means the expansion/ shrinkage can then occur from this average point. Obviously this doesn't prevent this phenomenon but may make it less visible. Similar idea to half filling the bath before sealing the edge.

Depends on the characteristics of the boards you are using though as to whether expansion/shrinkage will be a significant problem.

We had wooden edging placed around our floating floor and that looks great and was easy, if more expensive initially.

Good luck!

[esprit22]

Solid oak floor. Is this to be floating or stuck down? Floating fine if the click together type and stuck down if the thicker oak which you need to cut yourself. If its the thicker type, make sure none of the wood is warped before laying/sticking.

The whole of our downstairs is wood. You will have to get used to the almost echo effect to start with. We have now even carpeted over the lounge wood (massively more comfortable lying on a floor with carpet watching the box than a wooden floor) Can seem cold this time of year but remains alot cooler in the summer.

#

This is a new room I'm doing, so no skirting fitted yet, the floor is concrete so will be a floating floor. This stuff does not click together as is tongue+grooved. is it best to lay across the room (shorter distance) or longer run? There seems to be a lot of different "underlay" available, is thicker the best? Seen some that is sticky on the top so holds the wood together as you lay, sounds good idea but reckon would be a bugger to get one out again. Is it best to use a glue or just fit with nothing?

I like a good challenge!

[MPx]

I did the kitchen, study, dining room in the Bromley house with Kahrs Calgory Oak. That was tongue and groove - no click. I decided to lay it diagonally across the room (I like a challenge!) but it was all pretty simple really. I started by putting the first board down with the tongue next to the wall (or corner in my case). Its then easy to run a small bead of normal evostick wood glue into the groove on the next board. I made a "tool" by cutting about a foot length off a board. Then split it in half lengthways. You can use the relevant half to fit over the tongue of the board being laid and you can then tap (or welly) the tool with a mallet to ensure the boards tongue and groove are properly bedded in without damaging the edge of the laid board. The last board will need the Z tool that can be bought from any of the floor suppliers. You hook it over the last board and then have an edge on the tool to hit to make the tongue and groove engage properly. I just used 3 mm polystyrene as underlay cos in those days that was all there was - came on a roll. It worked fine, but I dont know if one of the modern alternatives would be better.

We lived with it for more than five years before we left, and we thought it was great.

Good luck with your project Chris!

Mike

[lrg_machine]

Just a few words of advice, as I've just finished laying exactly the same B&Q flooring throughout my house which was just under 60 packs of the stuff

1. the sticky back underlay is OK IF the concrete floor you're laying onto is perfectly flat, if not when you walk on the wood after the floor will creak.

2. Don't use the 3mm underlay and glue the tounge and groove as in floating floor. again if the concrete isn't perfect or the planks are not perfect then walking on the floor afterwards will be like walking on bubble wrap, I found this out the hard way

3. I'd wholy reccommend gluing the wood down to the concrete and using rewmar adhesive, it's non toxic, no solvents, doesn't smell is very sticky but a little expensive at a cost of approx