Browse Forums Flooring & Floor Covering 1 Apr 16, 2009 9:17 am Hello everyone, I'm reposting to this specialist section of the Forum in the hope of getting more responses. I'm quite new so I hope you'll all be gentle Just wondering whether any of you have laid solid overlay timber (13mm) directly onto a concrete slab using the direct glue method? What have been your experiences with this? Would you recommend it? Does the floor have a hollow or tinny sound? What is it like to walk on? Any problems eg: moisture rising up from the slab etc etc... I have read Borg's thread re: adhesives but my questions are slightly different. We plan on building a new house later this year (Sydney) and want to install an overlay floor over the slab. I have phoned Bor@l (a major supplier of this product) regarding conflicting opinions regarding laying it as some installers say it's best laid over 12mm plywood while a couple have said the direct glue method is better. Bor@l claim both methods are suitable and neither is superior to the other. Keen to get your feedback. Built a (highly) modified Allcastle Maxworth 38.7 in Sydney. Re: Timber Overlay Floors - Opinions on Laying Methods Please 2Apr 16, 2009 9:30 am I have started laying down my plywood underlay. So far this methods looks to be great. It has a more solid feel to it already. Also any slight dips in the concrete and highs are tapered out. I have some areas where the plywood has finsihed up aroudn 1mm or 2mm different in hieght ( due to concrete never being 100% and also some slight variance in plywood thickness). So here i plan to sand with belt sander or maybe hirer a large one to make it level. I have layed 18mm plywood and plan to lay 19mm timber flooring. Also plywood allows you to nail as well as glue. Before laying plywood I had to lay plastic, i was loking for a sealer product orignally but this proved expensive and of no real benifit if your just going to nail plywood anyway. If you going to do the flooring yourself the plywood method IMHO would be a safer option. Re: Timber Overlay Floors - Opinions on Laying Methods Please 3Apr 16, 2009 12:41 pm Done both methods, and can say the plywood is fair easier! At least you can use a secret nailer to cramp the boards rather than drilling and pegging! Definetly the way to go for an amatuer! Electrical Engineer... Don't hold that against me... And keen owner builder... Mainly the building part!! Re: Timber Overlay Floors - Opinions on Laying Methods Please 5Apr 17, 2009 10:18 pm Pixelated Just wondering whether any of you have laid solid overlay timber (13mm) directly onto a concrete slab using the direct glue method? What have been your experiences with this? Would you recommend it? Does the floor have a hollow or tinny sound? What is it like to walk on? Any problems eg: moisture rising up from the slab etc etc... Hi Pixelated, My DH laid solid 13mm timber boards direct onto our slab using this method. We used Sydney Blue Gum & they look great! No hollow or tinny sound, which we didn't like when we had a floating floor. We haven't had any problems - they've been down for 6 months, but our slab was down for just over 12 months before the floor were done (owner builder!) Hope this helps, Jo Re: Timber Overlay Floors - Opinions on Laying Methods Please 6Apr 18, 2009 4:13 pm We've just had 13mm spotted gum timber glued to our slab - didn't notice a hollow or tinny sound, it just looks awesome. I also asked around re the choice of plywood or gluing direct and once I sifted through all the 'conflicting' feedback, we decided that there was no 'better' way, as end result the same. We found it was a personal choice of the person/contractor installing boards. We were happy that our contractor preferred the gluing method, as we don't have the issue of raising the floors in the other rooms - plus we don't have the additional cost of plywood. Re: Timber Overlay Floors - Opinions on Laying Methods Please 7Apr 18, 2009 10:43 pm Thanks for the feedback I've done a bit more research and it seems there's a fair amount of 'regional variation' in terms of laying preferences for the 13mm boards. In Sydney, it seems, many layers prefer to use plywood, however, in Melbourne and parts of SA they prefer to use the direct glue method. We are paying quite a bit for increased ceiling heights so it seems silly to go higher than absolutely necessary. Thanks to WeezB and Jo K for the feedback on how the floors are bearing up. I was especially worried there might be a funny 'hollow or tinny' sound to laying boards directly onto the slab.. but good to hear that isn't a problem. Pix Built a (highly) modified Allcastle Maxworth 38.7 in Sydney. Re: Timber Overlay Floors - Opinions on Laying Methods Please 8Apr 19, 2009 8:47 pm Not sure if you have read this thread or not but have a look as there is quite abit of info in there about direct stick/ply and water/vapour proofing. viewtopic.php?f=7&t=15875 Ben LEADING THE WAY IN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION BUILDERSEDGE PTY LTD Block of two storey townhouses requires painting on the roof. A brick parapet wall separates each unit and extends above the tiled roof. The parapet walls require sealing… 0 3501 I'm about to put down some Merbau. Is it necessary to oil underneath the boards before laying? 0 1931 Hey There. No problems re jumping in. My original question was "should I have waterproofed" the concrete slab before putting batons down. We have been told we should… 7 4327 |