Browse Forums Flooring & Floor Covering 1 Mar 13, 2010 10:20 am OK, I'm starting this new thread to log some hints, tips, ideas and comments as I go through the search for our flooring type. Our Case: DOWNSTAIRS: We want real timber floor in living areas and ceramic tiles in the kitchen and main hallway, which directly adjoin the living areas. Issue: We need to keep the floor height as low as possible (because we didn't raise the kitchen). So, I'd say we have about 35mm absolute max to play with. BUT, we'd also like to avoid using screed under the ceramic tiles, we'd like glue only. Which means that all floors really should be max about 20mm high. Unless the glue under the tiles can go a bit higher? So, what type of timber flooring can fit within that height (together with any underlay)? What are our options for timber flooring? We think we can choose only between slimwood and parquetry. Some tips that I got earlier from timber experts: "All solid timber floors need the expansion joint if the whole area is more than 7m wide." And more: - Some experts don't like slimwood because the long thin boards can be slightly bended adn during installation they must be secret nailed to straighten them up. Sometimes during nailing they chip or break. They have to nail them because otherwise the bended board would affect other boards. If they cut the board, the floor can look "too busy" with too many shorter pieces. - Parquetry can be glued directly to slab, apparently easier than slimwood. - Parquetry comes in various thicknesses, eg. 14mm, 19mm, and possibly more. - Parquetry is solid timber with no grooves at all. Therefore, it lends itself to more sanding because there is no groove to hit (as in t&g boards). So, the lifetime can be much longer. For example, solid t&g only has about 4mm max sand depth (since the groove starts at about 6mm), while Parquetry can be sanded to some 8mm depth (depending on thickness). Slab levelling: - Self levelling compounds are not that good, especially if they cover small undulations, like 2mm. They sometimes loosen from the slab, epsecially in these areas where they are thin. So, the floor is loosened up. - Yes, some experts prefer to sand the slab. Does anyone have tallowwood floors? Can you post a pic? I need to see the colour please. Also, ANY parquetry pics, with timber species please. Actually, feel free to load this thread with your timber&ceramic tiles pics (and of areas where they adjoin)! UPSTAIRS: We are assuming that we can use solid 19mm t&g raw boards upstairs and nail them directly onto builder's plywood floor. Is this assumption correct? Any issues with it? Do we need any uderlay and what type? HELP My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Which Solid Timber Flooring on Slab (with NO Battens) 2Mar 13, 2010 10:35 am I'll tell you what I'm doing, which sounds similar to what you are after. All my floor heights are 24 mm. I've got timber, tile and carpet flooring. For timber I'll be using 12 mm plywood then 12/13 mm Slimwood For tiles I'll be using a screed layer then glue then 10 mm tiles (Tilers prefer to use a 20 mm plus screed, but mine will have to be a bit thinner at about 12 mm (2 mm for glue) For carpet, raise the floor using plywood, then usual laying method. You need a screed for tiles as floors are rarely level enough. Tilers will want to put a screed down. For wet areas, I've recessed the slab 30 mm to allow for a fall and screed. Hope this helps. Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: Which Solid Timber Flooring on Slab (with NO Battens) 3Mar 13, 2010 10:38 am I suppose we could do Floating Floor (FF) too. One supplier says that floating floor is exceptionally stable because the cross-ply configuration restrains the movement of any of the 3 layers. This supplier says that the layers are (supposedly): top layer, a core layer and a stabilizing bottom layer. Then they say: - The top layer is 4mm of solid timber. This is the wear layer and is factory coated. - The core layer is made from 9mm thick pine. This is the tongue and groove layer. The grain in this layer runs in the opposite direction to the top and base layers. - The base layer is a 2mm thick plantation timber - but what does that mean "plantation timber" ?? The FF comes in 1, 2 or 3 strip pattern. My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Which Solid Timber Flooring on Slab (with NO Battens) 4Mar 13, 2010 10:45 am Thanks Casa, just noticed your post. I talked to a tiler and he said that he would glue tiles too. He also said that, where the slab is not level (undulations), he would just add more glue. We'd like to avoid screed under tiles because: - the final floors would have to be a bit higher, maybe too high for us - screed adds to the cost of tiling, I think about $25-30 / m2 extra - I suspect (but this is only my own thinking) that a thin screed might not be as "stable" as typical 30mm screed ??! (I mean it has a little more chance to loosen up from the slab - but maybe I'm wrong) We don't worry about the recessed areas, in fact ours are not recessed. We have seen wet areas in display homes (and they are typically raised by a few cm) and that is fine with us - as long as it's not unusual. I do agree it's better to have them all at same level. In fact, it would be even better if they were lower than main floors (flooding) and not the opposite !!! I don't get it that project builders would raise them - if anything, all logic points to lowering them !! My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Which Solid Timber Flooring on Slab (with NO Battens) 5Mar 13, 2010 11:37 am Actually, whenever the floors are subsequently sanded (during their life, later on), it would create a problem where they adjoins existing tiles (as the timber floor will become a bit lower than the tiled floor, probably about 3-4mm). My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Which Solid Timber Flooring on Slab (with NO Battens) 6Mar 13, 2010 1:14 pm Has anyone noticed any difference in the height of their staircase risers? We were told that the stair risers must be adjusted to suit future flooring. But ... How can a builder make sure that all risers will indeed be of equal height, and I mean especially the bottom thread&riser - due to client possibly putting in a floor that has a little bit of different height than the builder thought ? For example, for people with porc floors next to staircase, do you have difference in height of the bottom riser and all the other risers? Or, any floor actually ... My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Which Solid Timber Flooring on Slab (with NO Battens) 7Mar 13, 2010 2:28 pm Lex Has anyone noticed any difference in the height of their staircase risers? We were told that the stair risers must be adjusted to suit future flooring. But ... How can a builder make sure that all risers will indeed be of equal height, and I mean especially the bottom thread&riser - due to client possibly putting in a floor that has a little bit of different height than the builder thought ? For example, for people with porc floors next to staircase, do you have difference in height of the bottom riser and all the other risers? Or, any floor actually ... I guess you need to specify the flooring height before stairs are built. Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: Which Solid Timber Flooring on Slab (with NO Battens) 8Mar 13, 2010 3:23 pm Yeah, we can say "I'll have ceramic tiles" and then the builder does their thing with stairs but even ceramic tiles, once finished, could be a few mm higher or lower than they calcualted for stairs ... I think that the client will only need to say flooring type, not the height of flooring - and there would probably always be small variations up or down ... which would then affect the bottom riser by that much. In fact, can anyone measure their stair risers - any difference bewtween riser heights!???! Even a slightest one!? My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Which Solid Timber Flooring on Slab (with NO Battens) 9Mar 14, 2010 9:08 am Found another tip - aparently to stop edge bonding (boards gluing together): Apply Sealmaster after sanding. It also stops discolouration of edges in certain species (like American White Oak or Blackbutt). However, it is not to be used on other certain species (eg. Brushbox or Turpentine) due to reaction of the chemical with the wood. My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Which Solid Timber Flooring on Slab (with NO Battens) 11Mar 14, 2010 12:08 pm Lex Found another tip - aparently to stop edge bonding (boards gluing together): Apply Sealmaster after sanding. It also stops discolouration of edges in certain species (like American White Oak or Blackbutt). However, it is not to be used on other certain species (eg. Brushbox or Turpentine) due to reaction of the chemical with the wood. I read that water based systems (in comparison to solvent based) are more prone to edge bonding as it takes longer for water to evaporate and it penetrates more into timber. (WFA Technical Data Sheet "Edge Bonding / Panelisation") See there: http://www.woodflooringassociation.com. ... heets.html ... built a Promenade with Clarendon. viewtopic.php?f=31&t=25104 20-10-09 - excavation and piering completed ... 12-04-10 - Basins fixed. Connecting to the electrical grid 23-04-10 - PCI 07-05-10 - HANDOVER! Re: Which Solid Timber Flooring on Slab (with NO Battens) 12Mar 14, 2010 9:23 pm Wow e, you've read that pdf!! Wow! Anyway, that's a bit odd to me My thinking was that water-based is thinner and therefore less likely to become too strong a coating ... - obviously not !?! My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Which Solid Timber Flooring on Slab (with NO Battens) 13Mar 15, 2010 1:52 pm Lex Wow e, you've read that pdf!! Wow! Anyway, that's a bit odd to me My thinking was that water-based is thinner and therefore less likely to become too strong a coating ... - obviously not !?! Obviously Also, after some more research I tend to start believing that using a sealer as the first coat is a good idea. ... built a Promenade with Clarendon. viewtopic.php?f=31&t=25104 20-10-09 - excavation and piering completed ... 12-04-10 - Basins fixed. Connecting to the electrical grid 23-04-10 - PCI 07-05-10 - HANDOVER! Re: Which Solid Timber Flooring on Slab (with NO Battens) 14Mar 15, 2010 2:29 pm Casa2 You're becoming quite an expert Lex. Haha, more like a very indecisive customer Now we're even thinking about bamboo and engineered floors !! - which were a big no-no only a few days ago! Apparently, engineered floors are the most stable of all floors containing/being timber (most resistant to stretching and shrinking due to moisture and temp variations). My BH would now go bamboo ... but I think it can be loaded with formaldehyde (depending on the mfr). Anyone out there has Big River engineered flooring? I'd probabaly take it, but don't like the wide boards (138mm min width) !!! Or, is there an equally good brand of engineered flooring, mfr-ed in Oz?? ebyelyakov ... Also, after some more research I tend to start believing that using a sealer as the first coat is a good idea. This is all too much work for me ... like investigating what does a sealer do. Obviously, it must be sealing the raw wood, but does that mean that sealer will protect the wood from changing the colour (eg. from yellowing under poly finishes, and darkening with the age)?? Anything else it's useful for ? My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Which Solid Timber Flooring on Slab (with NO Battens) 15Mar 15, 2010 5:59 pm ... built a Promenade with Clarendon. viewtopic.php?f=31&t=25104 20-10-09 - excavation and piering completed ... 12-04-10 - Basins fixed. Connecting to the electrical grid 23-04-10 - PCI 07-05-10 - HANDOVER! Re: Which Solid Timber Flooring on Slab (with NO Battens) 17Mar 15, 2010 8:02 pm Lex ... and a half, more like it OK, but three coats ?! Or we could just buy pre-finished ... There are pros and cos with either option... ... built a Promenade with Clarendon. viewtopic.php?f=31&t=25104 20-10-09 - excavation and piering completed ... 12-04-10 - Basins fixed. Connecting to the electrical grid 23-04-10 - PCI 07-05-10 - HANDOVER! Re: Which Solid Timber Flooring on Slab (with NO Battens) 18Mar 16, 2010 2:57 pm Just found out that apparently the latest in engineered timber flooring is that the boards are 20mm thick with a wear (timber) layer of 6mm. Typically, the boards are only approx 15mm thick, with only a 3mm wear layer (4mm rarely). So, has anyone heard of or seen these new floors, as it is impossible to find an actual product (or mfr, or reseller) !?!? My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Which type of Timber Flooring ? 20Mar 25, 2010 3:23 pm Has anyone used plywood sheeting under the full timber boards on their top floor? Is it really necessary? Or is some kind of soft underlay all that people use? My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Natural stone tiles like slate, travertine, and limestone add a timeless, elegant look to… 0 22642 Engineering timber is certainly a less fuss option, times cheaper to supply and install and better withstands humidity. 1 15886 Hi l plan to install a self adhesive vinyl plank floor. l first need to attach masonite boards underlay to by plywood subfloor of my house. What size nails and how many… 0 8358 |