Browse Forums Flooring & Floor Covering Re: Pre-finished hardwood floor vs pre-finished timber floating 61Nov 17, 2007 12:32 pm Sorry about the two messages for one, but I had to split it since the server refused to accept it otherwise! Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: Pre-finished hardwood floor vs pre-finished timber floating 62Nov 17, 2007 9:35 pm Yak_Chat Allright Ash - I don't mean absolutely no maintenance. But would you not agree that if you are looking for an relatively easy maintain and clean, non staining, hard wearing surface..... Tiles are certainly at or very near the top of the list? Possibly, but not necessarily. Putting aside other pros & cons and just looking at maintenance requirements, tiles can be good. The main maintenance issues are to do with the grout joints collecting and holding soil due to grout's absorbency. Some tile installations are terrible in this regard, and not all are the same. A non vitrified terracotta tile floor with 15mm grout joints can become filthy in no time, whereas, a heavy duty porcelain tile floor with narrow joints & epoxy grout can be excellent. There are tiles & tiles. For best service, narrow grout joints and epoxy grout will provide a floor that requires little maintenance. Otherwise, its best to have grout sealed with quality sealers, and (depending on type of tiles) seal tiles too. Ash. Re: Pre-finished hardwood floor vs pre-finished timber floating 63Nov 17, 2007 9:41 pm Wouln't sealing tiles introduce yet another maintenance item (resealing)? Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: Pre-finished hardwood floor vs pre-finished timber floating 64Nov 17, 2007 9:56 pm Casa2 Wouldn't sealing tiles introduce yet another maintenance item (resealing)? Sealing is to increase reaction time and improve stain resistance (you wanted something that won't stain, right?) and reduce porosity of surfaces to minimize the soil build-up (you didn't want to clean it too much). On some floors, sealers act as a sacrificial coating too, thereby reducing actual wear of the floor surface. Yes, in these cases, maintaining a sacrificial coating sealer, (and re-applying it) is a maintenance thing. But that saves the cost, inconvenience and problems of renewing the floor prematurely due to neglect. Ash. Re: Pre-finished hardwood floor vs pre-finished timber floating 66Nov 18, 2007 9:51 am James This is a great thread. Just a quick question for Casa, or anyone who may know. Can you lay solid floorboards over inslab hydronic heating? Thanks James, I'm trying to get an answer to this myself. Like most things I think it depends. My unprofessional opinion is yes. I think there may have been problems with people running very high temperatures with in-slab hyronics thereby wreaking havic on the thermal and moisture exposure of the floorboards. Some people think hydronic heating is one of those things that you turn on and off as required. This is not how it works. The idea is to set a heating requirement or slab temperature and keep it there. So, maybe, you have to be careful with usage. One thing I do know is (I've done the thermal calculations) is that you either need living area below the slab or you provide a good level of insulation (R3 would be good). Also, hardwood is better than softerwood when it comes to thermal performance. You should either use direct stick or 12 mm plywood underlay. That is, do not use batons as the air gap will provide excessive thermal insulations. Boral has two 12 mm wooden floor products. Slimwood is solid timber, while Silkwood is engineered flooring (4 mm hardwood timber + pine core + timber base). I've noticed that before Silkwood came out, Boral were allowing Slimwood to be used with in-slab hydronics. Now they are not and are suggesting Silkwood. Talk to hydronic in-slab heating suppliers. I'm sure they can refer you to a timber flooring supplier that works with their products. If you do, let us knwo what you find out (or wait a few months and I'll let you know). Cheers, Casa Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: Pre-finished hardwood floor vs pre-finished timber floating 67Nov 18, 2007 6:36 pm Ash Wrote
Quote: Casa2 wrote: Wouldn't sealing tiles introduce yet another maintenance item (resealing)? Here we go again! Ahh the engineer building the perfect house. Not mocking you casa - Just admiring your attention to detail. Steve Re: Pre-finished hardwood floor vs pre-finished timber floating 68Nov 18, 2007 6:55 pm Yak_Chat Ash Wrote Quote: Casa2 wrote: Wouldn't sealing tiles introduce yet another maintenance item (resealing)? Here we go again! Ahh the engineer building the perfect house. Not mocking you casa - Just admiring your attention to detail. Steve You leave my perfect house alone. Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: Pre-finished hardwood floor vs pre-finished timber floating 69Nov 18, 2007 8:13 pm royalblue No maintenance is an option maybe, but the grout will normally become pretty gungey, as well as the face of the tiles. Take the time to seal the grout when new and its not so much of a problem. Re: Pre-finished hardwood floor vs pre-finished timber floating 70Nov 18, 2007 8:17 pm Casa2 Wouldn sealing tiles introduce yet another maintenance item (resealing)? You CANNOT seal porcelain or ceramic floor tiles. The sealer will not bond well and they will be dangerously slippery. You can only seal the grout. Re: Pre-finished hardwood floor vs pre-finished timber floating 71Nov 18, 2007 8:23 pm Casa2 Moving all the furniture out for 3 to 4 days while reapplying tung oil sounds like a nighmare, particularly for the bedrooms. You've mentioned that oil based polyurethane should last about 15 years between coats. Roughly, what is your guess for time between coats for tung oil and water based polyurethane? Cheers, Casa Its hard to say because it depends on the wear. Tung oil and water based poly should give you 10 years or so. Tung oil will wear quicker in high traffic areas such as a hall or kitchen, you can recoat just those areas and they will gradually blend in along the edges. All timber floors will scratch no matter what you seal them with. Re: Pre-finished hardwood floor vs pre-finished timber floating 72Nov 18, 2007 8:29 pm Thanks Dukekamaya,
I'm steering back towards tung oil. I guess moving everything out of the bedrroms every 10 years is OK. And doing the high traffic areas more often, even every 2 years, should not be a problem. Cheers, Casa Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: Pre-finished hardwood floor vs pre-finished timber floating 73Nov 18, 2007 8:33 pm Dukekamaya Casa2 Wouldn sealing tiles introduce yet another maintenance item (resealing)? You CANNOT seal porcelain or ceramic floor tiles. The sealer will not bond well and they will be dangerously slippery. You can only seal the grout. Not necessarily Dukekamaya, True, the glazed surface of most ceramic tiles including porcelain tiles does not support a sealer, neither is it necessary. BUT, polished porcelain tiles usually are somewhat porous, and can stain. This is because the surface is honed after firing to give the apparently smooth flat surface. The honing actually cuts into the glazed surface, exposing the porous body of the tile. There are penetrating sealers specifically designed for these porcelain tiles, and (for best performance) are recommended. Ash. Re: Pre-finished hardwood floor vs pre-finished timber floating 74Nov 18, 2007 8:36 pm Dukekamaya Casa2 Wouldn sealing tiles introduce yet another maintenance item (resealing)? You CANNOT seal porcelain or ceramic floor tiles. The sealer will not bond well and they will be dangerously slippery. You can only seal the grout. "Otherwise, its best to have grout sealed with quality sealers, and (depending on type of tiles) seal tiles too" . Thats why I said "depending on type of tiles" Ash. Re: Pre-finished hardwood floor vs pre-finished timber floating 75Nov 18, 2007 8:37 pm To me its more to do with the look rather than the maintanance. Tung oil gives a natural low sheen look whilst oil based polyurethane looks like a sheet of glass over the floor. The water based poly does come in low sheen - the downside of water based is it doesn't bring out the rich colour of the timber, its a complete toneless clear. Re: Pre-finished hardwood floor vs pre-finished timber floating 76Nov 18, 2007 9:00 pm Dukekamaya To me its more to do with the look rather than the maintanance. Tung oil gives a natural low sheen look whilst oil based polyurethane looks like a sheet of glass over the floor. The water based poly does come in low sheen - the downside of water based is it doesn't bring out the rich colour of the timber, its a complete toneless clear. Dukekamaya, one more question. I've heard of a problem where certain coatings (polyurethane?) can stick floorboards together and therefore they clump together and then there is a large gap when boards shrink. Which coating or method do I avoid? Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: Pre-finished hardwood floor vs pre-finished timber floating 77Nov 19, 2007 1:51 am Quote: I've heard of a problem where certain coatings (polyurethane?) can stick floorboards together and therefore they clump together and then there is a large gap when boards shrink. Which coating or method do I avoid? It can be even worse than that Casa. If the underfloor ventiliation is poor and the boards swell and move a lot - the oil based poly can actually stop theboards moving at the join and I have seen a place where the actual boards were torn apart as the timber splits under the force. Duke - does this also happen with naturally high moisture content timbers too? Steve Re: Pre-finished hardwood floor vs pre-finished timber floating 78Nov 19, 2007 7:15 am Oil based poly can have problems with edge bonding and movement as described.
All timber flooring is kiln dried to around 12% moisture content - there are no 'naturally high moisture' content timbers, you may be confusing it with naturally high oily timbers (spotted gum, tallowood, cypress pine) or even heavy tannin timbers such as merbau Re: Pre-finished hardwood floor vs pre-finished timber floating 79Nov 19, 2007 7:36 am Dukekamaya Oil based poly can have problems with edge bonding and movement as described. All timber flooring is kiln dried to around 12% moisture content - there are no 'naturally high moisture' content timbers, you may be confusing it with naturally high oily timbers (spotted gum, tallowood, cypress pine) or even heavy tannin timbers such as merbau So tung oil or water based polyurethane coating for timber floors it is. Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: Pre-finished hardwood floor vs pre-finished timber floating 80Nov 19, 2007 11:13 am Quote: All timber flooring is kiln dried to around 12% moisture content - there are no 'naturally high moisture' content timbers But don't some timbers stretch/move more than others in winter and summer, wet / dry periods? The place I mentioned above was a pine floor and they had a faulty underwater concrete tank that overflowed (like river) under the house in winter - and that was when the boards used to split. Casa - Also look at the long term volatile gases of your floor coverings. Steve Hi All. I'm currently resurfacing the hardwood floors and when removing the old layers that there's a long dark line running across the boards. Does anyone know what or… 0 12770 Thanks Simon, I guess I'm no concerned with the volume of the noise rather that dead and hollow sound and feel that is associated with floating floors. But I'm not sure… 3 6141 Thanks, that's the motivation I needed to give it a try sooner rather than one day! 4 3002 |