Browse Forums Flooring & Floor Covering 1 Aug 17, 2010 1:42 pm Hi guys, It's been a while since I posted here last time and lots have happened for us since then- permits approved, found a lovely builder and our site finally started in early July and we're now at Frame stage. Today I'm hoping if someone could please share their experience/photos/opinions on timber boards plank width! We have open plan kitchen/living area of 9m (deep) x 7m (wide)- it's two long skinny townhouses I'm building in Melb. We're going to lay solid Spotted Gum floors but not sure whether to use wider planks or narrow planks... Given it's a narrow space I'd thought narrow planks would make the space appear larger... but then that would make the space look busy as Spotted Gum has much characteristics in them... please help! Cheers, Re: Solid Timber Spotted Gum - Wide or narrow planks??? 2Aug 17, 2010 7:34 pm If your using 19mm solid flooring the wide boards must be top-nailed whilst the narrow boards can be secret-nailed. Other than that its purely aesthetic - me personally I'd go the wider boards. We currently have a heap of 180x22mm spotted gum flooring at work at the moment, its absolutely fantastic You can secret-nail the wide boards if you use a 14mm thick solid overlay board rather than the traditional 19mm board Re: Solid Timber Spotted Gum - Wide or narrow planks??? 3Aug 18, 2010 12:33 pm Thanks Dukekamaya! We're quoted for 14mm think boards so we should be able to go for wider boards without having to top-nail them! Are wide boards generally dearer than narrow ones? Re: Solid Timber Spotted Gum - Wide or narrow planks??? 4Aug 18, 2010 6:19 pm Boral over the last year or so have endorsed a procedure for secret fixing of wide 19mm boards. Search their website for "Secret Fixing Wide Boards Procedure" and this will send you to a PDF which talks about the installation procedure outlining the secret fixing of Boral Timber Flooring`s 19mm solid strip flooring wide boards. Wide boards are a much more contemporary look. Price per sqm is slightly dearer for the wider boards but you save money on the installation. Cheers Re: Solid Timber Spotted Gum - Wide or narrow planks??? 5Aug 18, 2010 8:39 pm Gunman Thanks Dukekamaya! We're quoted for 14mm think boards so we should be able to go for wider boards without having to top-nail them! Are wide boards generally dearer than narrow ones? Yes, generally dearer per sq. metre Re: Solid Timber Spotted Gum - Wide or narrow planks??? 6Aug 18, 2010 8:41 pm namtrak Boral over the last year or so have endorsed a procedure for secret fixing of wide 19mm boards. Search their website for "Secret Fixing Wide Boards Procedure" and this will send you to a PDF which talks about the installation procedure outlining the secret fixing of Boral Timber Flooring`s 19mm solid strip flooring wide boards. Cheers Essentially its Borals poor attempt at countering the 130mm and 180mm x 14mm overlay benefits. There are that many disclaimers and conditions most installers I know have balked at it Re: Solid Timber Spotted Gum - Wide or narrow planks??? 7Aug 18, 2010 9:18 pm We are having 19mm Spotted Gum in our reno. They were more expensive than the narrower ones but we much preferred the look of them. We haven't installed them yet so I can't show you any pictures Have you had a look at some of the showrooms around? You don't say what part of Melbourne you are from but Shiver-Me-timbers in Maidstone and Urban Salvage in Spotswood both have good showrooms. There is a another place in Coburg called Connellys which have a big showroom too. We spent a day having a look, decided what we wanted and then rang around for the best price. Good luck, Albi Re: Solid Timber Spotted Gum - Wide or narrow planks??? 8Aug 19, 2010 3:12 pm albi We are having 19mm Spotted Gum in our reno. They were more expensive than the narrower ones but we much preferred the look of them. We haven't installed them yet so I can't show you any pictures Have you had a look at some of the showrooms around? You don't say what part of Melbourne you are from but Shiver-Me-timbers in Maidstone and Urban Salvage in Spotswood both have good showrooms. There is a another place in Coburg called Connellys which have a big showroom too. We spent a day having a look, decided what we wanted and then rang around for the best price. Good luck, Albi Thank you all for great info! Both Maidstone and Spotswood are close to where I live, so thanks Albi! Flooring is already covered in our build price so I don't need to get quotes from other places but will definitely check their showrooms! Albi, so you're using 19mm thick boards but what width though? And are you top nailing them? Cheers! Re: Solid Timber Spotted Gum - Wide or narrow planks??? 9Aug 19, 2010 5:19 pm Also be aware there is NSW Spotted Gum and Qld Spotted Gum - the Qld is fairly dark whilst the NSW can range from lightish to mid tones - it depends on where in the State in comes from. North coast NSW Spotted gum is the best IMO Re: Solid Timber Spotted Gum - Wide or narrow planks??? 10Aug 19, 2010 7:38 pm Dukekamaya namtrak Boral over the last year or so have endorsed a procedure for secret fixing of wide 19mm boards. Essentially its Borals poor attempt at countering the 130mm and 180mm x 14mm overlay benefits. There are that many disclaimers and conditions most installers I know have balked at it Duke, can you elaborate what you meant by this? confusing .... And are you talking of [130mm wide x 14mm thick overlay] and [180mm wide x 14mm thick overlay] as having benefits over 19mm thick boards? My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Solid Timber Spotted Gum - Wide or narrow planks??? 11Aug 19, 2010 7:55 pm I mean Boral don't produce wide board overlay flooring that is suitable for secret-fixing so have come up with this 'method' Re: Solid Timber Spotted Gum - Wide or narrow planks??? 13Aug 19, 2010 9:20 pm I guess I can only speak from my experience, but over the last few years I have installed one or two 130mm by 19mm floors (including my own) either by secret nail or direct stick to concrete and I haven't had any recalls yet. I think the important thing is that floor is over a solid substrate (ply etc) and the glue is trowelled rather than gunned on. The point about the Boral process is that one of Australia's largest suppliers is now providing a warranty based process for installing wider boards without the need for secret nailing. As a matter of fact I was at clients today and their builder had installed 130sqm of wide Stringybark boards with out top nailing, and after a few months the floor was still holding in there. Re: Solid Timber Spotted Gum - Wide or narrow planks??? 14Aug 20, 2010 7:00 pm We have a customer(home owner) taking another customer ( lic.builder) to Dept. of Fair Trading at the moment for secret-nailing of flooring not suitable for it and the problems it has caused. There was another problem with the way the flooring was laid which hasn't helped matters 19mm solid flooring with a finished width of over 85mm is not suitable for secret nailing under the Building Code Of Australia Re: Solid Timber Spotted Gum - Wide or narrow planks??? 15Aug 20, 2010 10:54 pm That section in the BCA or Australian Standards would be a good reference if you can provide it. I know top nailing 130mm was an old standard, maybe modern practices have moved on? Given that a practice such as direct stick is so common now (with no nails whatsoever) it goes to reason that top nailing a troweled floor may not be necessary Here is some stuff from the horses mouth. http://www.bpn.com.au/article/Nailing-t ... 37343.aspx http://www.spec-net.com.au/press/0709/syd_290709.htm Re: Solid Timber Spotted Gum - Wide or narrow planks??? 16Aug 20, 2010 11:12 pm The first article says this: "“Installers need to be skilful with the nail gun. As with visible nailing, they need to be competent with cramping pressure and have to move quickly, so as to avoid cupping caused by excess pressure,” Johnson says". What does this mean?? - that too much cramping pressure on the boards leaves to cupping UNLESS they work fast?!!??!?! BTW namtrack, any progress on that tallow? My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Solid Timber Spotted Gum - Wide or narrow planks??? 17Aug 21, 2010 7:38 am You can work too hard on a job, when clamping up the boards if you place too much pressure they can move a little. I find the problem is that boards as a group tend to lift off the substrate if you apply too much pressure more than cupping. I think the reference to working quickly is that once the glue (about 600mm ahead) is trowelled down you only have a certain amount of time before it goes off. Still haven't heard from the client - will leave it in their hands for the time being. I did take some pics after the first coat but buggered if I can find em. Just wanted to add that I find threads like this invaluable. As a floorie I am very conscious of sharing info with people in the industry and DYI'ers both online and on the job. I am always looking to improve my own skillset and depth of knowledge in the search for the perfect floor! Thanks! Re: Solid Timber Spotted Gum - Wide or narrow planks??? 18Aug 23, 2010 7:30 pm I don't know anyone who still clamps the floor boards - the norm now is to fix with the secret nailer and then go across with the T-nailer. Its much faster. Re: Solid Timber Spotted Gum - Wide or narrow planks??? 19Aug 23, 2010 8:15 pm I still clamp where needed using the Nobow pneumatic floor clamper - its a winner for direct stick jobs and sole operator. However most select grade floors only need a quick punch with the secret nailer Hi We have Hybrid Spotted Gum Hp0995 from carpet call. It turned out to be very dark and rough. Is there any polish or product we can use to make it shinier ? 0 9174 Engineering timber is certainly a less fuss option, times cheaper to supply and install and better withstands humidity. 1 15884 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 8356 |