Browse Forums Flooring & Floor Covering 1 May 04, 2011 1:01 am Hi Many years ago we had a spotted gum floor layed in home. We love it... but we have sold this house and would like to do timber again in the new home. It was laid on battens. Is this how timber is layed today, or can it be put straight on the slab? I am worried if it goes on battens again we will have little step edges between where the timber meets the carpet. Can anyone shed some light on this. Also does anyone have photos of the timber and carpet meeting up. Thanks... Re: Battens under the timber flooring 2May 06, 2011 12:58 pm Battens is pretty old school. Now guys fix 13mm ply to the floor with special plugs that need drilling out and smashing in. I think they also lay black plastic moisture barrier underneath. It would be a lot more solid than battens which I have found can sound hollow under foot. this also makes the finished floor a lot thinner than battens. Re: Battens under the timber flooring 3May 07, 2011 9:44 pm We're having spotted gum laid in our new home, on battens they don't have to be batten fixed though, our builder recommended it to give a more "authentic" sound. We are having the slab rebated where the timber is laid so that the carpet & timber end up sitting flush. Not all builders would be happy to rebate the slab though. Otherwise you could get the timber floating floor? I believe Boral have a range called "silkwood" it is real timber but laid like a laminate floor tongue/groove style. Still looks nice & I'm 99% sure they have spotted gum if you want it again. Building our custom design "Dream Home" Follow my Build - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=46820 Contract Signed - 28/04/11 Siteworks Commenced - 20/06/11 Re: Battens under the timber flooring 4May 13, 2011 2:32 pm Hi Cass, I have timber floors laid on battens joined to carpet in my home. I don't have a photo with me at the moment, but the way they have done the join at my place is to chamfer the edge so it is almost like a 'ramp' leading to the carpet. It looks great and you can barely notice the height difference (would be about 40mm from memory). PM me if you want a photo. Re: Battens under the timber flooring 5May 13, 2011 5:43 pm Battens are 19mm thick (2"x1" in the old money, dressed to 19mm). Timber flooring is 19mm also. Gives you 38mm in total. A better solution is to just go a good quality "floating floor" with all the fixings. Looks goods, wears well, doesn't move (as much). You are never going to get a an "authentic" timber floor on a slab. It's a slab for god's sake. If you want a "real" timber floor you have to use bearers and joists. So since you are only making an imitation of the real thing, stick with the floater - it's an imitation but does it really well. You cannot make a silk goat out of a sows freckle. Re: Battens under the timber flooring 6May 13, 2011 6:08 pm YellowPaper Hi Cass, I have timber floors laid on battens joined to carpet in my home. I don't have a photo with me at the moment, but the way they have done the join at my place is to chamfer the edge so it is almost like a 'ramp' leading to the carpet. It looks great and you can barely notice the height difference (would be about 40mm from memory). PM me if you want a photo. that's how mine is done yellowpaper, I like it too BuilderPaul You are never going to get a an "authentic" timber floor on a slab. It's a slab for god's sake. If you want a "real" timber floor you have to use bearers and joists. So since you are only making an imitation of the real thing, stick with the floater - it's an imitation but does it really well. I disagree. I have real solid normal timber on my slab, it's the real deal and not an imitation of anything. How on earth would being on battens make it more real? make it more "what-they-did-in-the-old-days" sure, but more real?? nup! Lot927, my carpet and timber are at the same level. the only place it steps down is where it meets the tiles in the wet areas. I prefer it going down as it keeps the water in one place. where it goes down, it has the little graduated ramp as yellowpaper described above. If you do want it all the same level, this can be done if the tiler builds up the bit under the tiles a bit more. entirely possible, and it won't be imitating anything! good luck! "Your emotions are the slaves to your thoughts, and you are the slave to your emotions." — Elizabeth Gilbert Living in our new house. Currently scaping the land. Re: Battens under the timber flooring 7May 13, 2011 7:11 pm builderpaul i know you might be referring to the authentic sound of the boards when they r laid on battens. However I am finding that having timber on plywood then slab means that my floor is more solid and quieter and doesn't move(shirk and expand) as much as what I would expect if it was on bearers and joist. Re: Battens under the timber flooring 9May 14, 2011 1:05 pm Huggy_B I dont know why people would put ply or battens down on a perfectly good substrate of concrete? Complicating a pretty simply process IMO... Using plywood would mean you should be able to get a better quality finish. But really depends on the house. If it is just a basic square room you are doing then you might not see the different. However it gives you more options when nailing an glueing. Also over time it is possible that the boards might loosen and pop up when just nailing to concrete. This is because sometime you may not get a perfect bond espeically if there is a low spot on the slab. ALso ply wood is not going to crack like a slab would. In my house i put plywood throughout the house even in the carpet area. The carpet is warmer under the feed and so is the timber floor. On a really cold night you would otherwise feel the cold of the slab coming through. Engineering timber is certainly a less fuss option, times cheaper to supply and install and better withstands humidity. 1 15907 Thanks for the insights, that makes perfect sense, and yeah, I will be leaning on the experience of the excavator operator entirely. 6 16125 |