Browse Forums Flooring & Floor Covering Re: Solid Vs floating timber flooring...price seem too high! 21Apr 26, 2012 4:52 pm just researched prefinished vs raw... seems like a few things need to be taken into account. example as follows... the advantage of using pre-finished solid timber:no sanding and coating is required (may suitable for some families) , if you lay them yourself then you can also have a big saving on the sanding and coating. depends on what type of pre-finished, most of the time the coating on pre-finished is better (less imperfections)than traditional coating done manually by a sander disadvantge: as ppl have already said, finish is not as flat as raw solid.(it also depends on how flat is your substrate and how good the boards are).You will have those little gaps between every board as they can't make square edges on prefinished . So unfortunately , you will get bevel edges. Re: Solid Vs floating timber flooring...price seem too high! 22Apr 28, 2012 3:03 pm I found this little article: Question: I am considering installing 130mm wide American Oak flooring. I'm told that it's generally not wise to secret nail 130mm floor boards though I've also been told the profile of imported American Oak makes it an exception to the rule. Answer: We are not familiar with the profile of American oak flooring but doubt that it gives the timber any special qualities. The reason why the Australian Code Residential timber-framed construction limits secret nailing to boards with a maximum width of 85mm is because boards with a greater surface width need more restraint against possible cupping. Floorboards will cup if they are exposed to wetting or drying from one side. For example, flooring suspended over a damp site will absorb moisture from underneath and the underside of the board will swell more than the topside, making it cup. Similarly, flooring exposed to sun shining on it will lose moisture from the top more than the bottom, making the top surface shrink. Again the result is cupping. Narrow boards may still cup under these conditions, but the points of restraint are closer together. Under stable conditions (no moisture underneath and no drying from the top) wide boards will stay flat, assuming they have been correctly kiln dried and installed. Many older buildings have wide floorboards which have given years of good service, but they often have relatively small windows and shady verandas which help to stabilise indoor conditions. If you feel that the area where you are installing the boards is a stable environment, and the boards have been properly acclimatised, you may feel confident enough to ignore the standard recommendation that "secret" or concealed nailing is not recommended for boards wider than 85 mm Re: Solid Vs floating timber flooring...price seem too high! 24Apr 28, 2012 5:43 pm I knew it...I had this debate with 2 people and they both kept on insisting that it will be fine. One even tried to say that it's only an issue if you go bigger than 130mm width as we are applying glue as well. Well sounds like the effect will depend heavily on the environment and maybe they should have asked about that first. My home is similar and have plenty of large windows (I can see 11 from where i am sitting at the moment) plus a sliding door. It's much worse as the house full open plan which basically has the lounge, dining, kitchen etc all in one big L shape. I'll dfntly top nail them to be safe....trying to avoid (or at least minimize the risk) of the floors cupping in couple of years time. Re: Solid Vs floating timber flooring...price seem too high! 25Apr 28, 2012 5:46 pm P.S. still haven't been able to get a better price for Solid Blackbutt in 130mm...best offer for select has been $98 or something per sqm. Just seems like they are charging more than they should....I guess thats what happens when is one too many middle man. Re: Solid Vs floating timber flooring...price seem too high! 26Apr 28, 2012 7:01 pm Our builder tells us the price of solid timber has increased markedly since the Queensland floods. Is that true? Re: Solid Vs floating timber flooring...price seem too high! 27Apr 30, 2012 5:20 pm MRMR, Go with what you can afford. If you can afford to spend the $20,000 or so on hardwood, then do it. If spending that amount on the flooring is not in your budget, then don't do it, look for a cheaper option or save a little more and get it done later. Engineering timber is certainly a less fuss option, times cheaper to supply and install and better withstands humidity. 1 15923 They using concrete or timber sleepers? Timber or steel uprights? Any drainage behind sleeper? 3 5895 It will be neat but you won't have much freeboard. At least they are not weep holes. Are you in a high intensity rainfall region? The regulatory slope is only required… 3 8283 |