Browse Forums Flooring & Floor Covering Re: Blackbutt T&G flooring vs Engineered Oak floating floori 2May 02, 2015 10:02 pm lissmag Hoping someone can give me help with my flooring decision! We are building a ground floor extension on a concrete slab (no room for piers and joists). The new flooring will go over the concrete slab and also over the existing hallway which is currently pine floorboards. I am having a hard time deciding between whether engineered oak floating floorboards or blackbutt tongue and groove floorboards are the best choice. The flooring will be in our kitchen, lounge and dining and it has to stand up to 3 kids the dog, cat and the pool..... My two choices are: 1. 130mm wide blackbutt tongue and groove (T&G) floorboards batten fixed to concrete slab, lift up existing floorboards in hallway and skirting and install blackbutt boards over existing joists. 2. 220mm wide engineered oak floorboards 21mm thick on 3mm underlay, floated over concrete slab and pine floorboards in hallway.(Existing skirtings in hallway will be removed so there is no quad needed). Price wise there is not much difference, but all the builders are telling me T&G flooring is way better than floating as floating is seen as a "temporary floor covering" and it cant be sanded (as much as the salespeople tell you it can) . However I prefer the look of the floating floor but don't want to choose the wrong product if it isn't as durable as T&G flooring. Any advice would be appreciated!! How did you go with this decision? Have you laid it yet? We are facing the same question... Here's what I've found on the forum of use. Overall I'm thinking if we really want wide boards it has to be the engineered oak. Quoting heaps of posts here... I renovated my townhouse recently and I chose Preference Wide Oak in Chardonnay for the living room, dining room, the stairs and the landing at the top of the stairs. It is an engineered floor that is 21mm thick. There is a 6mm layer of oak on top, which allows for sanding apparently. I too was originally going to have Blackbutt, but when I saw this flooring I changed my mind. It was more expensive but the results have been worth it. It is beautiful - it looks and feels like solid planks. I love the wide boards and the matt finish. I decided to get an engineered floor because I like the wide board look. It is a bit risky getting wide solid boards as they are more prone to cupping. Unless you have strict temperature and humidity control inside, an engineered floor is the best for Australian conditions as they offer more stability. I paid $94 sqm for the flooring alone. I have seen it online for around $88 sqm. With wooden flooring, engineered or plank, it is the minor details that make a big difference. Check the specs and get a good installer. Quality doesn't come cheap. Hi James, Do you know of any places that do this flooring for that price that is good quality? My quotes are coming back $150-$200m2 for both solid and engineered. Try contacting ECOLOGIC in Melbourne (wholesaler) and asking about ther Artisan European Oak. They should be able to point you to a retailer in Perth. jamesbp wrote: Should be able to get these flooring under a $100 per m2 installed Unlikely for a good product that is installed correctly (vapour barrier, glued and secret nailed). My only issue with oak is they aren't a hard timber (Janka rating of 5.5. And I would assume with the texture of the grain, they are easily scratched. They look nice but I can't help a good Aust hardwood would be more practical. Several things to consider Firstly, there are several advantages of engineered. you can have insulation under it the better quality engineered boards are dimensionally more stable than hardwood because of the different layers running at 90 degrees to each other can be much quicker to lay can be DIY You need to be aware that you can only resurface hardwood boards at most 1 more time than engineered. Engineered boards average 3-5mm of timber over 10-12mm of multi layers of ply and most hardwood boards have a 6mm rebate to the tongue. And in any case is greatly dependant on the quality of your resurfacer. The disadvantages are they can be more expensive per m2 and can be prone to puncture damage from pointy objects (ie stilettos). Hardwood boards are laid in one of 3 manners. Direct stick - boards are glued to the concrete. This requires the slab to be dry or an impervious membrane laid as well as having the slab very level (grinding and/or levelling agents). Will match your existing carpet/tile heights. On ply - ply is stuck as per direct stick above but the floor does not need to be as level. Boards are then nailed to the ply. Depending on the thickness of the ply, you may only be able to top nail rather than blind nail. On battens - random length battens are nailed to the concrete and then the boards nailed (either method) to the battens. This gives a more traditional feel as the boards have a slight spring. You can also add insulation between the battens and being on battens, reduces the chance of slab moisture affecting the boards. The downside is that you need the slab rebated at construction time to have it match the carpet/tile floor levels. Which ever way you go, try to ensure your slab is dry and also have the boards sit in the rooms they will be laid in for several weeks to acclimatise. Regards RiH I used engineered american oak, from Tait flooring. It's around 6-8mm thick, so you can sand it back and refinish it if needed, but the selling point for me was that I was able to install it myself (glue/secret nail), and then didn't have to hire someone at ~$40 per m2 to finish it. Once it's down - you're done - and it looks terrific. No sanding mess etc. Also - being engineered, i think it's more stable, so where you previously thought a 180mm or 150mm board was too wide and would cause cupping - I believe when engineered, the risk goes down significantly, so if your significant other insists on wide floor boards - engineered is a good way to go. _________________ my house blog: http://sugarloafdrivebuild.blogspot. 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 6107 Engineering timber is certainly a less fuss option, times cheaper to supply and install and better withstands humidity. 1 15884 Thanks, that's the motivation I needed to give it a try sooner rather than one day! 4 2983 |