- Thread starter RaceDiagnostics
- Start date
Barking Mat
Cuddler of hedgehogs.
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- France, Brittany.
Eugh, carpets. Wood or concrete floors every time. I like dust and dog hair.
Mmm, familiar...
dobbslc
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One thing is to check anything you buy RIGHT AWAY!
I bought 2.5k worth of 18mm solid oak flooring from Wickes on a deal but didn't open it for 15 months , when did it was manufactured wrong!
Some of the planks were cut too narrow.
We got it sorted in the end.
I bought 2.5k worth of 18mm solid oak flooring from Wickes on a deal but didn't open it for 15 months , when did it was manufactured wrong!
Some of the planks were cut too narrow.
We got it sorted in the end.
daleyd
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- Wrexham, North Wales
The stuff we fitted looks identical to solid wood.
It’s usually ply that it’s backed with The idea behind the engineered stuff is that the plywood backing is much more stable than a solid wood plank in terms of expansion and warping. The way the ply is manufactured with alternate layers at 90 degrees to each other resists the tendency of the wood to move.
dobbslc
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- Hertfordshire UK
Here's a link to my flooring thread.
Solid wood floor laying.
I have to soon lay a large amount of solid oak wood flooring in my house, the problem is I have to span a suspended floor with floorboards and a screed floor. I'm laying ply over the floorboards to give a better flatter surface and the screed has been covered with self leveling compound. The...
www.mig-welding.co.uk
daleyd
Member
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- Wrexham, North Wales
From what I remember when I was buying mine there’s nothing particularly wrong with solid wood, obviously it’s been around for long enough that it’s a well proven product!! It was just that with our house being so old with no damp course and it being laid on a concrete floor I had visions of it ending up like a bananaExactly ^ I don't know why we didn't go for engineered , I suppose solid wood flooring sounds posher!
If it’s a more modern house it’s probably a bit less important but I certainly would use the engineered stuff again.
Highway_Star
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- 299
My wife used to work for International Decorative Surfaces, part of the Saint Goabin group. UK's biggest distributor of flooring, laminates and worktops.
At out old house, we put down 21mm hand distressed solid Oak from Tuscan that she obtained on staff discount. Hard work, it is Oak after all, but beautiful. A decade alter we moved out, kept the place and rented it for 5 years. We sold it when our tenants gave notice, that floor looked like the day it was laid. This was T&G secret nailed, the original Victorian floorboards sheeted with 8mm ply and underlay on top of the ply.
In this house we have put down engineered hand distressed Oak from Tuscan, she was able to pull the old pal's act and get a hefty discount. Principally because solid has gotten so much more expensive and IDS don't actually supply it anymore for sustainability reasons.
It looks the same on the top as the solid did, but the instructions for this stuff say to lay it floating on a suspended timber floor. The boards here were a lot flatter not being +100 years old, so I made good any loose ones and put down the specified underlay. The engineered flooring is a click-together product.
Not as happy with it was were with the solid oak. Because it's not nailed down it has some bounce as the underlay is quite thick. It marks a lot easier than the solid stuff did, the Oak vener is about 5mm thick. Worse than that, one plank in the middle of living room has delaminated, and bits of the veneer are coming off. We had the rep from IDS here on Firday looking at it, and reporting back to the manufacturer. Obvisouly we could lift half the floor to replace it but apparently a skilled fitter can remove and replace that one baord without lifting the rest of the floor.
I wouldn't go back to carpets though.
At out old house, we put down 21mm hand distressed solid Oak from Tuscan that she obtained on staff discount. Hard work, it is Oak after all, but beautiful. A decade alter we moved out, kept the place and rented it for 5 years. We sold it when our tenants gave notice, that floor looked like the day it was laid. This was T&G secret nailed, the original Victorian floorboards sheeted with 8mm ply and underlay on top of the ply.
In this house we have put down engineered hand distressed Oak from Tuscan, she was able to pull the old pal's act and get a hefty discount. Principally because solid has gotten so much more expensive and IDS don't actually supply it anymore for sustainability reasons.
It looks the same on the top as the solid did, but the instructions for this stuff say to lay it floating on a suspended timber floor. The boards here were a lot flatter not being +100 years old, so I made good any loose ones and put down the specified underlay. The engineered flooring is a click-together product.
Not as happy with it was were with the solid oak. Because it's not nailed down it has some bounce as the underlay is quite thick. It marks a lot easier than the solid stuff did, the Oak vener is about 5mm thick. Worse than that, one plank in the middle of living room has delaminated, and bits of the veneer are coming off. We had the rep from IDS here on Firday looking at it, and reporting back to the manufacturer. Obvisouly we could lift half the floor to replace it but apparently a skilled fitter can remove and replace that one baord without lifting the rest of the floor.
I wouldn't go back to carpets though.
RaceDiagnostics
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- 3,294
Good to hear long term experience of both.
