Oak flooring - when can you start to lay it ?

[EdK]

I've got about 80 m2 of solid oak flooring coming next week.

They say you have to let it sit in the house for a month....

I'm really keen to get the flooring don and finished - what will happen if I just start laying it straight away ?

I have heating at the moment in the form of a woodburning stove that takes the house temp up to about 20C. (14C unheated).
This goes on in the evening and kicks out plenty of heat and its back down to about 17C in the morning and falls to about 15C or 14C by the evening - then fire on again.

Is this range of temp too low for flooring - ie will it make it move alot with the cold/hot range ?

REALLY keen to get floored out

Ed

 

[Racers]

Hi,

Leave it for a month or else you will get problems with cupping and shrinking. The temps should be fine as long as you leave an expansion gap.


Pete

 

[chippy1970]

If you look on my website on the first page you will see a solid oak floor I laid in a new build house which is obviously a bit damper than an existing house what with all the fresh plaster etc. Anyway we laid most of the floor which had been there for 8 weeks until it was ok to lay but ran out of flooring (The client supplied it not me) the client was in a hurry to move in so the next lot of flooring only sat there for 1 1/2 weeks and we were told to lay it :roll: well the first lot looks as good as it ever did but the second section in the bedrooms cupped and shrunk gaps everywhere. The customers always right though specially when they are an Architect

Get yourself a moisture meter if you dont have one already.

 

[EdK]

Thanks - will be patient...

OK - no moisture meter - will get one (prob from Axminster).

Any other tools needed ? Have a range of tools but suspect that I need to secret nail through the tongue and into the subfloor/joists.

Have 19mm t&g ply flooring in house.

Thanks

 

[chippy1970]

Thanks - will be patient...



Have 19mm t&g ply flooring in house.

Thanks

Thats great is it pretty new then ? t&g plywood would probably be the best surface you could ask for if its flat then youre laughing. If you are nailing down then you need to hire a Porta nailer they are very easy to use. Then you might need packers to space off the wall to start and a crowbar to clamp up the last board. Obviously you will want a mitre saw, jigsaw maybe but other than that you dont need too many tools. Oh and watch out for pipes

Good luck

Chris

 

[RogerS]

....Oh and watch out for pipes

and mains cables.

These are a very good alternative (recommended to me by Jake) to nailing and do allow you to undo 'mistakes'

http://www.screwfix.com/cats/A454312/Sc ... ite-Screws

 

[EdK]

Yeah kind of new Been renovating an old granite (1890's) cottage and put on a new extension at the back (been back to 3 walls/no floors/no doors/windows...glad it is now weatherproof )

In the old part of the house I put t&g flooring grade ply over the old pine floorboards to stiffen it up a bit (and for levels) and then just continued that over the new part.

I did all the wiring and plumbing too so HOPEFULLY won't hit anything.... have drawn where the pipework is onto the ply and the wiring should be deep enough in the centres of the joists to be missed. With luck.

Yeah... guess I'll get on with painting 160 metres of skirting and architrave while I wait for the oak to stop moving. Got 70 m2 of tiling to do so shouldn't be a problem waiting for the oak to go down... just getting impatient !

Hopefully after all this I might be able to make some furniture (think the house will be a bit minimal for a while...)

Ed

 

[Carlow52]

80 sq m of solid oak with existing woodburning stove: why the wait Spring is coming

 

[EdK]

Bl00dy h3ll ! Heavy stuff... just finished moving the last of it - got it delivered this morning - maybe 1300kg.

Looks lovely.

Got some at mine 'resting' upstairs and the rest is at my folks place around the corner.

I take it that it doesn't matter if it is on site or not - just has to be inside a house? My parents have a similar house and their heating is about the same - they have a spare room so hopefully I haven't made a mistake.

I am going to get a moisture meter - is it worth spending a fair bit or ill the cheapest Axminster own brand be ok?
What moisture reading do I need to start laying or should I just wait a minimum of 4 weeks ?

Thanks
Long armed Ed

 

[TrimTheKing]

Have you got it properly stacked Ed, with spaces between boards? If not might be worth it, you might end up with the outer ones much drier than the inner ones and cause yourself problems.

Cheers

Mark

 

[EdK]

Have moved the stack around a bit this morning - stuff on the top moved down to the bottom etc.
Got it in 3 stacks about 3 ft high and just shuffled them a bit.
Got some sticks between the stacks but not loads.
Air gap of a couple of inches between all the stacks.

Was looking into a moisture meter but looks like unless you spend alot all you get is an indication of mositure.

I guess what I should have done is bought one and measured the initial moisture then checked it each week.

Now I've waited a week I'm thinking that I should just save £20 and play the waiting game and hope that 3 or 4 weeks is enough of a wait.
I don't think that a cheap moisture meter will give me more than a guesstimate anyway or am I wrong ?

Fixing:
What is the best way ?
I met some people at the weekend who have fixed a few floors and they seemed to say nailing / gluing / floating were all good .... didn't really help!

One guy said he had to lift a floor that had been nailed as the squeaks were really bad and he just left it floating. The owner gets some 'creep' but nothing that the occasional flat footed kick won't fix.
Another mate has glued his solid oak down and it doesn't move at all and seems really solid - but I think he had concrete subfloors.

All mine are 19mm t&g flooring ply - most of upstairs also has the original 22mm pine flooring underneath.

Was thinking about screwing it down ?
I'm in no rush and it isn't a commercial job (just for my house) so time is a little irrelevant (within reason) and if screwing it down means no squeaks then I guess I could go that route.
Just not sure how? Pilot holes at the correct angle through the tongues and then thin screws ?
Or glue ? Not too keen on glue as I bet it stinks the whole house out and I have to live here ! Guess I could go room by room...

Help !
Ed

 

[Dibs-h]

Just not sure how? Pilot holes at the correct angle through the tongues and then thin screws ?

Look at the screws Roger linked to - they're specifically made for the purpose.

As for pilot holes - can't say, but you could always test and see how you get on!

Dibs

 

[Shrubby]

Ed
You should be fine with 3 - 4 weeks, as long as no ones been plastering or drying washing in the room
I'll second the portanailer recommendation
If you prepare the subfloor (punch nail heads, belt-sand lumps and bumps and vacuum thoroughly) it will make laying easier and the boards shouldn't squeak - good luck
Matt

 

[billybuntus]

I secret nailed my oak floor onto 18mm chipboard (ply is a much better material to nail into) and I've had no movement at all. Left the oak for 3 weeks before I started.

You really want one of these, does a fantastic job and is very very quick once you get going.

Hire one from your local shop for around £20 a day, the nails come in strips that you load into the nailer. 1 swift blow with the rubber mallet should sink a nail straight through the tongue (it'll take a few goes it get it in one swing).
It also tightens the joint by the motion of hitting the nailer.


In some parts on my floor I didn't nail due to a gas pipe run so I just glued it using regular no more nails and PVA.

 

[billybuntus]

duplicate post

 

[EdK]

What size holes do you drill for rads (15mm copper pipe I think).

Max drill I have is 25mm spade bit.

Do you glue the first strip down or face nail ?

Planning on a 12mm expansion gap and using tongue tite screws at 300mm spacings with a 2mm pilot hole at 45 degrees - should work out.

Not planning on using any silkaflex under each board - should I be ?
Ed

 

[EdK]

One room done ! Went quite well, got a bit bored of painting skirtings though... but v happy to have one room to move in to.
Ed