Engineered Oak Flooring

[SteveF]

I have about 40m2 to fit in the bottom floor of our house
can anyone recommend an easy to fit quality product
the cleaner does have a tendency to wash them and they will also be in kitchen and closet
I have wood flooring throughout at moment that is all coming up
I have never been happy as there are a few places that are a bit uneven and wondered if it was worth putting hardboard down first (concrete floor below)
is it worth spending on high quality underlays?

Steve

 

[Geoff_S]

Engineered flooring and water? Please no. I learnt the hard way. After a while the laminated oak will peel away. How long that takes depends on how much and
how often the water is sloshed on it.

 

[Hemsby]

I installed engineered oak flooring (4mm thick Oak top layer) 5 years ago which runs continuously through sitting room, dining room and throughout the kitchen.

It is subject to normal water from the sink, dishwasher and cooker and is regularly wiped over with floor wipes (for wood and laminate flooring) also gets an occasional wash with washing up liquid, but not with a bucket and mop :!: . I was dubious before the installation about its longevity but despite the additional best efforts of the grandchildren and their spilled drinks and dogs water bowls it still looks great apart from a slight uniform colour change of the lacquer from the light and the “lived in look” from a few dropped sharp knifes which of course land point first #-o

I would like to replace the carpets in all the bedrooms with the same product but we purchased it online and I just cant remember from where #-o

 

[SteveF]

Engineered flooring and water? Please no. I learnt the hard way. After a while the laminated oak will peel away. How long that takes depends on how much and
how often the water is sloshed on it.

I have not had any of the oak peeled away after 5 years, but you can tell it has had too much water
it is still good enough that I would leave it down
but house fire has charred a small area and it needs replacing

Steve

 

[AndyT]

We're still happy with ours from Karhs - I think its 4mm oak on 10mm of softwood, so thick enough to be sanded and resealed if it ever needed. It's click together, unglued. I was originally intending to go over it with fresh varnish after fitting as I was concerned about water in the kitchen area but I never did and it's not been a problem. It's been down for over 10 years now. Some damage from dropped knives etc but nothing major. The occasional cleaning with warm water and detergent on a damp cloth - not a mop.
And yes, buy the best underlay you can - you don't want thin underlay making it bounce in doorways.

 

[Mark A]

Avoid the natural oak engineered flooring from B&Q. I recently laid some in my sister's house and the joints are so badly designed they need a lot of persuasion with a lump hammer to fit together. However, as the flooring was going down in the first floor landing the heavy-handed approach was out of the question as vibrations would have damaged the ceiling below. My solution was to bring all the flooring home from Coventry, modify the joints with a router, and go back the following week to install the flooring using an adhesive on the joints. Not sure if that's the recommended way but it seemed to have worked.

Mark

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[SteveF]

Avoid the natural oak engineered flooring from B&Q. I recently laid some in my sister's house and the joints are so badly designed they need a lot of persuasion with a lump hammer to fit together. However, as the flooring was going down in the first floor landing the heavy-handed approach was out of the question as vibrations would have damaged the ceiling below. My solution was to bring all the flooring home from Coventry, modify the joints with a router, and go back the following week to install the flooring using an adhesive on the joints. Not sure if that's the recommended way but it seemed to have worked.

Mark

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I was looking at the CADENZA NATURAL OAK from b&q so I guess that was a bad choice
budget is around 2k for 40m2

Steve

 

[banjerbill]

I purchased Galway oak flooring from https://www.flooringsupplies.co.uk
Excellent service and good price, It looks a treat but I wouldn't wash it.
Your floor, your cleaner, just say no water on the floor please.

Bill

 

[gwr]

Engineered oak is what my Mrs was wanting down and after talking to several people that have had it layed we got mixed reviews and in the end opted for Karndean flooring with a lifetime guarantee for domestic use.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I had samples from https://www.directwoodflooring.co.uk/ that were very good. I will go with them the next floor I do. Worth a look?

 

[NikNak]

Strange that as we have the CADENZA NATURAL OAK from B&Q in our dining room (approx 14sq mtrs) and it went down a dream (hammer) 4yrs on and yes its had the odd 'mishap' with things being dropped etc and the lacquer has faded/changed colour slightly, but other than that we're VERY pleased with it. A quick look on B&Q's website says its £45 per sq mtr :shock: i'm sure we didn't pay half that.! so i bet they'll be having a 'sale' soon, and bring the price back down to 'normal'.

As for putting it on a concrete floor, what i did was use fiberboards then a thin 2mm layer of the foam (on a roll) insulation. You will be surprised as to how much the foam does regarding heat retention.... or rather the cold NOT coming up from the concrete. I'll be doing the same when i eventually get round to replacing the awful (looking) flooring in the hallway the previous occupier put down (3 strip engineered oak laid the wrong way... width way rather than length of hall.!)

 

[Geoff_S]

Engineered oak is what my Mrs was wanting down and after talking to several people that have had it layed we got mixed reviews and in the end opted for Karndean flooring with a lifetime guarantee for domestic use.

The same here more or less, except my wife wanted the Karndean ... full stop. We had it in our kitchen for 8 years laid on a concrete floor. It looked great and still did after 8 years. Then we
discovered that we had a slow leak in a pipe in the concrete floor. The damage was similar to what you would get in a flood, 4ft of rising damp up the walls behind all of the kitchen units.

So, the floor and the Karndean, that had absolutely nothing wrong with it, still as good as new, had to come up. It couldn't be re-used though so was replaced by Karndean again, but this time the oak herring bone pattern.

Without exception by those people that have commented, they have all thought it is a solid oak herring bone floor.

It was quite expensive but there are plenty of other Karndean patterns available. From memory of what we looked at, I chose one that might have fitted your budget (we have 40sq mtrs funnily enough).

When it's fitted the fitter spreads levelling compound on the floor first. Karndean recommend a ply substrate first, but our fitter didn't think it necessary, and he was right, in this instance.

Oh yes, and you can chuck as much water on it as you like, and as it comes in strips, any damage can be easily repaired.

Other makes are available.

 

[AndyT]

I just noticed your other question about the unevenness of the existing floor.
I followed what I think was good advice when I laid mine. I ripped up the old boards and relaid the floor with 9mm ply, well screwed down. Then underlay, then the flooring, laid as a floating floor.
This meant that the final thickness of the floor was only slightly more than the old inch boards - 9+3+14=26mm, so there was no big change in level. The finished fooor is plenty strong enough.
(In our case I needed to add firring pieces to level the joists, hopefully you won't need to do that as well.)

Also have a look at Mark A's similar problem lay-laminate-on-uneven-subfloor-t109083.html

 

[Mark A]

Also have a look at Mark A's similar problem lay-laminate-on-uneven-subfloor-t109083.html

Don't remind me!

I'm currently finishing off a 26sqm room in my own house where the floor was in a state several orders of magnitude worse than my sister's landing. I lowered the joists in one corner, packed up the other with layers of ply, hardboard and DPC before overboarding with 12mm plywood. Then packed up and remaining dips with more DPC. Not a fun job when you have a slipped disc!

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[SteveF]

I just noticed your other question about the unevenness of the existing floor.
I followed what I think was good advice when I laid mine. I ripped up the old boards and relaid the floor with 9mm ply, well screwed down. Then underlay, then the flooring, laid as a floating floor.
This meant that the final thickness of the floor was only slightly more than the old inch boards - 9+3+14=26mm, so there was no big change in level. The finished fooor is plenty strong enough.
(In our case I needed to add firring pieces to level the joists, hopefully you won't need to do that as well.)

Also have a look at Mark A's similar problem lay-laminate-on-uneven-subfloor-t109083.html

not a cheap option but sounds a good plan using ply
cant even work out what that would cost and effect it would have on height for me
the kitchen and toilet are coming out anyhow
new skirting
so would just have to trim doors I think
will have a look around and see if it causes other issue
screwing down may be fun on concrete floor...is it time to get a masonry nailer?

Steve

 

[AndyT]

Ignore the ply idea - I'd missed that you have a solid floor not a suspended one.

 

[davem62]

Hi Steve
have a look at these ,always helpful and good quality https://www.britishhardwoods.co.uk/

regards dave

 

[SteveF]

seems that we are now going for solid oak t&g
we are also raising the floor 24mm
plan is to screw 18mm to the concrete floor and then glue \ brad 6mm on top staggered
anyone done similar?
if so what grade plywood? and where to get in kent?
I will need 40m2
do I need a secret nailer gadget thingy or can I just angle nail with a air brad nailer?

Steve

 

[Sheffield Tony]

Tongue-Tite screws are an option which worked nicely for me on oak t&g (from British Hardwoods).

 

[SteveF]

Tongue-Tite screws are an option which worked nicely for me on oak t&g (from British Hardwoods).

did you pilot or just drive them in
they say no need but it just seems a bit alien

Steve