OT: Laying new Floorboards

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wizer

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Hi guys, I just lost 3hours reading this forum! I am just getting into woodworking. Currently doing and evening class at my local Adult Education Centre. I'm so into WW atm that I have managed to convince the missus to let me build a garage/shop on the side of the house this summer.

Anyway.. onto the question...

This summer I will be replacing the floorboard in our living room. At the moment we have chipboard tongue and groove and its terrible. When the dog runs through the room (small jack russel) you can feel the sofa shake and hear the glasses rattle in the cabinet! So I want to replace the chipboard with a better solution.

Question is, what do I use?

I can't seem to find a ready made package that isn't chipboard?
 
Hi WiZeR.

Welcome

If the dog is making the floor bounce I would check the joists, not sure its the chipboard that is the problem. Some one better qualified to comment on this may give a different answer. As for the material its down to cost really and which wood you want.

not much help really but I am trying. :oops: :oops: :oops: .

All the best

Neil
 
I know it is not the joists, they are rock solid. It is where the chipboard had bowed and cracked. It has pushed through the screws.

The other thing I do not like about chipboard is the irregular sizes. I like old fashion floorboards where if you need to take one up its just a case of taking the board up. When we laid central heating last year we had to skil saw out the boards...nightmare!
 
WiZeR":ez1d8id6 said:
I can't seem to find a ready made package that isn't chipboard?

Ready made? I don't really understand what you are after - you can buy planks of pine, or oak or whatever from most timber merchants. W L Wests do some pre-glued floor panels, but if you are looking to replace the current chipboard, I'd just buy a load of planks, a cheap chop saw (if you don't already have one) and a bag of nails/screws and off you go!

Welcome to the forum BTW!

Adam
 
What do you mean with bowed and cracked, Never heard about Chipboard that bows, as it is all t+g, it is one flat surface, and they are all impregnated so water resistand,

The question is are all your joist level, so is there movement over the joists, that could loosen up the screws, secondly are the scews long enough.
further are the joist to far apart?

I would do a Chipboard flooring over a normal wood one, no shrinkage, and a much better stable floor

Mcluma
 
Thanks. In my inexperience I guess I was expecting to go to a timberyard and buy 'Floor Boards'

So I just need to buy pine boards?

I have a chop saw.. Do they have to be a certain thickness/depth/etc
 
Mcluma":2p6645kq said:
What do you mean with bowed and cracked, Never heard about Chipboard that bows, as it is all t+g, it is one flat surface, and they are all impregnated so water resistand,

The question is are all your joist level, so is there movement over the joists, that could loosen up the screws, secondly are the scews long enough.
further are the joist to far apart?

I would do a Chipboard flooring over a normal wood one, no shrinkage, and a much better stable floor

Mcluma

The house was built in '96 and I bought it in 2000. It is 'Typical New Build' All the floorboards creak and 'crack' when walked over. When we had the floors up to put the heating in the chipbaord looked terrible. It seems they used both screws AND nails to fit it. The boards seem to all be different sizes. All this has reduced my faith in chipboard floors. I have seen a few 'New Builds' and they all seem to have 'Creaky/Cracky' chipboard floors.

Am I wrong?

I guess the only way to check if the joists are level is to take up the floors and get out the spirit level
 
I have a 2002 house, and yes chipboard floorboard, no sound, no bounce ,major rock solid its all about how many screws, and how far the joist are apart, and how much span there is in the joist,

But a '96 house withour central heating???
 
WiZeR":37ig7gvr said:
Thanks. In my inexperience I guess I was expecting to go to a timberyard and buy 'Floor Boards'

You can, they often have an "anti-squeak" T&G style profile. I'd chat to some local builders, they'll tell you where they are sourcing all their timber, alternatively, ask anyone driving a chippies van.

"Champions" can be a good place - they've a place in edenbridge from memory - or have a search for local timber merchants on yell.com

Adam
 
They fitted it with Eco7 heating. I couldn't get on with it. The build quality of the whole house is terrible. I have spent 4yrs fixing all sorts of problems from the original build.

I will look into chip boards
 
AHHHH, well don't start me about that, Aren't we all fixing the problems of the - fast en get very guick rich I don't care about the future buyer - builder :cry:
 
So generally the consesus is to go for good quality chipbaord, fitted well over old fashioned pine floor boards?
 
It depends also on what you intend to do on top. If carpet then chipboard. If not then why not put some good oak down. It'll look fantastic.

Cheers..Roger
 
WiZeR":25sr36e7 said:
So generally the consesus is to go for good quality chipbaord, fitted well over old fashioned pine floor boards?

Are you exposing the floor? If so, traditional floor boards (e.g. oak, pine whatever) over the joists will probably look "best". If carpeted, and you just have problems with squeaking etc, just some DIY work on what you have already may be sufficient.

Adam
 
WiZeR":1ebrquda said:
I guess the only way to check if the joists are level is to take up the floors and get out the spirit level

Sort of. In fact you can do it with any straight edge. Ideally you are looking for a level, horizontal floor, but what is critical is that the joist tops are all flush with each other. My house is a couple of hundred years old and if I had a level floor in one of teh rooms upstairs then there would be a 3 inch step by the door.

I suggest that you lift one of the worst affected boards and run any straight edge across the joists that you can see - my guess is that there will be gaps under the staright edge where the chipboard has correspondingly cracked or bowed.

I also think that the nails and screws use provides further evidence for this misalignment. I have rarely seen a price-work chippy use screws where nails will do - therefore I imagine that the nails were used to fix the boards down and the screws were used to pull the high spots down. They will have screwed through the board and joist without drilling a clearance hole in the board first. This means that some gap is inevitable because the screw won't be capable of pulling both materials tight together. Net result = over time the boards get compressed by people or jack russels walking on it, chipboard is essentially weetabix and gives out before screw or joist and you reach the state you have described.

Most Builders merchants will understand 'floor boards' - essentially T&G wiith the groove offset to enable you to get a tight joint. I wouldn't recomment using ordinary planks because the T&G will give you better noise and heat insulation and keep dust down. If you are going to leave them uncarpeted then I would go for the more expensive redwood planks which re much stronger, less knotty and look much nicer IMO.

Hope this helps

Tim

Edit - sorry I started my reply about an hour ago and then the phone rang so I finished it and realised that others had said a lot of the same stuff :oops:
 
They will have screwed through the board and joist without drilling a clearance hole in the board first. This means that some gap is inevitable

Not if you run a bead of silicon on top of the joist first, before laying the flooring

Simuk
 
ok. the room will be carpetted so chip board looks like a winner so far.

My problem with the current installation is that the boards are very big and not in any sort of regular pattern. Plus, in my inexperienced mind, I'm not keen on T&G. My gripe with T&G is that if I need to gain access under the floor, I have to either pull out the boards in reverse order OR skill saw out the boards. Both options are messy. I realise that it would be unusual to take up floor boards and I also realise that T&G provides a more secure and complete fit.

So i'm a bit confused. Looking at your comments I will probably plump for a completely new floor board system but keep with chipboard.

Is there a definitive way of fitting chipboard flooring? Special screws, etc?
 
WiZeR":3s2t0dmt said:
ok. the room will be carpetted so chip board looks like a winner so far.
I would have a look at the 2ft X 8ft T & G chipboard water restistant flooring,
the manufacturers design the flooring to have all the joints glued with pva glue,
this gives a really solid floor. I always screw mine down with chipboard screws as well or you could use serrated nails.

I know a lot of builders etc who don't glue the joints and it's a big mistake.

If your concerned about being unable to gain access at any time, my tip would be just cut the hole you need with a rip saw and when ready to fit the panel back just line it with suitable timber framing and srew it down.
Hope this helps. :)
 
Wizer

If the board has screws in it, the chances are that they have been used to try and prevent "squeaking" of the floor.
You will find that 99 per cent of chip board floors are put down with annular ring shank nails, which give excellent grip and pull the board tight to the joist. the problems usually start because the joists have been put on without any form of packing underneath to keep them "flat", meaning if you put a straight edge across the joist, they should all (in theory) touch the straight edge with no gaps.
Of course they should all be level as well, but sometimes it is not possible due to other considerations.
Is the skirting tight to the floorboards?
If so you have very little chance of trying to "flatten" the joists, also if it is the first floor (upstairs) the plasterboard ceilings downstairs come into consideration.

Steve
 
I'd echo Tim's comments about using redwood as I've spent this week replacing an old damaged floor with one made from redwood 5ths (a bit knotty) and varnished - it looks brilliant and the customer is really happy! :D

Dennis
 
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