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gday all,
I'm looking to install timber floating floors.
Not sure about the removal of skirting boards and replacing after installing the floor or keeping in them place and installing a nice clean looking timber mould to finish it off.
In other peoples experience which is the better way to go?
Any advice greatly appreciated.
A.
Hi Farsy,
We just laid a new floor through our house. We did it all ourselves except the concrete grinding, but we did all the levelling and it has turned out well. ( see picture )
We removed all skirting boards and re attached them over the new floor. We bought new skirtings for part of an extension which matched in pretty well with the old stuff.
We laid 75 M2 in total and used a brand named Teosto, which has a sound cushioning on the back.
Hope this helps
Pat
Just in the process of laying a new floor over the existing floor - 45 sq/m prefinished Karri T&G with secret nailing (and a few glued boards). I have all new skirts to be made and fitted for this flooring.
Personally I would never consider butting the floor to the skirt and using those ugly cover strips. The whole idea of a floating floor is to make it look like you have a beautiful timber floor (isn't it :confused: ). If you then put the fugly cover strip down its like waving a big red flag saying "Hey this is just a floater put down as quick and cheap as possible".
Do it right, remove the skirts and either refit or better yet replace with a skirt that enhances the look of your floor. If you do fit the old skirts at least sand them back while their off and give them a coat of paint/stain or what ever looks good. The more work you put in the better the overall appearance will be.
BTW After laying this flooring I would not recommend this flooring type to anyone who hasn't laid a real T&G floor in a house. My walls have a slight out of square to each other and without the help of my chippie brother to do the measurements and advice to get it straight and look good, I would have been in a real mess. Floating floors with their lock together systems are easy (may not look the best but are easy), but real T&G with boards that are not real straight are another world away - but the final result was worth the effort. Will post pics when finally finished 1-2 weeks away.
I agree with the others - if you are thinking about taking the skirtings off then definately do it - it is a much better finish.
I too am having floating floor put down in the next few weeks. We are using ReadyFlor Ironwood. Can't wait - will post pics when it's done!
So many forums on floating floors.. this seems to be the last modified so here I am asking for advice.
We are getting our house rebuilt and have spent most of the money! So a floating floor seems to be the cheapest option for us (other than polished concrete). The options for us are:
: 7mm @ around $14 a square metre.
: 8mm @ around $35 a square metre.
Depending on who you talk to the extra mm matters (uses a denser material) or doesn't. Can any one offer me some advice?
Nothing to do with thickness - when we purchased out unit we decided to lay floating flooring in our kitchen. Not sure the type of wood, but we were sold the flooring at around $25 per metre. What we didn't know until we came to pay for it is that you also need black vinyl plastic (lay this first on the floor) and a foam underlay (I guess for cushioning) - this adds to the cost per metre. Also take into account skirting (which we weren't quoted as well). However, the floor, even though a cheaper option, came up rather good.Quote:
Originally Posted by ajm9mm
As a side note, my other half has discussed with me polished concrete floors for other parts of the house (again, a cost consideration) - anyone done this through an entire house? Any pictures (as I have a problem trying to picture the finish) would be good.
Graha.
Would you mind describing the process you used at all? I laid real mixed hardwood T & G as a novice and as I struggled with the very same problem. I started straight from one wall and as I got halfway I started to 'fan' a board so very slightly every now and again till the course was square to the opposing wall. If theres a more professional way I'd like to know.Quote:
Originally Posted by Markw
I would recommend removing the skirting, I have a mate who laid a floating floor in his unit without removing his skirting and just used something like quad to cover the gap. IMO it looks ##### and like a cheap job whereas he still used a really expensive flooring. It seems to make the floorspace even smaller than a timber floor should.
If you are on a tight budget you can source mixed bundles of 'feature' grade T & G boards from sawmills. Feature is a nicer word than reject. It just means that the boards will have sap veins, knots and whorls or some boards need a few tweaks to fit. Its a bit more labour to lay but the imperfections add character (I think lol). I laid all mine for approx $3.00 a square as an over estimate! It probably took twice as long to lay but while it won't feature in Better Homes and Gardens it was better than threadbare carpet when I couldn't even afford lino.
A word to the wise, buy a floating floor you can at least sand a couple of times if necessary. After a few years of wear and tear a sand is better than another new floor I reckon.
Yea sureQuote:
Originally Posted by Bally
I laid the T&G directly onto the subfloor, didn't require the use of a membrane as the original section of the house (cyprus T&G) was always dry with no moisture from underneath. The new section of the house was elevated to the same height but laid with yellow tongue. Again according to P&M timber no membrane required (always follow manufacturers advice!).
First need to draw a chalk string line exactly 90 degrees to longest continual wall which should be parallel to timber boards. I used the outer wall of the lounge room (bottom of the image) To get this use a 3:4:5 triangle then extend the appropriate side. Assuming that the walls are straight (not square) measure from the extended line to the corner and work out how much fanning you will need over the distance. Mine was difficult as I had 2 rooms starting first then having to join in the middle with the double door entry - lounge to dinning entry - where the timber had to meet exactly. The brown rectangles in the dinning room is to represent the timber direction for both rooms and the hall.
The best polished concrete tradeperson in Tasmania charges $35 per sq metre to grind and polish. I was quoted $7000 for a polished suspended slab 8.04 x 4.20 metres.
If you are going to use T&G flooring besure that it is select grade kiln dried. You'll pay extra but its worth it in the long term. My SIL on my advice had his recently built 40 sq home done with T&G Tas Oak flooring finished with 2 pot poly. It looks cr*p because the contractor used cheap utility grade air dried stuff. there are gaps up to 5mm all over the place and because it wasn't secret nailed the unmatched wood filler in the nail holes makes it like like a gigantic pegboard.
If you have a concrete slab you have a great thermal mass to use to advantage if ground and polished. A call to Boral will get you some properties where you can see the different finishes.
Cheers
Shedhand.
get your SIL to have an inspection done by the relevant Timber body in your state. No hardwood flooring can be supplied "Air dried"
It must be dried to a moisture content of 9 to 14% as per AS2796.1 & .2
Air dried is usually 15 to 18%. No wonder there are gaps in it.
Also. If your SIL requested utility grade, then he got what he asked for.
different people like different grades of flooring.
I like Std grade, Spotted gum. Select looks to fake (no feature).
Utility looks to busy.
I had a couple come in and look over our flooring samples the other day.
he liked select, she liked STD. Guess what they ended up with..:D .
petticoat government rulz :D :D .
Did your SIL specify 2 pack poly? or didn't care what the finish was.
All these things add up to a good or bad job.
It is unusual for an installer to lay a wet floor. Did the installer supply his own timber?
Yeah, even the cheap muck I bought was kiln dried.Quote:
Originally Posted by glock40sw
Plans specified Std Grade. 2 Pack was recommedned to him by the contractor (not a recognised floor layer as it turned out). Its been down over 2 years now so has stabilised. He's going to have it filled, sanded and recoated soon.Quote:
Originally Posted by glock40sw
Cheers and thanks for the info.;)