Hi, Im new to this forum so thanks in advance for any help for the newb! I am a joiner who was given a load of 1" English Oak by my father in law (it was an unfinished mid life crisis he had stored in his garage.) I have used the timber to build both our staircases and milled the rest myself into random length random width t&g to floor out the entire ground floor and our 2 landings. The boards range in width from 120mm-220mm. Our ground floor subfloor is a suspended timber floor with floorboards. The subfloor void is ventilated. To lay the new Oak floor my opinion is that I should use secret nails laying the Oak perpendicular to the existing floorboards. My question to you is to do with the underlay I should use. There seems to be a plethora of advise and products available for all scenarios other than mine. Its ground floor so I presume I need a vapour barrier to stop any moisture rising up from the subfloor? The subfloor is also uninsulated so it would be nice if there was a nominal insulating factor to the underlay. If i am using nails will this not bridge the vapour barrier at every point there is a nail. If the underlay has an insulating factor it will presumably be at least 3mm+ and squidgy. Will this cause problems down the line as the brads work loose due to the bounce in the underlay. Are there any specific products that are designed for this purpose? Is builders paper the answer and just forget about a snazzy underlay. Any advise much appreciated, also any meandering conversations about the ins and outs nuanced details also enjoyed!
do moisture test on floorboards Acclimatise oak Possibly ply floor to get smooth and flat. Stick wood down with pu wood floor glue with built in moisture tolerance
Not a fan of solid woods engineered is more stable but saying that I don’t fit any wood I pass it on to a mate of mine
Thanks for your response. Alas I don’t have a moisture meter, on the never ending list of tools to get. Oak is well acclimatised though. Been in the house for a year now. I am keen to nail rather than glue as I have the nailer and it seems to be a good approach for solid wood. Any thoughts on underlay with nails? I know what you mean re solid vs engineered. Alas I have solid so have to make this work.
Underlay is for floating wood isn’t it, like I say I am not overly trained in wood. My pal says fully stick it on pu glue not just joint glue if that makes sense
I would replace the floorboard with 18mm ply. You could use the bitumen paper under the ply. It will be broke when fixed but it’s only a vapour barrier and won’t stop any damp. Then you can nail and stick the wood flooring where ever you want. Most important thing is to make sure the moisture content of joists, ply and oak flooring is within tolerance. No more than 2% difference Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Use bitumen paper as underlay, this will stop moisture transfer between subfloor and oak flooring and will seal itself around the nails, a brad nailer may not hold well enough, even if it feels firm at the start, the floor will expand and contract in thickness throughout the seasons and will possibly work them loose, ideally use a portanailer,if you haven't got one, tonguetite screws work well and are quicker than hand nailing and punching
The 220mm wide boards are too wide to nail only. You will need adhesive under them Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Great responses, thank you. I am going to go with a bit of everything then it seems. Bitumen paper - ply - nail and adhesive. Can't face bringing up all the floorboards so will overboard with thin ply. Im also going to check the moisture contents as it seems foolish to leave it and later have a disaster. Ive been needing (wanting) to get a moisture meter for a while anyway. Do people have a preferred one or are they much of a muchness. I will be using it for only timber moisture levels. Do you have any recommendations for flooring adhesive? Im currently looking a F Ball B95. Sounds good to me as it is solvent free which would be a plus as I've got a pregnant wife in the house!
I’ve got a testo pin meter for wood, but theres also protimeter and tramex that I know of Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Overboard with 9mm ply, prime and glue directly to the floor don’t nail it the boards are too wide and you would need a proper clear nailer anyway, don’t use any paper underneath it can cause creaking and make sure to do proper moisture testing first. Allow a minimum of 15mm expansion gaps everywhere and make sure you stagger those joints properly or it’ll be weak as anything. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
