Key Post Wooden Floors

This was originally posted by Csider:


Can anybody recommend somebody to put in wooden floors.

Any ideas on likely cost for an 800 sq feet apartment excluding kitchen and bathroom which will be tiled.

Also does anybody know how long it is sensible to wait post construction to put in wooden floors - moisture in the floors etc

Thanks.

Hi Csider.

If you are Northside of Dublin I would recommend Oliver Beirne Flooring Blanchardstown. Have used them myself and found them excellent and have recommended them to friends who also found them to be very efficient. Note I have no affiliation with the above apart from being a very satisfied customer.

BTW the cost will very of the type of floor you choose. IF you use laminated it will be chealer than solid wood flooring. ALso the type of wood used will vary the price

Thanks

Thanks. I know costs will vary but could you give a rough indication of likely cost.

Csider

I bought my floors back a number of years ago. However I guess you price could range from €7 per sqaure meter for cheap laminated flooring to upwards to €50-€60 per square meter for semi-solid or solid wood floors. Best bet is to shop around. You could also consider laying the floor yourself which could save a few bob, but you would need to be fairly confident in your DIY skills to attempt same

I put wooden floors in my house last year. Went for the real thing (3" width, 18mm thick solid beech) in my hall, living room and dining room. 5 Days work for 2 tradesmen. Took 1.5 days to lay the OSB board base - about half an inch thick, remove skirting boards and shorten all internal/external doors. They laid DPC sheeting both under and over the OSB board. Took another 2.5 days to fit the beech flooring - which is nailed to the OSB board (My rooms and hallway are very irregular shapes). They spent the fifth day sanding, polishing and sealing the finished floor and fitting new skirting boards. I think it was about 42 square metres in total. Cost €81 per square metre fitted - about €3,300. (Colm Dunne 087-9688212). Not cheap, but the floor looks great and is very solid. Due to the solid base it's also silent to walk on which is unusual. Will last forever and can be sanded and repolished many times. Also is an excellent feature for resale purposes.

Csider

I don't have specific details on fitting floors, but we are about to buy about 35 sq. yds of solid hardwood floors from Coillte. They have a production unit in Tipperary producing really beautiful native solid hardwood floors including Oak, Beech, Ash, Spanish Chestnut and even Elm (I didn't think we had any Elm left in the country).

They can provide you with contacts throughout the country of people who will fit the floor for you and I'm sure if you called they would give you an indication of fitting cost.

They also produce a mini installation guide which would outline the fitting process for you.

The web address is:

[broken link removed]

The guy in charge is called Seamus Heany the telephone number is 062 71101, we found him very helpful.

J

Thanks

Thanks for the very useful and informed reponses.

floored by our prices

I am also in the market for approx 60m2 of solid wood flooring. I went to a few local suppliers and prices were in about 45 -50/m2 to supply solid wood. I searched the net and I came across www.doorstore.co.uk based in the north, they will supply solid birch for 15stg /m2. They will deliver to my doorstep (Tipperary) for another 130stg. They posted me a sample of this wood and it's the same as locally. I haven't ordered yet.

Has anyone else bought product from the North and if not, why not at these prices!!!!!

flooring

I had a recommendation for a crowd in Castleblaney but I am removing it cos when I went to return stuff (tiles not wood), the treatment I got was shocking.

Try Mulveys (used to be in Dundrum). I know that's where my guy sources his wood. Also, they regularly have special offer adverts on the bottom of the front page of the Irish Independent.

Some other posts

floored
Unregistered User
red deal / pitch pine

I see a lot of new houses come with red deal flooring or pitch pine flooring. Anyone know much about quality/durability etc. of these? Can't find much information on the internet...

propertynewbie
Long term poster
Re: red deal / pitch pine

Floored,

they would be very low softwood from what I understand. I think a 4" board comes in at about 10-15euro per sq yard.

It would be used mainly in bedroom etc, low traffic area's.


CUNNINGM
Registered User
Re: red deal / pitch pine

Red deal or white deal is a standard softwood with various uses in new houses e.g. doors, skirting, architraves and flooring. Red deal generally looks better when varnished i.e. a bit more colour. Pitch Pine is a slightly harder softwood that appears even more redder/darker. It used alot in new pubs and I think looks very well.
The trick in both is to use plenty of coats of varnish.
The beauty of red or white deal is that either can be stained to whatever colour you like. I have both pitch pine and red deal floors in my previous house and while they will mark (all solid wooden floors will mark !!) they generally wear well and look great.

biggerry
Registered User
Laminate Flooring

I'm thinking of replacing the carpet in a 1 bed apt I own.

The size of the apt is about 500 sq ft. Obviously, I wouldn't put the laminate in the bathroom.

Is it cheaper to get a guy to do the whole lot i.e. supply and fit, or is it cheaper to buy the wood myself and get somebody to fit?

Anybody any experience in doing this?

purple
laminate flooring

Hi Biggery,

I put laminate flooring on my sitting room & dining room, solid wood was my first idea but cost and 3 kids who would wreck it persuaded my otherwise. I had never done anything like it before but found it very easy. The rooms were 17'x13' and 13'x13' and the whole exercise took two days. If you are not as awkward as me it could be done sooner.
The materials cost is far less than the labor cost would be so if you are putting down laminate (floating) flooring as opposed to semi-solid or solid then do it yourself, though an appartment would be a bigger job than my one was.

maxo
Unregistered User

I recently laid laminate flooring....make sure to don't get the cheapest of the cheap...it can have many dud boards that are not 100% level...can infuriate big time....also you buy from a stockist who has a large stock of your choice of laminate or who regularly has it in stock....I have heard stories where people run out of laminate and return to the shop and have found their exact type out of stock...permanently!....i.e from B&Q....I would recommend Des Kelly carpets or similar.

The cost of laying by someone else increases the cost of the floor significantly....usually averages around €13 per square yard.

Hope this helps.

biggerry
Registered User
Laminate Flooring

Thanks Maxo & Purple.

Did you use the "foam" stuff under the floor when laying it?

purple
Re. foam

Yes, and if you can replace your skirting boards at the same time it makes it a better looking job. If not, use beading around the edges, glue it in place with "no more nails" or an equivalent. Keep the dust from your saw cuts and if you have any gaps mix the dust into a paste with wood glue and rub it in. Even on close inspection you won't see the join.
Then you can bore everybody with the "look at that, I did that, I just couldn't get a tradesman that I could trust to do it properly". At least that's what I did!

Jim
Unregistered User
floor

Yes, wood floors look well, but be sure to get a good tradesman or else lay it yourself. I got a firm called Flynn flooring to lay mine. They done such a bad job that a dining room chair rocked noticeably from side to side as if on 3 legs. I ended up having to get it ripped out.

smree
Registered User
Quick Step Perspective

Hi

I'm looking at wooden floors for my apartment and was wondering if anybody has had any experience with Quick Step Perspective. I was looking at it in Des Kellys last weekend and it's 33 euro per sq yd. Does this sound reasonable?

Thanks

Dearg Doom
Frequent poster
Re: Quick Step Perspective

I purchased 17 packs of Quickstep 950 (~30.5 sq. yd.) plus two rolls of Quickstep Unisound Combi-Floor underlay at Ronaynes Hardware in Thurles for €936 (their advertised price was already the best price I had found, but I manager to haggle another couple of hundred euro out of them, they were very pleasant to deal with too). That's ~€30.50/sq. yd. including the dearer underlay (reduces sound as well as providing damp proofing).

whichfloor
Unregistered User
All Perspective decostep laminate flooring

Has anyone used Perspective decostep uniclic laminate flooring for apartments? I've been told its very hard wearing but at €40-44 / sq yard it seems expensive. Is it worth the money?

purple
Posts: 8
re.laminate flooring

Hi there, any laminate flooring is very hard wearing, don't pay more than 12-18 euro/sq yard. For 44 euro you could nearly put down real wood. I am assuming that the price is for materials only.

whichfloor
Unregistered User
laminate flooring

This price does include fitting, bringing it to a similar cost to semi solid. However I'm told it wears better than most semi solid floors. The edges are grooved which makes it looks good also

Regardin laminate here are my 2 problems with it;
1. I've seen bubbles / chips / water damage - general not great wear on other peoples floors in the past.

2. The more I see of it, the more generic looking it gets.

I'd be interested to get other peoples ideas on laminate in general.

sueellen
Moderator
Re: Perspective decostep laminate flooring

Laminate is ok for bedrooms but definitely out for downstairs. The thing I cannot get over is the amount of dust that floats around on the floor. Its quite noisy as well. Much cleaner than carpet tho.

ajapale
Frequent poster
babies, wobblers or toddlers:laminate is your only man

If you have babies, wobblers or toddlers then cheap laminate is your only man. When they get older dispose of the cheap laminate and upgrade to a more expensive semi solid or wood floor. Carpets are completely out because of dust asthma etc. We considered lino but were not happy with the range and appearance.
ajapale

purple
Posts: 9
re.laminate flooring

Yes it does tend to look generic, only the older generation of flooring bubbles/lifts. The better fit it is the less likely it is to get water damaged.
I agree with ajapale, I have three young children and it is the best option. We had semisolid in our old house and it wad in bits within a couple of months.
By the way; fit it yourself, it's easy!!

mary
Unregistered User
Wooden floors

Hi,
was just wondering if anyone can recommend a good place in dublin for purchasing timber for wooden floors at a reasonable place. Does anywhere have good sales at the moment?
Thanks
Mary

very satisfied
Unregistered User
wooden floors

Mary

I had my floors done last summer and purchased the wood from Coilte in Dundrum (Co. Tip). Contact:TJ O'Sullivan, mobile: 086-8151465. He brought some excellent samples to my house in Celbridge and I am very satisfied with the final outcome. Was also best price from three other independent quotes - and supporting Irish products.

Best of luck.
Very Satisfied.

stobear
Frequent poster
Re: Wooden Floors

It's all a bit of a personal thing now, I heard ads on the radio recently about the warmth of carpet yadda yadda but it all depends what you want and what suits your (family) circumstances in relation to pets, allergies, maintenance etc.

Wasn't there a survey conducted recently about the number of children in Ireland with asthma and missing school with a possible cause partly due to overly clean environments (a subject previously covered here on AAM!)


BlueSpud
Registered User
Re: Wooden Floors

Even a battered wooden floor looks better than carpets, and they will never be "out". I recently removed all carpets as one of my kids is allergic to dustmites, I took a chance & layed them myself. Every time I walk on them I admire the wood (and the exquisit workmanship).

sunny
Unregistered User
Wooden Floors

I got solid maple in Mulveys of Ranelagh a few weeks ago, sorry cant remember exactly - I think 29.99 sq yard......and I think semi solid was 19.99.. suppose to be one of the most reputable places in town and they do know their stuff (not that I'd know) but according to 'my helper' they did.

Bren
Unregistered User
Wooden floors and kids

Trying to decide what flooring to get at the moment to replace old carpets. Have young baby so was thinking more carpet would be best to cushion little head when it whacks off floor. We like the look and cleanability of wood though. Any thoughts?

sueellen
Moderator
Re: Wooden floors

Bren,

There are a few points to remember about flooring:-

1. The baby won't be crawling for too long whereas the flooring will be around for quite a while. You could always use a large rug in your main room for the crawling stage.

2. From a cleaning point of view IMHO wooden is handier.

3. If either yourselves/baby have any dust allergies the wooden floors are better.

Hope this helps.

P.S. One of the negative points about wooden flooring is the noise element when baby gets to the running stage

Leatherarse
Registered User
Re: Wooden floors

Bren,

I have to agree totally with Sue. My wife has asthma and has been told by a specialist that since the use of carpets became widespread, so too did respiratory ailments, also with the advent of central heating, carpet has become a perfect breeding place for little buggie wuggies. If I were you I would put down wooden floors and use mats wherever my little angels were playing. We have started to take up the carpets now, even though some are only down about 18 months, yet my wife's health comes first.

P.S. Another negative about wooden floors is my teenagers wake me up when they sneak in at night

BlueSpud
Registered User
Wooden floors

I put down a good soundproofing layer (4mm Pergo ), bought at Floortex in Terenure when I layed a floating oak floor. It is still noisier than carpets but a lot quieter than boards on joices. I too have kids, 2 & 4 year olds.

Bren
Unregistered User
Wooden floors

Thanks for your replies. I agree that carpets are havens for dirt and dust. With dogs and long haired inhabitants in the house they are impossible to clean! Will look into the soundproofing layer idea.

UncleNed
Unregistered User
Floor Boards

I have a final row of floor boards to fit to finish off the room. However these boards need to be cut length wise to fit. A normal jigsaw or hand saw can do this but the finish would leave alot to be desired. Anyone know of a builders providers hardware store o the Northside that has a table saw on which this could be done. I'm also looing for skirting boards so if they do this for e I'll make the purchase there...


Unregistered User
Re Floor Boards

UncleNed - are the Skirting boards for the same room?

Will they go over the edge of the floors?
In which case you wouldn't need to have them so neat

heinbloed
Unregistered User
"cutting"floor boards lenghtwise

With a handheld planer.From the toolhire,€10-€15/day.

db2admin
Registered User
Laminate planks


My query regards laminate flooring that come in the form of small planks and are about 9mm thick. Does anyone know what they are like and what is the cost.

postagepaid
Registered User
Re: Laminate planks

The ones I got were about 128x19cm and were the click together sort. Fitting them is easy, you put an underlay underneath and then cut to fit. You can get beadings and trims for around the edges to finish the job.

As for price, I suppose you pay for what you get but they start for as little as €6 per square metre

Red Oak
Unregistered User
Wooden Floors

I recently bought solid red oak flooring for my house, i have access to all the correct power tools and the necessary help to lay the floors myself so im thinking of giving it a go this coming weekend.

Questions i need answered first are...

because i am laying the floors directly onto concrete i have to glue the boards into position, do i just need to apply glue to the floor and set the wood down or do i need to apply glue to all the joints in the flooring as well.

any hints would be most welcome...

heinbloed
Unregistered User
direct glueing

DON'T glue your timber directly to the concrete floor.
It will come off sooner or a little bit later.The reason is that different materials have different expansion factors.
They expand and contract with differences in moisture and temperature.

Maceface
Registered User
Re: direct glueing

You say:

Quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
solid red oak flooring
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was speaking to a chippie a while back about floors and he recommended I try and lay floors myself, as long as they are NOT solid wood.
He was saying that solid floors need to be placed on raised flooring rather than just concrete or other wood. It brings the whole floor up a couple of inches.

So, if infact, you have solid floor, I would highly recommend you pospone your work until you know how to do it.


franksm
Registered User
Wooden floors - here's how I did it
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Remove your skirting boards, and if possible chop away the bottom inch of wall/plaster board - that will let you get the boards as close to the wall as possible, 'cos the gap will be hidden when you refit the skirts. You will also need to remove some wood from the bottom of door frames too - not all the way through, just the front bit so that the planks can fit under.

Get some plastic sheeting (from same place you got your boads) and lay this on the concrete; join the sheets with duck tape if you need to. That's your damp-proof sheet.

Buy some 12mm plywood sheets, lay on top of the plastic leaving a 1cm gap between each sheet of plywood. Drill these into the concrete with those screws with pastic sheaths (don't know their proper name). This will wear out your drill and wreck your hands That sorts out your base.

Screw the first rows of wood through the face of the plank - that's the only way to do it, as your nail gun probably won't fit at this stage. Once you're have some wood down and the nail gun fits nicely, just go at it. Just make sure your nails are good for the thickness of plank AND thickness of plywood base - you want to nail through to the plywood but not through to the plastic sheet.

Go for it, it's a really enjoyable job. I used a B&Q saw - the rotary one that hinges down - and rented a nailgun from Chadwicks. They will tell you what size nails to use.

When you get to the last few rows you might have to face-screw them in again, as the nailgun won't fit. The screws can be covered up with filler or whatever, so don't fret it. Lastly, glue your skirting boards back to the wall with Hard-as-nails or whatever those glues are called.

Job's a good'un, very enjoyable and well worth doing it yourself - took me two days to lay one 20'x20' room as a novice, and that was with skinny planks of unfinished maple. You can rent a sander also if your planks are unfinished and then varnish afterwards with DiamondCoat - all available from Chadwicks.

The only caveat is that you should find out what pipes are under your concrete - probably not an issue unless you're going to drill really deep.

As Heinbloed says, if you just glue to concrete it'll lift/creak eventually, plus will be noisy and cold, and susceptible to damp.

legend99


I know Brooks Haughton do what they claim is a floating solid floor in Cork.

Bear in mind that moisture/damp is the biggest issue with any floor barring tiles really...which are cold and not generally used in living rooms in Ireland. NEVER lay a solid floor until you have measured the moisture content of your flloors...should be enclosed and drying for literally months before being flored.

Now:
You have three kinds of floors:
Laminate, always laid on plastic sheet, 2 mm foam for noise absorption and as it is actually plastic it is regarded as the easiest for the DIY man to fit and the least susceptible to damp. Also looks the cheapest....did about 60 square yards of this for my mother in a holiday house.

Semi solid: Laid again as far as I know on plastic and foam. Coming down in price..HOWEVER, most semi solids are three planks. That is in your say 5 inch width it will look like 3 planks, this makes it look cheaper....1 plank semi solid is more expensive but looks better in my humble opinion! Also, you would not get away with sanding semi solid more than once as you would actually remove all of the show wood as it is not very thick at all. You can see this in a side profile in any floor shop.

Solid: Generally chippies will tell you its not for the DIY to lay it. You can glue it direct to concrete to avoid the extra sub floor but as the lads said it can eventually start creaking as a result and is more liable to moisture issues. You can nail it to plywood sheets as described above or you can batton your floor and lay on the battons. As far as I know most floor laying chippies go with the batton route. But your new floor will be 2 inches above the old! You can pay...depending on the actual cost of wood itself, 75+ minimum per squre yard for supply and fit of a battoned solid floor.

To hide the gaps what is said above is right...you really need to remove skirting. If going with a solid floor you would defo do it...pay that much for a floor you have to remove skirting to avoid crapy expansion fillers. For laminates I know the shops sometimes will try and flog you the gap hiders to avoid taking off the skirtings etc...not so important with a laminate as it is so much cheaper you are not going to be showing it off as an asset to people. Again in my humble opinion!


Nelly77
Registered User

Do not lay directly to floor with out getting in writing from your suppliers that it can be floated. In the trade and get complaint after complaint from those that lay floors themselves. If it is a solid floor, made up of a 2 or 3 strips wide it can be floated( laid over a foam and glued to each other), if is not check with whoever you bought it off to see how to fit it best but in most cases you will need to sheet the concrete floor with Plywood or put inch by 1/2 inch battens down and secret nail it to them. Whatever you do if you think that you are doing it wrong stop and get someone else to finish it

legend99

Nelly, can you not float 1 plank solids at all?

Nelly77
Registered User

You can sometimes but you need to check with whoever you bought them off. If you don't and they expand or buckle you WILL have NO COMEBACK. If you are sticking them down you have to get a cement like adhesive as if you were fitting tiles and use straps to hold it together.

legend99

You in the trade in the Munster area by any chance?!

Nelly77
Registered User

No I'm in Dublin for my sins!

coldfeet
Unregistered User
How level does a floor have to be for semi-solid flooring

I'm planning to lay a semi-solid hardwood floor in a 4 x 6 m room. I'll be laying the wood as a floating floor and I'll be using Thermopads underneath the wood as an underlay.

My problem is the existing floor is concrete and must have been laid by leprachauns because it's up and down all over the place. The difference can be as much as 35 millimetres over a span of 1 metre!!

I've used a lot of levelling coumpound (specially suited for such depths) and have now gotten it pretty level but my question is exactly how level do I need it to be?

Even using this self-levelling compound there are still some areas where there is a rise and fall..... probably no more that 5 millimeters of so. There are also some areas where between two batches of levelling compound there are small bumps.

I'm afraid that I'll keep tweaking it forever until it's perfect when hopefully it does not need to be. Any suggestions/help appreciated.

effortless
Unregistered User
floor level

coldfeet ,if you have it + - 5mm go to the top of the class and sharpen the rubbers.

5mm is well within tolerance ,buy some plastic packers available diy shops which will help you adjust according.

hint

start at your high point and run a batten to low point ,keep level on your batten,which will help allow gauge what if any packers you require

coldfeet
Unregistered User
job done

Thanks effortless for the advise.

I went ahead and laid the floor over the week-end and it came out pretty OK. One or two spots where there is a little more give that others but nothing too noticeable.............also I'm sure when it settle down it'll all be OK.

mary
Unregistered User
semi solid flooring

Am thinking of putting semi solid flooring in the kitchen/dining room. would anyone have any suggestions if this is ok to do or would i be better off with tiling in the kitchen section?

legend99


The manufacturers do not recommend it for bathrooms or kitchens because of the potential variation in moisture in those rooms...along with the high possibilities of spillages

Nelly77
Registered User

Legend99 right manufacturers don't recommend and the retailer won't give any guarantee but you can chance it if you really want. You can get a thing call an engineered solid which is real hardwood split into 3 and then layered on top of each other that would prob be a safer bet but much more expensive and still won't cover you with leak and marking from moving washing machine and dishwasher around!

AnnoyedDogOwner
Unregistered User
Accident Laminate floor

Hoping one of you DIY bods might be able to assist. We have just moved into a new place and laid laminate flooring. Our dog is a bit nervous about the change and had a we(e) accident last night resulting in very minor damage to one of the planks.

I dried it as best I could with cloths and finished with a hair dryer on cool, left something heavy sitting on the small swell.

Is there anything else I can do, short of completely replacing the plank and if that's necessary, is it major?

Thanks in advance

DOBBER22
Frequent poster
Re: Accident Laminate floor

I will never know why people let animals live in their home most of the time a pet is happier outdoors anyway as there is more to see outside, sounds to me that if you ever want it to look and smell right again you will have to replace the offended piece of flooring thats what I would do.

Good Luck

heinbloed
Unregistered User
accident

Wait a day or two and see if if the swell goes back before you put in a new plank .You did right to use the COLD hair dryer.

Another post

witchymand
Unregistered User
Query about uni click flooring?

I really want to get that click together flooring, but after calling a guy out to look at our living room, he said that the floor is all off level and doubts if he could do it. Anyway later on he rang me back and said that he thinks he might be able to do it after all, he said that he could put down some kind of under flooring to straighten things out first, my living room is 18ft x 8ft and my hall is tiny, and kitchen is very small too, but the total cost of fixing the floor and putting the click flooring down is quoted at 1,900, is that reasonable or a rip off, I would really appreciate peoples points of view on this.
Thanks


sueellen
Moderator
Re: Query about uni click flooring?

Just to confirm his opinion your best bet is to get some other quotes.

Heinbloed
Unregistered User
uni click

I am in no position to answer your question but someone else might.You have to give details about the amount of work.Square meters,-feet,meters of skirting board,number of doors to be shorted etc..

legend99

Wooden flooring in kitchen is a bad idea.

Laminate flooring will be more expensive to fit than to buy....

heinbloed
Unregistered User
uni click

Hi legend99!

You are right about the wooden/laminated floors but uni click is - as far as I can remember-neither nor,just a printed and sealed surface on some artificial board.The "click " comes from the sound it makes when it is laid and when it is walked upon.

sueellen
Moderator
Re: Query about uni click flooring?

Heinbloed,

Surely what legend says then makes the uni even less suitable for a kitchen as any water leaks will cause serious damage to 'just a printed and sealed surface on some artificial board'?

Cahir
Registered User
Re: Query about uni click flooring?

My boyfriend just fitted uniclick to the entire downstairs of our new house, including the kitchen. The bloke in the shop said it should be fine for a kitchen as long as it's not constantly soaked in water. This would only happen if the dishwasher or washing machine leaked.

Wouldn't be too much trouble replacing just a couple of boards because it's not glued together.

Getting it fitted would have cost a fortune but boyfriend has done a really good job despite never having done anything like that before.

DOBBER22
Frequent poster
Re: Query about uni click flooring?

The guy in the shop told you that with a smile on his face and a chi ching sound in his brain, I've seen Laminated click flooring in the hallway and kitchens of houses after a wet winter and trust me they look awful especially when they warp due to floor getting wet.
Advice: If you're putting wooden flooring down try to place mats where wet feet of spillages occur the most
I reckon you are better off getting your kitchen and hallway floor tiled if not straight away then further down the road, even lino flooring has a wooden floor effect and is relatively cheap saw the lino wooden floor effect last week in the shop they had it covering a section of the floor and the sales man had to tell me that it was lino..
Thats when I decided to get it in my hallway.

Good Luck.


MissRibena
Registered User
Re: Query about uni click flooring?

Would definitely agree about lino - it's the unsung hero of the flooring world. I have a wooden floor effect lino in a kinda greenish stain and everyone admires it and even four years later it still convinces some of my more style-conscious friends that it's real wood. It's certainly far more convincing (and comfortable; softer, warmer) than some of the laminate floors I've seen in others' houses. I got it in the first place because money was tight and thought I'd get around to doing something more substanital in time but I already feel sad at the thought that one day it'll have to come up. It cost me about £300 including fitting to put it down in my 26' x 13' kitchen.

Rebecca

legend99

"Hi legend99!

You are right about the wooden/laminated floors but uni click is - as far as I can remember-neither nor,just a printed and sealed surface on some artificial board.The "click " comes from the sound it makes when it is laid and when it is walked upon."

Uni click flooring as I know it, is laminate flooring. Just because it clicks doesn't mean its anything other than laminates.

There are three kinds of flooring...

Laminate - Cheap, plastic with wood effect printed on, usually clicks into place. I think the least susceptible to moisture(available to be corrected on this!) as it contains no actual wood. But water lying on can lift the wood effect off it and cause it to go crap. Like the example above of having it in a hall. Cheapest to buy, but costs more to fit than buy. I have laid about 60 sqaure meters of it myself for my mother....easy to do. Installed as a floating floor, plastic sheet and 3mm foam. Can be click or glue, mostly click these days.

Engineered(Semi solid) - Crappy ply with a few mill of proper wood finish on board to look real. Can get it in two variations, strip and board. Strip has three narrow looking strip on one plank, board looks a lot more like soild floor but plank semi solid is more expensive. In fact plank semi is close to price of cheao solid. Again, generally installed as floating, but usually glued.

Solid wood - Full plank of actual wood. Looks the best, costs the most and needs to really be fitted by professional to be done right. A few shops sell solids that they say can be floated...as far as I know you'll be a while getting any carpenter to stand over a floating solid. The other way to go is nail onto batons or else glue direct to floor. Nailing to batons obviously raises your floor well over an inch.

Either way, wooden floors as far as I have ever known are not good for kitchens/bathrooms and halls as well. You can get away with them in halls but you need a lot of mats. Otherwise any small stones/grit etc that people bring in on their shoes will scratch the hall floor.

I stand open to all the above being corrected but thats my understanding. In my new house we are going with tiles in the downstairs toilet and kitchen/utility. Semi solids in the living room and family room. The hall is in dispute with me wanting tiles for the above reasons and my wife wanting the same wood!!!


DOBBER22
Frequent poster

Tile from the hall right into the Kitchen that would match up the area very nicely

Cahir
Registered User

Tiles don't look very nice in a hall though. Make the place seem very cold.

Clikhead
Unregistered User

Uni-Click is fine in a kitchen, it isn't as susceptible to water damage as most of the other cheaper laminates.
If you pay €7 a sq/yd for cheap laminate, then you will get what you pay for.
*some* of the colours/styles also look a lot better than most semi-solid or solid floors too.

Regarding the original post; I would definitely get a second and then third opinion before handing over any cash, I suspect the guy is inventing problems to bump up the price.

janeymac
Registered User
remove scratches from wooden floor

the day we moved in I managed to scratch the lovely wooden floor in the living room - does anyone have any ideas on how to cover up or remove scrathes from a light coloured wooden floor? or should I just move the furniture to cover it up?
thanks

legend99
Posts: 476

To remove a scratch from any wooden object you need to sand. But are your floors semi-solid, solid, laminates etc? You can get liquid fix things for laminates, not sure how it would look on proper wood...?

BlueSpud
Registered User
Re: remove scratches from wooden floor

If you do sand, sand the whole lot, but only enough to remove the varnish on top, i.e. dont try & go down to the debth of the scratch. When you varnish it again, the scratch will be nigh-on invisible, only my mother in law would see it.

cailini
Registered User
wood flooring

Hello, can anyone recommend any companies who supply semi solid wood flooring at reasonable prices?

thanks

Paul
Unregistered User
Just got ours done

We shopped around for solid wood flooring and were quoted silly prices. Although most prices are in and around the same, the quality is what we were looking for but some companies were trying to pawn us off with cheap semi and solid wood which were not half as good as we found. Had a guy out from Home Design, who also did our wooden blinds at a very reasonable price. Their number is 01/8574870 or 087/2581256.

collieb
Registered User

I used a company called PIF (Pacific Imperial Flooring). they have a website - www.pif.ie I got a 15mm solid white oak for floating fllor for 29.99 psm plus vat. Found them very friendlly and would recommend to anyone.

collieb

Some other posts

decbuck
Registered User
Cheapest Semi Solid Floor

Hi,
I am going to lay a wooden floor myself. I was going to use laminate but few people said it was total crap. Only going to be in house for four or five more years.

You can get that for about €7 a square yard. But I think I am going to so with the semi solid. What the cheapest place to buy this? I see b&q have ot for about €30 a square yead.

Thanks in advance

PatB
Registered User
Re: Cheapest Semi Solid Floor

Try Irwin's in Castleblayney (042-974027 . I bought semi-solids there and they where the cheapest I found.

decbuck
Registered User
Re: Cheapest Semi Solid Floor

How much did you pay do you mind me asking?

legend99
Very frequent poster

Cost of semi-solid varies wildly based on 2 things. the overall width of the plank. Whether it is strip(i.e. 3 strips on the same peice of wood so one peice of wood kind of looks like 3) or whether it is plank, i.e. a piece of wood just looks like one piece of wood.

For example, in Cork, Cork Builder Providers do a really nice semi-solid. 52 a square yard because its plank but more so because it is 18cm wide, 6 inches. You can get very similar looking in another few places for 30 a square yard because it is only 12cm wide, 4 inches.

decbuck
Registered User

Hi,

Just an update on this. I saw on the Wooden Floors key post before that www.doorstore.co.uk/ are cheap enough for floors.

Well I needed about 40 sq yards of semi solid to most of the downstairs of my house. I rang around a few places and was getting prices of about €16 - €20 per square yard in Ireland. This seemed like a good price, until I rang the doorstore. They have semi solid to clear at £4.99 per square yard. It works out at about €7.50 per square yard for semi solid.

You can only get laminate for that down here. I needed a bright colour and they had maple so I got it. Drove up last weekend and got it all. Granted the wood bit at the top of the board is only about 3 mm, ( you might only get to sand it twice) it is perfect quality.

When we got to the warehouse, it had the biggest collection of floors I have seen. They maily have laminate and solid. The solid is lovely, and you can i starting at £20 sq yard, which is €30 per square yard. For a solid floor I don't think you can get cheaper.


If you want to ring them, ring the boucher road branch. I was dealing with Arnold and he really knew what he was talking about.

Just re-read my post and it sounds like I am affiliated to this shop. But I guarantee I am not. I really did save €300 - €500 by travelling up. I will now put semi - solid floors on most of my downstairs for about €350 including underlay.

Post back here if you have any questions.

Some other posts

Hello1111
Sanding wooden floors

Hi,

Am moving into a new house this week and was just wondering how difficult it is to sand wooden floor boards. We have decided to sand the floor boards that are up stairs and varnish them, but are not 100% sure how to do this.

The floor boards are in good condition. What type of a sander should we rent, and is it difficult for a complete novice to use one (ie myself or the girlfriend). Would it take long?

Thanks in advance

Jamie and his magic torch
Registered User
Re: Sanding wooden floors

Hi Hello1111,

Have a look at the following site www.kevinboone.com/sanding.html. It will give an idea of what needs to be done. On a new floor you will not have the same level of difficulty to get the floor looking good as opposed to an older floor but it will still be time consuming. Ideally sand the floor over one weekend. Let the dust settle over the week hovering a couple of times during this time to ensure the floor is a clean as possible before staining and varnishing.

Jamie.

Marie
Frequent poster
sanding floors

Preperation beforehand is crucial. Make sure nails don't protrude AT ALL......hammer them all right down as when you start to sand you're taking quite a depth off the surface. The big industrial sanders do a better job but are tiring to use. You start off this job with animation and slow down rapidly. It does take a lot of energy so if you can enlist the help of friends in addition to yourselves that would help. There is a smaller model of sander which you must crouch over and these are useless. It benefits to have a small sander attachment on an electric power-drill to finish off along by the skirting boards.

Most models have a dust-bag but your house will be filled with dust despite this. Make sure you have large supplies of Farthingale masks. You will need protective eye-goggles (not the straight ones, but the contoured ones which actually fit across forhead and cheeks to keep the dust out).

At the hire-shop get TWICE AS MANY sanding bands as you think you will need/they recommend. I found a good number bust or ripped immediately after fitting (and this is why all nails and other proturberances need to be hammered down hard.......they rip the bands). Fitting these bands is a bit of a chore.

I found this process extremely tiring and arduous and more expensive than I'd bargained for. However wood floors (especially the old pine boards) do look good when the job is finished. All the best with it.

sueellen
Moderator
Re: Sanding wooden floors

[broken link removed]

brendan
Sanding

Dont bother filling in the gaps with papier mache, it is a watse of time.

Monkey0804
Registered User
Re: Sanding

Alternatively, you could get someone to do for you.

We are in an older house and lifted all carpets when we moved in and got re-wiring and plumbing done. The floors were bad, but needed patching up (after plumbers randomly took circular saw to them - another story altogether). It worked out really reasonably, we got 3 bedrooms, sitting room, dining room and hallway done for 700 euro. For that he patched up, replaced boards where necessary, sanded and stained/varnished the floors with sander with vacumm attached so dust was minimised and it was an excellent job.

If your interested I'll dig out his details.


Sludge
Cream or White?

I bought my house new about 10 years ago and immediately put carpets down on the new upstairs floorboards. The carpets are now tired/smelly and I am tired of them. Can I simply varnish/stain over the existing floorboards that still look as new? Any recommendations on colour of stain to use? I was thinking of doing one bathroom white/off white to give it the Cape Cod type look. When I stain should I then varnish over.

Monkey0804
Registered User
Re: Cream or White?

White sounds lovely - sort of a lime washed look. Not an expert, but you can get stain and varnish in one, which would save you some trouble.

coininban
cream or white

Have white stain in bedroom - lovely cool clean effect. Any ideas on filling the gaps in old floorboards - seem to collect every bit of dirt, cat litter, you name it?

cullenswood
Registered User
Dust

I'm sanding our upstairs floors this weekend. Its a new house so it shouldn't be too hard to sand them as they are in good condition.

I was just wondering if anyone had any advice on how to deal with the dust, I am assuming there is going to be lots!!

Monkey0804
Registered User
Re: Dust

If you have wardrobes in the room, tape them up. After that it's just a matter of hoover and dusting the room, prorbably a couple of times before the dust clears. Leave it for a couple of dayts before you stain or varnish the floor as the dust will be around for a while.

niallymac
Registered User
Cost of Sanding Floors

Anyone know approx how much one can expect to pay per square yard for sanding and three coats to a solid wood floor ?

Once Bitten
Registered User
Cost of Sanding Floors

I wasn't paying city prices, but I got a guy for 15 euro an hour cash, plus material.

50 sq yds of floor PLUS stairs/bannister came to a shade under 500 euro, including materials. That was for 2-3 coats.

Dan The Man
Frequent poster
Cost of Sanding Floors

Of course you could always buy the mask, rent the sander, open the windows, and sand for your life!

Cheaper but messy!

legend99
Very frequent poster

I just did it myself. A lot depends on the condition of the floors. Are they boards in a new house that just have bit of dust, dirt and the odd fleck of paint on them? Are they boards that were done years ago and are downright dirty now?
If you need serious sanding...i.e. literally need to take off 2/3 mm to get a clean surface you will need a drum sander....spinning drum of sand paper that literally cuts off the top of the wood...very easy to have ridges. hard hard to do...
If the boards are cleanish then you might get away with a finishing sander. Looks like an upright hoover but has a reactangle on the bottom under which a pad and sand paper go and it sands more lightly. Bear in mind if they floor boards are not clean enough to use this on you will be sanding with it for days...it will only work on say new floorboards to be cleaned up.

It took me about 1.5 days to sand each floor 3 times. 4 floors. Went with 60 grade paper, then 80, then 100. Bear in mind that this is only half the battle fo sanding...the other issue is cleaning the fllors of dust!!! That can take hours more as you need to leave it settle, preferably over night,. Then you need to hoover....but keep cleaning the filter of the hoover as it will clo gand you can burn out the hoover!

Then took me about 4 hours to get each coat down on all the floorss. I did 4 coats on each, So 16 hours. Bear in mind you will not in reality get 8 hours of varnishing done in a day. Nowadays with the water based varnish its dry enough to recoat in a day but you'll be wrecked. You also need to sand really lightly to just break the glaze between coats, with circa 240-300 grade paper. Do this by hand.

Dan The Man
Frequent poster

It may also be worth mentioning that the smaller the sander the better the finish, but only if the room is small.
Otherwise go big

legend99
Very frequent poster

I'll tell you Dan, I had a 1/3 sheet sander for the edges. One of the standard hand held ones and it was quite a high wattage. If you wanted to even do a 6 foot by 6 foot room with it you'd break your back.

Dan The Man
Frequent poster
Re: Cost of Sanding Floors

I've no doubt it will break your back, but I did find that the hand sander gave a better finish than the big rented one.

Murt10
Frequent poster
Re: Cost of Sanding Floors

I sanded my hall floor a couple of years ago with one of those industrial sanders. Didn't bother with the bag for the dust and didn't think it was necessary to close the upstairs bedroom doors.

Wife wasn't talking to me for ages.


Murt

niallymac
Registered User
Sanding Floors

Thanks for help guys.

s
tiles on floor boards

We just spent a fare bit of money on ceramic tiles to find that you need to lay ply wood on floor boards before you lay tiles. Is this true and is ply wood expensive?

Jamie and his magic torch
Registered User
Re: tiles on floor boards

Hi S,

Yes, you need to lay plywood before tiling on your floor boards. The reason is to prevent any movement of the tiles once laid. You need to lay 6mm or 9mm plywood and this needs to be screwed not nailed onto the wooden floor for a good sound surface. Screw the ply about every inch on the batons to stop any movement and then give the ply about 2/3 coats of Unibond to protect it from moisture. Not sure of the cost but if you find out how much this will cost can you please post on this site and who supplied it.

Jamie.

Tall Chapy
Frequent poster
Plywood floor

I would recommended getting the the indoor version of marine plywood for the floor. The name escapes me nut it sounds like PCG,PVG,CVB...ANYWAY Chadwicks will sort you out, nice blokes in there.So I found them..Smiths also do it and charge €25 delivery....
2 sheets at about €40 each should cover a bathroom. Marine Plywood costs more than €70 a sheet. Screw the sheets onto the joist every few inch and 'you'll be grand'

PatB
Registered User
Re: Plywood floor

Ply is important. But having the proper adhesive is the most important. Make sure that it is a flexible adhesive and a flexible grout you were supplied with, otherwise your tiles will crack from the movement in the ply

s
ply wood

We spoke to the tiler and he gave us directions on what to buy. 3/8 ply wood and it cost us about 23 euro for a sheet. Will let you know how we get on, he is starting the job on Monday am.

decbuck
Registered User
Re: ply wood

WBP Plywood is what you need. I got some in B&q at the weekend for 14.39 a sheet.

cullenswood
Registered User
Difference in height between tiles and floor boards

Hi,

We are thinking of putting down tiles in the kitchen section of our kitchen, and solid wood in the dining room area. The solid wood we are buying is 3/4 inch thick and we were recommended to put 3/4 of inch of plywood underneath it. This will leave a difference of at least 1 1/4 inches between the height of the tiles and the height of the wooden floor where they meet.

Has this happened to anyone else, and how did it turn out? What did you use to "blend" them in and did the little step look out of place or become a nuisance of any sort (tripping over etc)

Monkey0804
Registered User
Re: Difference in height between tiles and floor boards

We'd the same scenario. The floor layer planed down the wooden floor so that it sloped to the tile. There was still a ridge but it was never a problem, and looked fine.

cullenswood
Registered User
Re: Difference in height between tiles and floor boards

Yeah might try that. When he was planing the wooden floor, how many floor boards across was the slope. Was it only the one??

Monkey0804
Registered User
Re: Difference in height between tiles and floor boards

Yep - just the one, our floor was floating so the drop was about 1/2 inch so not as big as yours. But still might work

heinbloed
leveling the difference

You could as well throw in a few bags of self leveling compound before laying the tiles.It looks like cement ,costs around €20 a bag ,depending on the quality.Put some builders foil underneath to eliminate any existing moisture in the old floor.Or set the tiles with proper cement adhesive,it will give a much better stability to the floor tiles than the glue from the bucket.The mosaics im Pompeii would not have lasted if they had been glued,cement for floor tiling is certainly the builders choice.

jdwexford
Registered User
Re: leveling the difference

I'm in the same boat..(but with a semi solid floor-so planing the planks wouldn't do)
You can get ramps, but they would have to be planed. Aren't there metal thresholds/profiles you can get ?- I tried Woodies last night and a carpet shop, but they only had thresholds suitable for laminates. There is another store that does both tiles and semi solids, so I'm going to try that today!!

cullenswood
Registered User
Re: leveling the difference

jdwexford,

yes I am thinking about that solution aswell. Can you let me know how you got on in the shop you are going to today.

Cheers

jdwexford
Registered User
Re: leveling the difference

Hi
I picked up brass "reducers" in Chetham Timber where I bought the flooring. Looks like they will do the job. I'll try and dig up a photograph.

garth
Registered User
Difference in height between tiles and floor boards

When we were flooring our kitchen we had the same issue - we put down marine ply under the tiles to bring them up to the level of the wooden floor. Cheap and easy.

Some other posts

abba
Registered User
Laminate floor cost

Getting Laminate floors in 2 bedrooms - EUR 13 sq yd , both rooms 4.5 metres x 3 meters - quoted EUR1000 for both rooms incl. floors,fitting, and fitting new skirting over the floors - does this sound like a good quote - can anyone tell me how they work out the quote? i mean if my room is 4.5m x 3m , how do i calculate the price (sorry if this a stupid question)

thanks in advance

piggy
Very frequent poster
Re: Laminate floor cost

A lot of that is labour (I'd guess). I haven't done it yet....but I'm told that if you're in any way handy you can put them down yourself without too much bother.

If you want to know how much the raw materials are just find out how many square yards you have and multiply by the cost per square yard. That way you can see what you're being charged for labour.

okidoki987
Frequent poster
Re: Laminate floor cost

Am I right in saying that's 74 Euro a sq yard?
If so that sounds VERY expensive.
I got laminate floors from TC Matthews in Walkinstown including fitting (but not new skirting's) for 41 Euro a sq Yard
and that was good quality laminate.
They were the same price as Carpet showrooms.
74 a sq yard would be real wood territory (marks easily).
Depending on where you live, ring a few places to get them to come out and quote (all places will do FREE quotes).
Then decide based on friend's recommendations, price etc.
If you laid it yourself, it would be a lot cheaper as your only cost would be the materials.
The main problem would be taking off the old skirtings from the walls without taking half the wall with you!

abba
Registered User
lam floors

so i've worked out the floors cost about EUR 550 - so the same for labour and the skirting - does this sound very excessive ? in limerick by the way

piggy
Very frequent poster
Re: lam floors

Educated guess I'd say that the labour cost sounds about right...which is why you should have a crack at it yourself.

Like I said I haven't done it yet...but I will be and from talking to people who've done it themselves it's easy if you follow a few basic rules.
Always leave a few centimetres room all around the walls. They expand after they've been put down.

Maybe others who've done it themselves can give other tips or pointers?

OhPinchy
Frequent poster

make sure you buy some foam to put down underneath cos I know a joker who forgot to do this. Its fairly easy to do if you know what you're at but heres a couple of pointers: start off by getting it square and using wedges (you can buy a pack of red wooden wedges for this) to square it off against the wall if necessary. Never have two joints in the same place on adjacent boards - to do this chop a board in 2 - one part 1/3rd length, other 2/3rd length, and use one of these pieces as your start...this will give you a stagger of the joints all the way along.

sueellen
Moderator
Re: Laminate floor cost

[broken link removed]
[broken link removed]

piggy
Very frequent poster
Putting down laminate on concrete floor

Hi,

New place has concrete floors. The builders have put down some cheap wood pieces on top of the concrete.
What's the story with putting down laminates on this sort of floor. Can I put it down directly on top of the wood? I wouldn't have thought so as I doubt it would be perfectly level!?
Do I have to lift the wood and put it directly on the concrete? Will be doing this job myself.

Thanks for any advice.

smiley
floors

hi piggy...

what are the timber lats for??...sounds strange...you would put lats down if the builder poured the floor lower than the anticipated level of the skirting boards...

when i moved into my new house i told them i would be putting laminate down....they poured the floor at the normal level but just tacked the skirting boards to the walls....if i didn't tell them i was going to put a floor in they would have nailed the skirting boards totally....if your skirts are on you may cause quite a bit of damage to the walls and other frames pulling them off again.

to put the laminate down you put a foam underlay down first and then put the laminate directly on top of this....plain sailing really...you must leave a gap on the total perimeter for expansion of the floor also in warm conditions (summer)

ciao

smiley
floors

sorry..forgot to say.....you would use tiber lats if you pored the floor at a low level with the plan to put in a semi-solid or solid wooden floor.....well you may not need them in all cases but particularly where you want to bring the floor up a bit.

piggy
Very frequent poster
Re: floors

Thanks for the advice smiley. Much appreciated.

I know quite a bit about putting the laminates down alright, even though I haven't done it yet. A mate of mine has done it and is going to be helping me. He's the guy I'm sharing the house with actually.
So, I know about the gap you leave all around and that and the beading you use etc...

I'm not entirely sure what the timber lats are for to be honest. I presumed they were put down so that you wouldn't be putting carpet down on cold concrete floors and also for more insulation and sound-proofing.
Do I have to lift them up first though before putting the laminates down? I can't imagine that the lats would be dead level...

Oh...the skirts are already on and I won't be taking them off.

Sorry...hadn't read your second post. I'll have to wait and see what level the floors are at I suppose. I'm a little worried about the lats now though. If we need to use them it may be near impossible to put down laminates!

sueellen
Moderator
Re: Putting down laminate on concrete floor

Hi Piggy,

If you are not 100% sure about the wood that the builders laid it might be as well for you to check it out with them.

The [broken link removed] download here might be worth a read.

Within the 'laying a laminate floor' section [broken link removed] the preparing your sub-floor section might provide something useful.

eamonn66
timber lats

I put down a solid maple floor secret nailed over lats a few years ago. if i was doing it again , i would have put down solid mdf sheets and glued the boards to the mdf as well nailing. The lats can make the floor sound hollow and sometimes creak in the winter when the heating is on.

piggy
Very frequent poster
Re: Putting down laminate on concrete floor

sueellen & eamonn,

Thanks a lot for your replies. Both very helpful.

Yes sueellen...I think you're right. I'll be onto the builders this morning.

patspost
Registered User
natural Wax oil for floors

Hi folks I am thinking of getting a Hard Wax oil for my upstairs floors, red deal timber. There is a crowd called Biofa in Germany with an Irish distributer, that make natural products.

I have seen it down and looks nice, but what is the story with wax does it need much maintenance?, is it hard wearing?
Any experience of hteses things out there.
Tks

heinbloed1
Registered User
hard wax

I used a similar product from AURO,no problems.Applied to scan. red deal,polished with a car polisher from LIDL.Maintenance is easy enough:green soap diluted in warm water,every two or three month.Usually the brush is enough.Since it was the first time I waxed a floor I was a bit nervous to use it in the bathroom,instead I used there RONSEAL.Now,after one and a halve years,I wish I had used the wax there as well,it is far more better.
The wax can be removed with alcohol,so be careful spilling rum or whiskey.Beer or wine won't harm it.

Marie
Frequent poster
hard wax

I love waxed floors. The wax penetrates and brings out the beauty of the wood in a way stains, varnishes etc. don't. I've been using Danish Oil to maintain beech worktops in my kitchen and find it has similar properties to wax.

sunnyday
Frequent poster

Hope this isn't a stupid question, but could wax also be applied to doors instead of varnish?

heinbloed1
Registered User
wax-doors

Yes,sunnyday.It looks much better than the "gloss-with-scratches",I did it my self.But only to interior doors as well as to the inside of outside doors.The natural wax can easily be renewed if it needs a makeover,it works like shoe polishing.A piece of cloth,a bit of wax from the can,and than polishing after it has dried a bit.Don't forget to prime the timber at first,at least if it is soft wood you are treating,some hard woods can be waxed without priming ,beech for example.Skin contact is no problem with the BIOFA or AURO stuff,it's (nearly!)edible.I did some work with plaster and gypsum so the skin of my hands was bruised and pretty rough-until I started waxing the floor.I never experienced such a quick "healing" of my hands before.

For the outside timber door I used plain linseed oil,available from the farmer coop or the vet,it is edible as well and is used as a medicine/food supplement for cattle.It takes much longer to dry(months!) and want's a second or even a third application,depending on the timber.And it will smell for a long time ,not bad but nutty,similar to walnut or hazelnut oil.

sunnyday
Frequent poster
Re: wax-doors

Very interesting, thanks heinbloed. I think I'll try it on my oak.

Some other posts

Irina
Registered User
Wooden floor

Hi there,

After many discussions with friends and relatives we had decided to put a semi solid wooden floor into our house which is due to be completed in October.
After getting a few quotes from around the country it looks as if this will cost us between 2000 and 3000 Euro (for 55sqm).
I had assumed that this would also increase the value of the house but was told today this is not the case ? This is our first house and I think we'll be staying there for a few years but will move on then.
Reasons for choosing the semi solid over laminate were that the obvious (looks), durability etc.
Any advice if I should stick with my decision or would it be wiser to go for the much cheaper laminated floor seeing that finances are going to be fairly stretched as it is ?
Thanks very much

w0dgah
How about €7.50 and DIY

www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=189019

Once you have the wood you can DIY or else Get a handy person or carpenter in . Any talented patient amateur can put these floors in but a good handyperson can do it for about €10 a square yard and maybe €12 in the big cities . There are stacks of them about .

Wood adds to the value if

1. It suits the overall design of the house , frilly curtains and wood floors are daft
2. The house is modern or very old, different types of wood suit one or the other
3. THE JOB IS DONE WELL
4. The purchaser (if you sell) has kids , kids thrive with wooden floors and do not get asthma like with carpets.

BIG WARNING, the house may not be Dry enough for the wood until it has been plastered and weathertight for about 9 months. You need a meter to measure the moisture content in the blocks and walls, if too wet the WOOD WILL WARP

finbar
Registered User
semi solid

Laminate floor is actaully more durable than semi solid , laminate is much more hard wearing as it is manufactured this way.You can actually get laminate floors now with a v - groove which is like a bevel on top of the edges of each plank.
this gives it a semi solid floor lookalike .
I bought my lam floor in doors and floors in finglas 9mm thick v-groove oak 70 sq yards 900 euro clip floor - no glue
i fitted it myself (never did anything like this before) and it looks totally professional and better then a semi solid floor.
If your selling in a few years use lamiate , you wont get anything more for the house for semi solid as it will wear down more over 3 years than lamkinate.

Irina
Registered User
Re: semi solid

Thanks w0dgah and Finbar,

Might reconsider so. A friend of mine (carpenter) told me to leave the wood in the heated house for two weeks before laying it that would sort the shrinking bit out.

Was going to go to a shop called Floortex in Terenure over the weekend they seem to have a huge selection of all wood flooring including laminate. Will get a quote for them.

Have my heart set on cherry so hopefully I find something similar in laminate.

decbuck
Frequent poster
Re: Wooden floor

I was advised on this site before to check out www.doorstore.co.uk/ in belfast.

I got semi-solid flooring there for €7.50 a square yard.

I drove up myself and collected all the packs I needed. It's a nice bright maple colour.

So, my floor that I want to do is 40 sq yards and it is going to cost me about 400 euro after I buy all the underlay and trim.


Not bad, considering I was looking at least €1600 to get it fitted.

Coyote
Registered User
Flooring

We had to wait over six months, after building an extension, before we could get our solid hardwood flooring put down due to the concrete not having dried out sufficiently, even then we took a bit of a risk. We would have had the same wait if we'd gone for semi-solid too. Laminate flooring can be laid straight away.

I found Floortex very expensive when I was shopping around for quotes. I also have a friend who used them since and she was very disappointed with their workmanship and reliability.

Irina
Registered User
Re: Flooring

Thanks very much for all your replies - very helpful.

I was thinking of going to Floortex for a quote but might try Des Kelly and Woody's instead now to see what they come up with.

Had a good quote from a supplier in Galway as well but am a bit reluctant to buy outside Dublin.

Will let you know how I get on.

corkonian
re : how do i remove glue from wooden floor ?

I recently purchased a second hand house. I have been stripping it removing all flooring etc. I have encountered a couple of problems. In one room there was lino glued to a wooden floor. I have taken up most of the lino except at some edges at wall where it is difficult to get at. There is loads of glue left on the floor. I wanted to sand and varnish the floor.
The glue must be some industry glue. Not water soluble boiling water doesnt work. Tried nailvarnish remover. Tried a steamer - no good. Only thing which helps somewhat is a very strong paint and varnish remover STRUPIT. It has helped some what on the patches i tried. But to do the room i will need litres of the stuff.And it doesnt take it all off. There has to be something better. Any ideas ????? Help !!

eamonn66
glue

if it is hard enough, maybe you could sand it off

Dr Moriarty
Frequent poster
Re:

Make sure you wear a good mask, if you do — bad enough breathing in sawdust, without particles of industrial glue!

cullenswood
Registered User
Varnishing

Quick question about varnishing. I am doing some this weekend and have received differing opinions on how to do it.

Opinion 1: Dip a cloth in white spirits and clean the whole floor before varnishing. This will take up any excess dust that has settled, leaving a smoother finish.

Opinion 2: After putting down the first coat of varnish, sand the floor again with fine sand paper, before putting down a second/third coat. Also supposed to leave a smooth finish.

Anybody tried either of these methods, and which would produce the best results??

Diziet
Registered User
Varnishing

You need to do both. A pain, but gives a good finish

cheers,
Diziet

Dan The Man
Frequent poster
Varnishing

I got a good qaulity water based varnish, dry in 1 hour with absolutely no smell!

Some other posts
ABYR
Registered User
wooden Floors

How long after a new home is built can you put wooden floors down. I know if they are put down too soon, then with allowing the floors to settle first, they may warp. Is this true or a myth?

Chrisb
Registered User
Re: wooden Floors

I've heared conflicting stories about this too. One shop told us, that all we needed to do was put on the central heating for a week and it would be fine. When I asked whether they would give me that in writing in the contract of sale, the guy went quiet.
Apparently carpenters can test the concrete somehow to tell whether it is too early or not. Most times people have told me 3 months, some even 6 months. I would suggest waiting at least 3 months and then paying the extra to have a carpenter or other qualified person to measure the moisture.

noelodea
Registered User
Re: wooden Floors

I agree totally with Chrisb,3 months is the minimum period you should wait,we did that with our floor and it was fine. However,my sister-in-law got the exact same wood floor put down just 2 WEEKS after the floor had been laid and,you guessed it,all the timber bubbled up and warped,it all had to be pulled up and thrown out !. Be sure to get a carpenter who knows what he is doing,a babdly laid floor will be an eyesore.

Once Bitten
Registered User
Re: wooden Floors

The shop where we are going to buy our wooden floors make two trips at a minimum to a house.

One to deliver the wood and they test the moisture content in the floor while they are at it. The second trip for fitting is scheduled for when they feel the moisture content will be low enough for fitting.

They will not put down the floor until it is ready.

KUTEKEANE
Registered User
Re: wooden Floors

Does this also apply to laminate floors?

Valheru
Registered User
Wodden floors creaking

How can I stop certain parts of my wodden floors creaking? They are on the ground floor and are down about 6 years.

EBMITIE
Registered User
Re: Wodden floors creaking

this is an old trick so try it, find the creak and squeeze a drop of washing up liquid into it.

anom

Stick on solid floor

The local hardware tells my father they have solid Oak flooring that your put down like tiles. No vapour barrier, wood base, etc - just spread the glue on the concrete and lay the floor.

Has anybody heard of a solid wooden floor you just stick onto concrete with a tub of glue?

Hi,

Need to buy wooden floors in the near future so any help would be appreciated.

Has anyone bought wooden floors off eBay or any other website?
Is €25 per square yard a good price for semi-solid oak flooring?
How much should I expect to pay per sq.yd for fitting?

Thanks,

GG

I know from experience that semi-solid oak flooring is often on sale for €20 per yard. Not sure about cost of fitting. Would you not have a go yourself?