Timber floors upstairs

S

seamus357

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My wife and I are building our new house this year. We are planning on having timber floors throughout (except the kitchen and bathroom).


We were wondering about the type of timber floor to go for upstairs. We plan on having solid oak flooring downstairs and upstairs on the landing. But what about the bedrooms upstairs? Would you recommend solid, semi-solid or laminate?

Seamus
 
Solid all the way or at the least semi solid. I don't know why some people build their own homes or buy big houses and then put in the cheapest stuff ie laminate - and it looks cheap.
Good luck with the build and I'm sure it will be lovely.
 
Go for Solid Bamboo flooring. I went for Bamboo flooring throughout including the stairs. I 've already posted the details of the place I bought them. To repaeat Rhayen Impex, Maynooth & the contact person is Jay mobile 086 3618883.

P.S: I have no connection with the shop except that I was a customer.
 
are you sure about timber upstair? sound will travel a lot more easily through the house nad you could be tormented by the sound of footsteps if kids are running about the place.
as for solid/semi/laminate i think it is a personal choice. It could boil down to cost but be aware that a lot of semi solid cost as more than some solid. Solids can you a lot more problem ( swelling/warping general movement, proper water content in floor slab, method of fixing) while a semi solid should not move at all and is much easier to fit. Also the arugment that you can sand down the solid for many uses is i feel completely overstated. The most you will be able to sand will be 5-6 mm until you are near the tongue and you can get almot that in some semi solids. I wouldnt be blinded by the whole ''solid is better'' argument
 
Timber upstairs can be a nightmare. All the rooms upstairs in our house were timber floored and the noise is unreal downstairs. Drowns out the tv if somebody is in the bedroom above the sitting room, not to mention if somebody drops something, everybody jumps out of their skin!! Carpets are also much cosier to have in a bedroom, but thats just a personal preference. Just be very sure about the wooden floors, try and have a look and listen in somebody else's house first if you can.
 
What type of stairs are you putting in, timber and if so what type? We put elm stairs and then went for chestnut in the landing (for contrast) and higher quality (dried out more) in the bedrooms and stained them walnut. Looks great in our opinion. We are putting oak downstairs, though not in the kitchen and utility and doanstairs bathroom. Put tiles in the hall as this is where all chips/little stones will drop off after people come and can scratch the timber. Though we do live in the country. Towns may be different. Enjoy the process. Wonderful to build your own. Optimistic
 
We are still looking into the various stairs options. As we are planning on putting in oak flooring downstairs but we are concerned that a dark stairs, such as teak, might look out of place. Oak would be nice but an oak stairs is expensive. However a red deal stairs might be too soft for a stairs. Does anybody no the hardness (Janka rating) of red deal?
 
Timber flooring, especially floating floors can be a headache if you have very young children. On the plus side such floors are easy to keep clean but the noise generated by children playing (and dropping things!) on such floors can be very irritating!
 
if you are worried about noise then why not install concrete floors on the 1st floor? you can then have the wooden floors upstairs without the fear of noise carrying downstairs. In answer to your original question i would recommend semi-solid, although there are some very good quality laminates that are more hard wearing than solids. Of course if you have under floor heating upstairs you may need semi-solid or laminate
 

I put in maple and the first thing that people comment on is the floor. I'm really pleased with it. I have dark furniture and the contrast looks well. I sanded and varnished the stairs and bedrooms and they also look well. I'd stay away from laminate and semi solid if I could. Solid installation was expensive as I had to lay plywood first and the floor was then nailed to it - nails and nail gun hire were extra. Shop around as there are huge differences. Don't forget sales or job lots can also cut the cost.
 
I am converting my attic into a playroom for the kids and was hoping to get a foam tile (like the giant jigsaws). Is this a good idea for soundproofing and where could i get them?
 
[broken link removed] do this matting. I know I've seen it for sale here somewhere, but can't remember where. I do remember it was considerably more expensive than Axminster though.
Leo
 
sascoco said:
I am converting my attic into a playroom for the kids and was hoping to get a foam tile (like the giant jigsaws). Is this a good idea for soundproofing and where could i get them?
Click to expand...

If you use an acoustic underlay like "Regipol" and a reasonable quality carpet over this you should reduce impact noise significantly. Those foam tiles are generally used in external areas like playgrounds and in creche facilities (and they're a crazy prize).
 
Niallman said:
Timber upstairs can be a nightmare. All the rooms upstairs in our house were timber floored and the noise is unreal downstairs.
Click to expand...

correction: IS a nightmare............
cure: went away for work for a few days, came back and wife had removed all the red deal (herself, btw......), and had it carpeted. Kind of a sisal thingy........much, much better.

easiest DIY job I've ever done, really....... )
 
that looks ideal leo. i'd love to get a look at it to be sure, It is quite cheap too which is a good thing because the room is 32sq meters, Id say it would be at least double the price here. If anyone comes across it please let me know, thanks
 
I've bought it before, it's over 1cm thick and pretty dense, so not too weird or spongy to walk on. Knits together nice and tightly too.
Leo
 



Maybe consider ash for your stairs?

Looks similar to oak but not quite as rich. But the raw material is just a bit more than half the price of white oak.
 
I am in process of renovating my original family home. It was previously let out. It had carpets in bedrooms upstairs -never again. On this website I was enquiring about lino or laminate flooring.I was greatly discouraged in using laminate. I removed carpets and underneath lino.I started sanding the original floorboards which date to 1935. To my surprise they were in excellent condition, even though I had difficulty in removing a dark stain around the borders of the rooms.I am putting on an emulsion paint which matches with existing window frames and skirting and covering with a clear varnish. I intend to use some rugs which can be cleaned outside. Lino for 3 rooms was going to cost 1000 euro, laminate roughly the same.Whereas paint will cost 180 euro+ sand paper and my own labour.
While floorboards can be noisy they are very hygenic.They can be washed regularly and waxed. In a new build why not consider soundproofing before solid floors.?
 
we are planning to put in an oak central staircase and was told by builder that it would only be a small cost extra from going with red deal, both our previous two houses have had red deal staircases and are perfectly fine...saying that we carpetted them so not sure if you are leaving them plain or not, plan to put central runner up the middle and across the landing, plan to put down T&G oak floorboards in the bedrooms and varnish them and us good sound insulation..
best of luck
 
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