18mm wooden flloring

[j77drs]

hi

i want to lay 18mm think wooden flooring ( various lengths from 300 mm to 1400 mm )

can anyone advise the best way to lay this as i have only laid laminate before,

The floor is concrete and understand i may need a DPM ?
( the floorinf company want about 500 gbp for a sticky DPM - for 50 m2 )

Can the DPM just be laid underneath or does it have to be glued down ?

Will the floor be laid in the same way as lamintae ? ie 10mm gap around all ends and the floor basically float ?

If the floor doesnt float and have to be nailed how does this work with the 10 mm gaps around the endges ?

 

[WoodYouLike]

Fraid your type of solid floorboards can't be installed floating, you'll have to fully bond them with flexible adhesive, you can't nail into concrete.

The expansion gap depends on the width of the room (i.e. the width of the floor), 10mm is the minimum you can get away with IF the room is not wider than 2.5 meter. Rule of thumb: 3.5 - 4mm per meter width, for instance if your room is 4 meters wide you'll have to keep at least a 16mm gap all around

 

[j77drs]

thanks for the info,

do i need a membrane ?

do i stick the floor to a membrane ?

 

[WoodYouLike]

Depends on if there's a DPM underneath the concrete, if there are moist problems etc.
You normally apply a liquid DPM if needed, then after this has dried you apply the flexible adhesive and bond the wood floor.

 

[j77drs]

no problems with damp at all,
the bungalow is 25 years old
i just want to make sure i have everything correct

 

[Floorsave]

Hi,

The correct procedure would be to paint two coats of DPM down onto the concrete over two days. Then you should glue the wood floor to the DPM with a compatible adhesive.

You should always leave a 10-12mm gap to allow for expansion.

A two coat DPM should cost around £280,00 for two coats over 50m2

The adhesive should be around £300.00

 

[WoodYouLike]

You should always leave a 10-12mm gap to allow for expansion.

How do you know? You don't know the size of the room!

Again, there's a specific rule of thumb in regards of expansion gaps with solid Oak floorboards: 3.5 - 4 mm per meter width of the room.
For Pine it is 4 - 5 mm per meter, and for beech it is even 7mm per meter width.

 

[j77drs]

what do you think on the following process -

dpm sheet
then peel and stick process ?