laying a new floor

[jayd]

Just laying a new wooden floor over my existing boards, would I new an expansion joint around the edge or could I just leave a gap, also do I need to lay ply over my old boards or can I just lay my new ones on top?

any help will be greatly appreciated!!

Jay

 

[big-all]

heeelllooo jayd

what sort of floor is it solid wood laminate 9mm 20mm thick

a description picture web link would be helpfull [b + q ect]

 

[jayd]

LAMINATE!!!!!!!!!!!! no no no hehe, its real wooden 7" wide boards that I have planed to about 5/8" deep just to skim the top of the existing boards, I was going to just go straight on top but then I read that I should lay ply between them and am now confused as to whether its really neccesary.

Ideas?

success is how high you bounce when you hit the floor

 

[RKB]

You can lay these boards directly on top of your old boards, but fo what it's worth, you may want to consider the following:
1. If you lay directly on top of existing (T&G?) boards, you will probably need to lay them at 90 degrees to the old boards, or you may get a nice wave effect.
2. Laying ply will stop this effect, but will raise the finsished level of the floor, possibly causing problems with thresholds into other rooms.

Remember with wide boards, their is a greater chance of the boards cupping, so you'll need to secure them (hidden nailing?) about every 6 to 9 inches.

Hope that helps - based on experience!!

 

[jayd]

thanks for the reply, I was going to lay them at 90 degrees but a friend did say that if you wanted to get under the floor for any reason then I would have to lift the entire new floor to lift the old one!

I dont have a problem with coming up an inch or so though, maybe its time to get that ply

Just got to decide whether to nail it now or screw+plug, anyone here sell lino hehe

 

[RKB]

Agree about getting access to the underfloor if you lay at 90 degrees. I was lucky as I was able to reroute all services, and therefore will have no reason to get under the floor in the future.

My floor covered old T%G and also concrete. I used hidden nails for the T&G , and screwed into the concrete. If you use a screwdigger, and have access to a drill press, you can achieve fantastic results, with the screwheads capped with cores. You need a very sharp chisel to pare of the excess plug, and can get a good flush innish with the board.

I got a pro floor finisher to lock the colour of the boards (oak, he used a acrylic solution, and then two coats of beeswax), and he commented on the high standard of finnish - made it all worth while

 

[jayd]

cheers mate, I think I am going to go with the screw+plug actually.

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