Solid wood flooring

[FeiM]

I am trying to put a solid wood flooring down but I am concerned about the noise and neighbours downstairs.

I have bought accoustic mineral wool to put between the joints to reduce airbourne noise.

I am planning to put underlay on top of the floorbords, then ply wood and then the wooden floor whcih I appreciate will raise the hight.

The problem I have is that the my builder has advised that he needs to nail the ply wood on the floorboards and therefore he will have to nail the underlay reducing its effectiveness.

Does anyone have a solution to this. Can the play wood be fiitted without nailing it to the existing floorboards?

Thanks
Fei

 

[Symptoms]

F - the two issues here are airbourne and impact. You seem to understand the need to fill the below floor void to reduce the airbourne noise but to combat impact noise you have to essentially 'detach' the top layer from the floor mass below. This is achieved by introducing an acoustic 'quilt' layer upon which the top layer MUST float; there can be NO solid (including nails/screws) connection between this top layer and anything below the 'quilt' ... and this includes at the edges as well (must not touch walls).

Why does your builder want to lay ply over the 'quilt', does he want to nail the new flooring into the ply? Have you bought the flooring yet and if so what type? Have you considered floating your wooden floor?

 

[FeiM]

thanks for the quick response. I have already bought the floor it is solid oak wood. The builder said he cannot glue the floor he has to nail it.

So he came up with the ply wood idea so he can nail the floor down. So my question is can the ply wood being glued to the underlay and then he can nail the floor on the ply wood?

Is there any other solution I cannot see?

 

[WoodYouLike]

If a wooden floor can be nailed onto a plywood subfloor it can also be glued down to the plywood with flexible adhesive - which would help with the noise reduction.
Why is your builder reluctant to fully bond this floor?

 

[FeiM]

teh builder is a bit lasy and does not want to do th eextra work. I will ask hinm to glue the floor then on the ply wood.

Could I please ask you to explain how the bonding work so I can explain it to the builder. Pressumably he will not have to nail down the ply wood to the subfloor.

Would you suggest that the underaly goes between the existing floorboards and the ply wood, or between the ply wood and the wooden floor

thanks

 

[HMCFlooring]

The flexible adhesive that needs to be used is very expensive compared to the price of secret nailing.

This is the best solution to your problem and i have used it many times in residential flats
http://www.sika.com.au/cmc/Datasheets/tds/SikaAcouBondSystem_tds.pdf

Of course hiring a wood flooring professional is always a good idea not a builder!

If you must use the underlay put it between the ply and the hardwood floor. The floor must be floated however.