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fitting floor boards


Harry136
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Hi

I'm fitting a second layer of floor boards in the living room. More of a decorative option as we want to paint them with Farrow and Ball colours- can't do this with hardwood or laminate.

The current floorboards are a bit ****, so we are planning on putting new boards on top of the existing ones.

Is there anything I need to be aware of when fitting? ie do I need to let the boards dry indoors at room temperature first?

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Golden rule-  never fix your boards down AND glue them together .

One or the other. But never both  .Aclimatizing the boards to the room they are gonna be in can be a good idea. 

But they need to be out of packs and packaging and be stacked so air can get to all sides of the individual boards .

If you cant achive this then dont bother. 

Edited by Ultrastu
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Assuming you are going to take existing skirting board off, I would glue the boards together and float them over the existing boards with a layer in-between to take up irregularities in the existing floor. Leave a gap around the edges as you would with laminate that is covered by the skirting.

That said the final outcome on this is going to be very much dependant on the quality of the timber boards you use. Sounds like a tricky one to me but if I was doing this I'd be looking at using hardwood flooring having either sanded off the existing finish or if the boards allow it fitting them upside down.

Good luck!

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I take it your putting  down new  pine boards over old pine boards ? 

Is the room down stairs ,with a ventilated void below. ?

If so you will find the old boards expand and contract with the seasons (moisture content)

I would recomend that you fit a moisture barrier above the old boards and also a balancing layer of hard board before the new boards go down. Due to the nature of pine boards (they expand and contract a lot )  secret nailing them down might be the best option. 

 

Edited by Ultrastu
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Hi

Thanks for the replies. There is a void beneath, so it is ventilated.

I'm not removing the skirting board, i'll lay the floor then pt some beading around the edge.

Am i right in thinking that by doing this, i would be better thinking of the new floorboards like a laminate floor in that i would be better off not nailing them down and just having it float?

I have drilled through a water pipe before, so won't be making that mistake again!

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Don’t know what thickness these boards are but will you not have a lip in the doorway into the room, don’t forget you will need to saw/plane the bottom of the door.

If it was me I would try to salvage as many of the old floorboards and replace bad/damaged ones with new boards, if you turn the old boards over they will be cleaner, after sanding all the boards the new ones may need a light stain to match the old boards.    
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He said he is gonna paint them .

I wouldnt take the old boards up and flip them over .thats a terrible idea. 

If your going to go to the effort of removing the old ones you might as well replace with new ones. It would be cheaper than messing about with the old stuff. Harry are you thinking of new pine boards from the builders merchants ??? It makes a big difference to the advice i and others can give you .

 

 

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Hi

I'm not reusing the old floorboards as there are lumps missing out of them.

As for the floor level, fitting new boards on top will bring the living room floor level with the tiles in the hallway/ kitchen.

I am planning on using new pine boards from the wood merchants.

I'm also thinking of laying the new boards in the opposite direction to cut out any draughts from below.

Was also thinking of maybe putting layer of the foam thin laminate insulation tiles between the layers.

Edited by Harry136
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You'd be better off with an engineered floor over the top of the existing boards. Thinner, stable, no visible fixings. 

Unless your going to air dry the new boards for 6 months don't bother as they will shrink and look rubbish. 

If your fixing the at 90 deg to the existing floor you need to screw them down as you'll only hit a joist every so often. 

Edited by manthing
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Try and find some red deal boards not white wood /spruce. It’ll save the holes and massive knots.

can you cross bond with the old boards if your definitely keeping them. 

I’d never ever glue them together and it’ll just shrink and crack over that width/area .

 

3 weeks for any boards before installation and don’t try and rush it. I’ve seen boards shrink 1-2mm each over that time.. 

1 minute ago, manthing said:

You'd be better off with an engineered floor over the top of the existing boards. Thinner, stable, no visible fixings. 

As much as I hate the stuff in this case I’d say 100% your right.

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1 minute ago, Harry136 said:

Hi

The trouble with engineered/ laminate/ hardwood floors is that we won't be able to paint them the exact colour we want- to match the rest of the house.

You can paint them any colour you want. 

Or are we talking a wash paint job where you paint and wipe off to leave the grain visable? 

I wasn't talking about the laminate you get from the DIY sheds but proper engineered timber flooring, usually mutch bigger pieces. 

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Its realtivley easy to find unfinished engineered boards. So you can paint /stain / oil as you wish. 

Id also reccomend  engineered boards over pine boards .They are much much more stable and can be glued together to float over your existing pine ones. 

With the foam (and moisture ) barriers between. 

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You will find even if you acclimatize to perfection the pine boards when you come to glue them togehter they will be different widths  especially on the ends where it shows most .this is because pine is very suceptable to moisture and expands and contracts readily  .be aware of this. 

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8 hours ago, Harry136 said:

Hi

I'm fitting a second layer of floor boards in the living room. More of a decorative option as we want to paint them with Farrow and Ball colours- can't do this with hardwood or laminate.

The current floorboards are a bit ****, so we are planning on putting new boards on top of the existing ones.

Is there anything I need to be aware of when fitting? ie do I need to let the boards dry indoors at room temperature first?

You say Farrow and Ball colours. I hope you mean you will be taking the Farrow and ball catalogue colour to B&Q or a Dulux centre and getting them to mix you that colour? And pay £10 a litre rather than £40.

You can also get some 200mm/ 8 inch wide by about 2m/ 6ft lengths engineered flooring that comes bare and looks like floorboards. I can take a picture of mine, to give you and idea, if you want but its oak.

Edited by silver pigeon69
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After being laid I don't know a woman who could tell engineered from traditional t&g plank flooring.

Painted floors scratch and mark like it's their only mission in life.

Each to their own and you go for what you want  but you've been given some top advice from people in the trade.

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