Engineered flooring sub base and transition queries.

[Scarpa]

Hi guys, 

 

Looking to place some engineered oak flooring throughout the downstairs of my house and have a few queries. The internet seems to show different ways of doing thing. 

The sub floor is pine boards over joists with the kitchen being a concrete slab. 

I'm looking to float the floor so I can use a good quality insulating underlay. 

 

1) Do I lay the new boards parallel or perpendicular to the sub base boards? 

2) I am probably going tongue and groove style. Do I glue the boards together? I've seen youtube videos showing them being glued together and then I have seen big high street chain stores video tutorials showing them not being glued. Can the floor still expand ok if its floating and glued? 

3) How do I approach the sub floor transition from suspended timber to the concrete slab in the kitchen? I would like it to be continuous. Is this a bad idea?  

 

many thanks

 

[Temp]

I'd probably lay them perpendicular to the existing but does that suit the room? If not make sure the existing are well fixed down and should be ok parallel.

 

We were advised to glue the boards together using plenty of glue. We also fixed them down to battens but floating is ok. Our supplier recommend using a glue pot and brush to get good glue coverage on both sides and bottom of the groove rather than just running the nozzle of the glue along the groove which ends up with poor coverage.

 

The transition should be fine if the levels are right. However I would probably run boards across the transition rater than parallel with it.

 

There are different thicknesses of engineered oak. 14 and 20/21mm are common. The 21mm typically has a 6/7mm oak wear layer on 14mm plywood. You can re-sand engineered boards several times over their life, in fact about as many times as solid (until the T&G fails).

 

I strongly recommend Osmo Hardwax Oil for the finish as any recoating in years to come is less visible. We git ours ready coated which minimises the risk of it getting marked or stained during laying.

 

PS: Shop around for samples and try them at home. I picked up lots at a show. Some looked fine at the show but horrible when we got them home in natural light a few were positively orange due to the finish used.

PPS There should be a gap around the edge under the skirting to allow for expansion. Ours expand in summer when it's humid and contract in winter when the air is dry.

 

Edited June 28, 2020 by Temp