>Flooring articles for property owners - Understand the project before you start

Taken from Onlinetradesmen.com's columns in the Irish Independent and Connaught tribune. Have a question in relation to a home improvement or construction project? Simply submit it to propertypro@onlinetradesmen.com and let Ted Laverty from Onlinetradesmen.com, source the answers you need from a pool of over 8,000 accredited and quality tradesmen nationwide

Q.

I have recently received the keys for a new apartment. The floors are concrete and I want to look at putting in wooden floors all over. I’m not sure where to begin so perhaps you can give me some tips?

A.

Done correctly the addition of a wooden floor can greatly enhance the look and feel of any room. Generally wooden floors are perceived to be among the most versatile of floor coverings available, going equally well with contemporary or traditional interior designs. However, there are a few things to consider in making sure that you achieve your ideal finish.

I should start by asking you to check if there are any limitations around wooden floors in your apartment block. It may seem like a strange place to start but the reality is that a growing number of developments have restrictions in place regarding the placement of wooden floors in anything above a ground level apartment. Why? Because an uninsulated wooden floor (laminates in particular) can create significant noise in the dwelling beneath it and cause untold stress to it’s unfortunate inhabitants. I know of cases where apartment owners complain of hearing every footstep of the occupants above them because of badly installed flooring, causing a less than friendly environment in the apartment block. For this reason some management companies have tried to implement restrictions in this regard, so you should read the small print carefully. In the event of getting the green light then it is still wise to consider your neighbours and make sure that there are no noise issues for them.

From a design perspective determining the ideal flooring style for your project is very much dependent on your own personal taste, the apartment usage and your budget. There are a number of criteria to consider in making a selection:

Floor type: In Ireland we have 3 main flooring options – solid flooring, semi-solid flooring and laminate –ordered here in terms of decreasing cost.

Solid flooring is what it says it is – solid planks of your chosen wood type. Many contend that solid flooring provides a superior finish and gives property owners greater maintenance options in terms of being able to renew the top surface through sanding it back over time. This contention is open to debate, as semi solid can be close to in both aspects, but what is clear is that that solid flooring has greater propensity to absorb moisture and hence expand/warp (for this reason it is not recommended for installation over underfloor heating and questionable for bathrooms). You must also take traffic considerations into account when installing a solid floor – some wood types will not take kindly to high heels or high footfall so consider this when you are choosing the correct surface for each room and get the retailers advice where possible.

Semi Solid flooring typically consists of a 3 layer plywood base covered in a real wood top surface – providing a natural look and feel when installed. The benefits of this floor type are that it is typically cheaper to buy and install than solid flooring as well as being more moisture stable. The drawbacks are that it may not provide the same finish quality and cannot be sanded back as many times as solid flooring – although the more expensive semi-solid comes extremely close in both aspects. Again consider traffic volumes, semi-solid is typically protected by a urethane layer but can still be susceptible to scratches and stiletto marks.

It is worth pointing out that both semi solid and solid wood floors contain natural wood grains, knots and blemishes. Often the beauty of these floor types is in its irregularities as no one plank is going to be the same. Be prepared for slightly different shading over a large floor area. It is also important to consider the source of all natural wood floors. A worrying amount of flooring continues to be sourced from unmanaged or illegal forests globally – you are well within your rights to insist on verifying the source of your flooring to ensure that it comes from sustainable, managed forests which generally carries the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) mark. Bamboo flooring is currently considered to be the most ecological friendly wooden flooring on the market and can provide a beautiful alternative to the hardwood variety.

The last main floor type to consider is laminate. A synthetic material, laminate flooring is relatively cheap to buy and install but is the most hardy of the 3 floor types listed. There is a balance to be struck in choosing laminate – it will not replicate the effect of real wood (although again some of the higher end laminates are close) but provides durability and an acceptable finish at a lower cost.

Wood variety: Choosing the wood variety will come down to personal choice and budget. You will need to consider the colour schemes in your property and its furnishings before you can decide on a shade of wood. Different wood varieties will have natural a colour, texture and grain attributes which will narrow down your options. Given these attributes they will also cater for varying traffic volumes – so you will need to consider this aspect in your planning and check the retailers ‘traffic’ ratings in all cases. Popular varieties on offer include Oak (with multiple variations and shades), Maple, cherry, and walnut to name but a few. It is worthwhile going into to a local retailer with a good showroom such as BTW or similar to get a better idea of what is on offer.

Plank style: Wooden floors typically come in a number of plank styles. These are generally short plank, long plank or strip plank. Each creates a different look to the finished floor, with strip plank (generally 3 strip) comprising of planks of approx 15mm in length throughout the entire floor area – creating a busier look to the room. Long plank flooring can often make a room appear longer than it is and ‘join’ rooms together by running planks from one to the other if required.

At this point all we have discussed are the practicalities in choosing the correct surface for your project. You will also need to consider whether you are planning to install the flooring yourself or whether to get a professional to do it for you. It is worthwhile considering the latter as, in general, a qualified floorer will fit flooring in an average sized apartment in 2 – 3 days for less than you might think with the added assurance of it being done correctly. They may also be able to source the flooring itself for you at a better price. I recommend that you login to www.onlinetradesmen.com and put in your requirements in the flooring section to get an idea of pricing and project duration. If you do decide to undertake the project yourself then there are a large number of aspects to consider and we will need to discuss it in the next column. I hate to say ‘To be continued’ but there is only so much information I can fit in one column so tune in next time for flooring installation advice and considerations.

Part II

Last week we touched on the area of selecting wooden floors for your apartment and you have since been in touch and indicated that you are likely to go with semi-solid wood throughout – so let’s proceed on that basis. This week we are going to get a bit more technical and provide some tips and advice on installing the flooring for your apartment. Prior to getting started however, please do clarify and confirm with a local expert that the advice within this article is applicable to your particular project. It may well be that once you have read this article then you will decide that it is too complex for your DIY skills – if so source a qualified floorer through www.onlinetradesmen.com.

Pre-check

First things first – you need to test the moisture content of your concrete flooring and ensure that the surface is fairly level. Given that it is a new apartment you need to make sure that the overall moisture content of the floor is no more than 3%. You can do this by using a moisture meter which you can pick up at a hardware store. If the floor contains more than 3% moisture then you will need to dry it out – I would suggest using a combination of dehumidifier and radiators to achieve this. The concrete surface itself will also need to be fairly level and clean throughout to ensure a good finish – if it is not then contact your builder and ask them to rectify this.

As a new apartment hopefully you have already requested that the builder leaves the skirting boards ‘tacked’ rather than ‘fixed’ to the walls in each room. Leaving them ‘tacked’ means that they are just loosely connected to the walls and you can remove them easily to lay the flooring, if they are ‘fixed’ then you will need to remove them from the walls to lay the floors. It is also likely that you will need to look at the doors in the apartment – is there a sufficient gap between the door and the flooring to run the flooring or a sadle underneath them? If not then you may need to get your saw out and remove a section from the base of the door to accommodate for the flooring. Check this with an expert if you are not confident in what you are doing.

Preparation

First of all you will need to make sure that you have all the requisite tools and materials for the project itself. This often comprise of a hammer, handsaw / jigsaw, drill, auger, pulling bar, tapping blocks, wedges, waterproof wood glue and proper clothing – but make sure you are happy that you have everything you need prior to progressing. Assuming that you have completed the moisture checks, looked after the skirting’s and door’s then you are ready to address the vapour barrier for the flooring. Normally this comes as a polythene roll (1000 gauge or similar). Simply unroll the vapour barrier in strips until it covers the entire concrete surface – making sure that you overlap where each strip joins and that you have enough at the edge of the rooms so that it will extend under the skirting boards when they are fixed back on. The barrier should lay flat without any bunching when down. Now seal all joins with waterproof tape to create one blanket covering the entire room where possible.

Next you will want to lay a layer of underlay foam over the entire surface. Last week we discussed the noise and energy efficiency implications of wooden floors – investing in good underlay can make a difference here so make sure you don’t just go with the cheapest underlay available.

When you lay any wooden floor it is vital that you give it room to expand. For this reason you should allow about a 10mm gap between the wall and floor when down – using the skirting boards to cover the gaps up when they are fixed back on. To prepare for this you can place wedges between the wall and the floor and also around central heating pipes and other obstacles to ensure that you have allowed the correct space.

Installation

Now you are ready to lay the wooden flooring itself.  Your floor boards should be distinctive by having a ‘male and female’ system by which planks join together. Start by placing the first floorboard down along the longest room of the wall with the female side facing it. You should be observing the 10mm gap at all times. Now take your second board and run a small amount of glue along the upper side of the groove on the butt end. Lock this to the first board and gently tap it into place using the hammer and tapping block. Make sure to clean away any surplus glue that appears as soon as possible – generally by using a damp cloth.

Simply continue this process along the surface until you created your first row of flooring across the room. The chances are that you will need to cut the last piece of flooring to get it to fit correctly – do this carefully to ensure a quality finish. If you want you can start your second row with the off-cut from the end of the first row – this would ensure that your joints do not align and will ensure a slightly less uniform finish – but will mean that you finish the row with a full floor board. Apply glue and slot the board into place against the start of the first row. Tap into place using the hammer and tapping block. Keep going until you reach the far wall. The start the process again until you covers the entire floor (you may have to cut the length of the boards depending on room dimensions). Where you encounter radiator pipes, use the drill and bits to cut the board to allow room for the pipes – add in the additional 10mm for expansion requirements.  Once you have finished wait for at least 12 hours prior to using the floor in any way and keep the wedges in place between the wall and floor for the same period. After this time you carefully install the skirting boards, making sure that you cover the 10mm expansion gap and leave them as flush as possible to the wall. As you can see installing a semi-solid floor can be a tricky project for the inexperienced DIY’er so make sure you are up to it prior to getting stuck in.