Wooden Flooring
Wooden Floors are something special. They are warmer than tiles, easier to clean than carpets, easier to clean than carpets. They last a long time, if properly maintained. We fit all wooden flooring of all types and materials – solid boards, engineered planks, and parquet.
Solid Wood Flooring Wooden boards are planks made of a single piece of wood. They are thick enough to withstand sanding several times and, if any surface scratches or wear happens, can be repaired without having to be replace.
For most people, oak is the top choice. Pine is less expensive and easier to work with but is also softer, dents more easily. When no bedrooms or other low-traffic areas are present, a softer wood like pine is more desirable.
Widths of wood vary – from boards that are narrow, victorian style, to more contemporary planks that are wider. Some people like the style of reclaimed wood for the character. Reclaimed wood carries existing marks and colour variations that provide an aged look.
Plywood Engineered Wood Flooring
This type of flooring has a real wood veneer added to a plywood bottom layer, so it is more stable than just solid wood. It works better than solid wood with underfloor heating and changing levels of moisture. This wood is good for areas like kitchens, where solid wood might not work.
In case of a damaged top layer, it is possible to sand it down a couple of times. However, compared to solid boards, there is a lower sanding thickness.
There is a wide variation in the quality of engineered wood flooring. Most of the cheaper options will have a top layer that is just a piece of printed paper, giving it the appearance of wood, and it won’t sustain any serious damage. Better engineered wood flooring should have a 4-6mm solid top layer that should last quite a while.
Plywood Parquet
This type of flooring has been around for many years and it consists of pieces of wood that are arranged in a geometric pattern, often in the shape of a square. Parquet flooring herringbone is one of the more popular geometric patterns, but chevron and basket-weave are also options.
These patterns are a little more difficult to install than just lined wood flooring because each piece has to be aligned properly, but it is worth it if you want flooring that is a little more complex and interesting.
How We Do Your Floors
The type of flooring and the type of boards determine how we do your flooring.
Solid flooring can be either nailed down in place to the joists of the frame below, or secret nailed to a subfloor. This is the more traditional method and becomes a permanent floor that is solid and won’t move. You can hear the difference between this and floating floors.
Floated floors are not fixed down to the floors below and in fact sit freely on top of an underlay. You can either click the floorboards together, or glue the edges of the boards together. This method is mostly used when you don’t want to nail into the subfloor, or during a temporary installation when you want the floor to be removable in the future. It is also the most economical and quickest to install.
Gluing to the subfloor is a bit of a compromise in the middle. It is more permanent than a floating floor, but does not require the same strength in the subfloor as a nail down does.
Surface Below on which we install
Floors made out of wood only give a good impression when the surface below is flat, smooth, and sound. We will check your subfloor and if we find any concerns we will fix the issues before we lay down the flooring. The layer of concrete below also needs to be level, and dry. Wooden subfloors should not have any loose boards, or squeaks. They also need to be stable.
This sub-flooring work isn’t the most enjoyable work, and while it isn’t too exciting, it still needs done. Putting new flooring over a dodgy sub-floor isn’t a good idea. Complications like gaps and movement problems will arise, and these problems will become apparent within a matter of months at the most.
Finishing
Most new flooring is pre-finished, but if you’re working with raw wood, it isn’t protected and needs some work. We smooth the wood with more sanding, which needs to be done. We then apply oil or lacquer, depending on what you like more.
When the wood gets scuffed or damaged, you need to re-sand an entire section of the floor, and with lacquer (due to the more sitting on the wood and not permeating it) that’s a bit of a problem. Oil, on the other hand, is absorbed by the wood and can be reapplied whenever you want it to be refreshed. Oil also provides a more \”natural look\” at the expense of more maintenance.
Sanding and Restoration
Old wooden floors can be brought back to life with a good sanding, and the new finish can be oil or lacquer as well. Just be careful with the oil, as it isn’t as protected as lacquer is. If your existing floorboards are in decently good condition, that’s great! This will cost much less than replacing everything due to the fact that you can keep the exisiting wooden floorboards. The new finish sticks more easily to the wood when it’s clean, and a good sanding can provide that clean wood that we need.
We use specialized dust collection tools so the mess stays manageable. Instead of spending time and money on buying new flooring, enjoy the benefit of a new floor. It is, however, still somewhat of a disruption and we’ll need you to clear out the room and stay out while we work.
Under Floor Heating
Under floor heating and wood work together just fine as long as you use engineered boards, as opposed to solid wood. Rapid heat increases when you turn the system on could cause gaps and cupping so you need to be careful.
We’ve installed many floors over heating systems. As long as the installation is done correctly and the heating system is controlled correctly, it is likely to last as long as any other wooden floor.
Areas Covered
Distance is not typically a problem. We do work throughout Oxfordshire and the mid-counties, and flooring jobs can vary in size, covering single rooms to entire houses.
Get in Touch
If you are considering wooden flooring, please send an email to us at info@candc-carpentry.co.uk with a description of the rooms in question and a brief outline of what you are looking for. We can schedule a time to stop by, do a thorough site measurement, and provide a quote that includes the flooring, any necessary subfloor prep, and finishing work.