Solid wood makes an attractive and practical flooring, always in fashion, costs around the same as a quality carpet but will not wear out.

Since 1985 County Hardwoods have specialised in supplying hardwood flooring of all types. Initially just machined solid oak, ash or elm but now a wide range from laminates or engineered (solid timber backed onto ply base to reduce movement), to traditional tongued and grooved (T & G) planking in widths from 100mm up to 200mm.

Laying a wooden floor is quite straightforward providing you observe the following precautions:

• timber is a hygroscopic natural product: it may shrink slightly and expand, ie take in or give out moisture, depending on conditions when it is laid and to a lesser extent later till it reaches equilibrium
• never lay flooring over new concrete, it will be far too damp
• never use newly tanalised battens to fix down to: they will also be too wet
• if you are laying into a conservatory, with perhaps excessive summer temperatures, consider using “engineered flooring” which will move far less.

Type of sub-floor
Traditional plank flooring can be fixed down to either joists, battens or sheet materials (flooring grade chipboard, see right). Or nailed down over an existing wooden floor (lay crosswise). Overlay strip flooring is designed to be fixed to sheet material or it can also be fixed over suitably prepared existing floorboards.

Concrete/screed base?
Solid wood floor must not be fixed direct to a concrete slab. We recommend that you overlay with flooring grade chipboard (this will be T & G and made from WBP – waterproof glue grade). Builder’s merchants can supply in 18 or 22mm thick and sizes 1200 x 600mm. Please do not economise by using non-WBP grade. Normal chipboard will absorb moisture like a sponge, swell and distort.

Before laying chipboard or battens we suggest you lay down a 1200g polythene membrane on top of the concrete as an extra precaution.

Chipboard can be screwed to the concrete or the grooves glued and left as a floating floor. For solid plank floor you will need to fix battens or bearers to the concrete at regular exact intervals. Ideally the bearers should be 70mm wide to allow the meeting of cut ends, a minimum of 25mm thick and at 350mm centres apart. Battens should have been kiln dried and if treated specify Vac-Vac or spirit treatment.

If using battens you may also want to lay sheet polystyrene insulating slab, eg Jablite, between the battens that will help to deaden sound as well as provide extra insulation and prevent possible condensation. As an alternative it may be possible to speed up the process by using a surface damp proof membrane: please ask for further advice.

Height difference between rooms
Adding a wooden floor may bring about a difference in height between rooms at the threshold. No problem: they can be “lost” in the doorways by using a purpose made sloping strip of the same wood, which our workshops will be happy to oblige.

Site conditions
It is essential that the sub-floor is totally dry. If wishing to lay over new concrete, allow 1 day per 1mm of thickness of concrete. (To test if the concrete is in fact dry, lay a sheet down and check in the morning. If condensation has appeared, it is not yet dry).

If you are laying the floor in a well established room then many of the potential problems will not arise. With new builds, renovations or extensions then the floor and walls contain an enormous amount of water that must be allowed to dry out.

When our delivery arrives unwrap and store in the same conditions as it will be fixed. The site must be dry, weather tight, plaster dry and subject to season, the heating on. Preferably leave for at least 24 hours to acclimatise.

And if you are not ready to fix down yet, store the timber on well supported battens, off the ground. Separate the planks so air can circulate. Do not unwrap the boards if site conditions are damp: better to let us know if the site is not yet ready.

What to expect
In some conditions your new floor may expand and contract slightly from summer to winter, depending on the weather and heating levels. Small gaps may appear getting towards the end of winter but these will close up again when summer arrives. This is normal with all natural materials and is part of the beauty and appeal.

Underfloor Heating
This poses a challenge to some types of flooring, but there are solutions:

• only order timber dried to a lower moisture content
• wait a month leaving the timber loosely spread over the heated floor
• only attempt to plank if the underfloor heating has been designed to take into account the needs of a wooden floor
• use engineered designs in preference to solid planks
• glue as well as nail

Allowing for wastage
Allow 10% extra if laying onto joists or battens, just 5% if onto sheet materials. If you’re crafty (economical) then you can use many of the short bits up in corners when laying onto chipboard, though you will lose the ability to use the tongue and groove on the ends in some cases. This is not good practice when fixing to joists or battens.

Setting out
It is usual though not essential for the flooring to run lengthways in room. Aesthetic considerations apart, movement in wood only occurs across the width and the effects of this will be minimised. For the average uncomplicated room you can start laying the boards adjacent to the longest wall, leaving an expansion gap of 12mm all round. Engineered boards will accept a smaller gap. Face nail the first row (ie vertically drive the nails, sinking with a proper nail punch and filling the depression) with the tongues pointing towards you back into the room.

If the room is irregular draw your datum line more in the centre and work outwards towards the walls. If boarding out a lounge then the fireplace will be the most important feature. It is important to make sure that the planks line up with that, so we suggest you start from there.

Now to the nailing
We would strongly urge the use of a nail gun (see photo) either hiring from us, if available, or any hire shop will have one. This will not only greatly speed up the process, but every nail will be set at precisely 45º through the tongue (sometimes called secret nailing). Nail at 250mm intervals.

Beat the next plank tight up against the tongue by hitting a rubber mallet against a scrap of T & G reversed.

You will incur less wastage if you start in the corner away from the end tongue, ie the tongue at the other end will be available for locking in. To make best use of every length this will not always be possible, but reserve the “tongue-less” cut lengths for areas of least traffic (on sheet materials only). Do not glue the tongues and grooves together: it will prevent even distribution of movement.

The last planks will be too tight against the wall to use the nail gun and its special nails, so use normal ovals drilling at an angle if thought appropriate. The final row can either be again face nailed and filled, or if left with a narrow plank then gluing to the chipboard will be sufficient.

Measure twice, cut once
Most flooring will now be laid onto sheet materials, where you can safely use up scrap lengths in corners without a tongue on one end. If you haven’t got one you may find sawing easier by hiring a professional circular saw and make up a simple measuring jig (see photo). This shows a home-made MDF guide exactly the width of the plank, 180mm. First measure the gap needed for the saw and clamp the plank and guide together on the workbench. The saw is then simply brought up to the guide and pressed firmly against it while running the saw through the plank. Perfect cut every time.

Finishing
If you have not ordered finished flooring then you will need to sand the floor. (Some flooring is available pre-finished and even ready sealed. Some arrives already sanded, just needs sealing).

Sanders can be hired from any hire shops, but use a rotary sander not a drum sander (see our Golia sander here). A small edge sander is also useful as you will not be able get up tight against the walls with the big sander. We also recommend you mix some sanding dust with Lecol 5500 filler to make a paste. This can be used to fill small gaps and cracks, particularly useful for rustic and character grades (more knots). A small tin (800g) will go a long way. Do this before the final sanding.

Mind the gap
To hide the gap round the walls use skirting board or a matching wooden quadrant or scotia which we can supply. Alternatively a cork strip can be used to fill the expansion joint. This can also be used against stone walls and fire hearths where there is no skirting. If you have an existing step then we can supply a T bar strip to conceal the gap.

Sealing
For an excellent hard wearing low maintenance finish we recommend Osmo Hardwax Oil, a natural mixture of oils and waxes. This gives a lovely subtle satin finish. A separate leaflet is available for this. It requires just two coats applied with a brush, with no rubbing down between coats. Before application brush and hoover several times to clear all traces of dust.

Maintenance
The flooring can be cleaned by using a damp mop. Occasional applications of Oswax liquid wax cleaner will preserve the lustre and beauty of your floor. A major advantage of this Hardwax oil is that it can be used to touch in heavy wear areas, such as inside an entrance door, without re-sanding.