Hardwood Floor Installation
Floorworks offers professional fitting services of all types of wooden floorings. Hardwood flooring includes all floorings, which are composed of a single, rather than several layers of solid wood. The most popular type of hardwood today is oak. However, there are many other options on the market such as ash, merbau, walnut etc. Solid wood is not recommended for installation over underfloor heating as it tends to block a great amount of the heat that is emitted and therefore makes the underfloor heating less efficient. Engineered floor fitting is recommended if you have underfloor heating.
Because hardwood flooring is purely composed of natural solid wood, this means that it is highly sensitive to moisture. Therefore, acclimatisation is essential for any solid wood flooring. This is the process of allowing the wood to remain in the area where it is to be fitted for at least seven days before the installation so that it can adjust to the environmental conditions such as moisture levels and temperature.
Hardwood flooring is a beautiful and valuable asset to any home and once installed it remains for may years to come. Therefore, it is very important to have it installed by a professional floor fitting company like FloorWorks to avoid the risks of any problems appearing after the fitting. We have gathered valuable experience over the years and are well aware of fitting requirements and installation techniques which can reduce the risks of any undesired issues in the future.
Types of Solid Wood Flooring
Solid wood flooring is undoubtedly an excellent choice of flooring, not only because of its astonishing natural appearance, but also because of its capability to be sanded several times. However, just purchasing solid wood does not guarantee any of these qualities, unless your precious wooden flooring is properly installed by skilful and professional floor fitters who have the appropriate skills and knowledge about floor fitting.
Having your solid wood installed by FloorWorks guarantees that it will be done in the best possible way with the most appropriate materials and tools. We are confident in wood floor fitting and that’s why we offer our service guarantee for all our fitting projects.
Solid wood flooring, also often referred to as hard wood flooring, comes in two main options – it can either be unfinished (not sealed) or prefinished. The main difference is that once installed, unfinished solid wood flooring requires light sanding and sealing with either hardwearing varnish or hard wax oil in order to protect the bare wood, while pre-finished flooring does not.
Solid Wood Installation Options
Solid wood flooring can be installed using various methods. One of the most popular method is the so-called glue down installation, where floor boards are glued down to the subfloor with the use of strong and flexible wood floor adhesive. This is the most common fitting method for parquet floor installation, as it provides high level of stability and durability. Glue down fitting is usually performed when solid wood flooring is to be installed over concrete subfloors.
Alternatively, solid wood floors can be nailed down to wooden subfloors with the use of a nail gun. This method provides a greater level of flexibility, but it is more time consuming as each floorboard is individually nailed down.
What to Expect from FloorWorks Solid Wood Installation?
Solid wood flooring can be installed over either wooden or concrete subfloors. Whatever the subfloor, it is important to first ensure that the base is flat, clean and dry before proceeding to fitting the new flooring. This may require subfloor levelling with the use of self-levelling compound for concrete subfloors.
The type of the subfloor will normally define whether nail-down or glue down installation method would be most appropriate. Often, solid wood flooring comes with manufacturers instructions on the best fitting method. We always advise our customers to follow the manufacturers recommendations for achieving the best results. This may be floating, gluing down, nailing down or fitting directly on joists.
If solid wood flooring is to be fitted over concrete subfloors, it is essential to ensure that the appropriate moisture barrier is put in place. This often requires the application of liquid damp proof membrane to protect the floors from any potential increase in damp in the future. Before any solid wood installation our FloorWorks floor fitters will always check the moisture levels of the subfloor to ensure that it is within the acceptable limits.
Concrete subfloors should also be smooth and even before installation of solid wood flooring. If this is not the case, we would always recommend the application of self-levelling compound to make the surface smooth and flat. Once we are satisfied with the level and condition of the concrete subfloor a glue down installation can be performed where the solid wood flooring is fitted using flexible wood floor adhesive.
In case the subfloor is made from floorboards, solid wood flooring can be nailed down instead. However, before this it is still important that the floorboards subfloor is flat and stable. Should this not be the case, the application of plywood may be required before installation.
A very important element of any solid wood floor fitting is the expansion gap between the wooden floors and the walls. Solid wood tends to expand and contract naturally as a result of changes to air humidity and therefore this expansion gap is essential to allow for this natural movement of the wooden floors. Expansion gaps are usually later covered by skirting boards around the walls.
In the case of installation of unfinished solid wood flooring, once installed the floors need to be lightly sanded and buffed to a perfectly smooth finish before the application of either hardwearing varnish or hardwax oil in top.
Some Highlights From Our Floor Fitting Service
There are some principles that every floor fitter should follow when it comes to solid wood installation:
Carefully choose your boards to ensure that they are not bent or damaged;
When installation solid wood flooring in a hallway, always fit the boards in the long direction;
Always follow the manufacturers instruction about floor fitting and use high quality wood floor adhesives.
