I live in an old Victorian property. The floor is pine boards. I
want to lay an engineered wood floor but there is a dip of about
5-10mm at the foot of the stairs. I have been told that if I don't
nail this area but just leave it, the board will settle over time. Is
that right or should I put some battens down?

Griffo wrote:
I live in an old Victorian property. The floor is pine boards. I
want to lay an engineered wood floor but there is a dip of about
5-10mm at the foot of the stairs. I have been told that if I don't
nail this area but just leave it, the board will settle over time. Is
that right or should I put some battens down?

Depending on what the engineered flooring is, it might, but more likely
it won't--at least in a way you want it to. At best it might simply
flex a little, at worst it will crack the laminate, in the middle it'll
not only flex but squeak besides.

Need to have a level, smooth subfloor. Consult the manufacturer's
instructions for how to lay the product.

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"Griffo" wrote in message
oups.com...
I live in an old Victorian property. The floor is pine boards. I
want to lay an engineered wood floor but there is a dip of about
5-10mm at the foot of the stairs. I have been told that if I don't
nail this area but just leave it, the board will settle over time. Is
that right or should I put some battens down?


The board will not settle over time. It may bend and flex, but it is going
to pop back up just about forever. I'd put a shim of some sort or replace
that one or two boards that dip. 10mm is fairly deep. Bondo may do hte
job.

"Griffo" wrote in message
oups.com...
I live in an old Victorian property. The floor is pine boards. I
want to lay an engineered wood floor but there is a dip of about
5-10mm at the foot of the stairs. I have been told that if I don't
nail this area but just leave it, the board will settle over time. Is
that right or should I put some battens down?

A shame to have to cover an original pine floor. Sounds like it's in
keeping with the design of the place.
We pulled up the edge of an old carpet in our 1908 Portland home and found
what looked like fir plank flooring. My wife was ecstatic. Another few
feet of carpet pulling and we discovered the contractor who had flipped the
place had taken the nicest fir out and replaced it with a hodgepodge of
flooring materials. He probably has a lovely floor now.