I am going slightly mad trying to decide on some wooden flooring. We are getting underfloor heating (wet) fitted, there will be some plywood laid over that and then our wooden floor on top.

WE hav had some suppliers tell us we should get thin stuff (13-4mm) as it will be better with the UFH and others saying the 'standard' 22 mm will be fine.

I think the better quality stuff ha a thicker real wood layer on the top but the prices vary wildly for both the flooring and fitting. A local place has quoted about £3700 for fitting 14mm thick stuff in a a corridor and two rooms totalling about 53 sqm.
The cost of the flooring being about £43spm if memory serves. Other places want £60 + vat sqm plus another £15 spm on top for fitting.

I can't tell if there are wildly differing qualities that are worth paying more for? When I look online the prices are far cheaper but then I don't know if my builder is going to do as good a job at fitting as a 'specialised' place or my local carpet shop.

Anyone got any views on this? What is a reasonable price to pay? Can any builder type person fit it? I just want a mid brown level oak engineered wood floor that I can use with UFH and ideally don't want to pay 5 grand for it..

wrote:


Can any
builder type person fit it? I just want a mid brown level oak engineered
wood floor that I can use with UFH and ideally don't want to pay 5 grand
for it.

God no.

*Some* general builders might be good at it - but I would try to find a
flooring contractor first, then a joiner, as it's basically woodwork.

If I got desperate, I'd ask a tiling company next - the thought processes
involved and level of practical skill are fairly similar.


--
Tim Watts

On 26/03/2012 12:14, wrote:
I am going slightly mad trying to decide on some wooden flooring. We are getting underfloor heating (wet) fitted, there will be some plywood laid over that and then our wooden floor on top.

WE hav had some suppliers tell us we should get thin stuff (13-4mm) as it will be better with the UFH and others saying the 'standard' 22 mm will be fine.

I think the better quality stuff ha a thicker real wood layer on the top but the prices vary wildly for both the flooring and fitting. A local place has quoted about £3700 for fitting 14mm thick stuff in a a corridor and two rooms totalling about 53 sqm.
The cost of the flooring being about £43spm if memory serves. Other places want £60 + vat sqm plus another £15 spm on top for fitting.

I can't tell if there are wildly differing qualities that are worth paying more for? When I look online the prices are far cheaper but then I don't know if my builder is going to do as good a job at fitting as a 'specialised' place or my local carpet shop.

Anyone got any views on this? What is a reasonable price to pay? Can any builder type person fit it? I just want a mid brown level oak engineered wood floor that I can use with UFH and ideally don't want to pay 5 grand for it.

Look at this manufacturer's catalogue to see just how widely flooring
prices can vary, even from the same maker. It also has a useful guide on
installing on top of underfloor heating, including how long to leave it
before fitting the floor (at least a fortnight over a wet system) and
how to bring up the heat without damaging the wood floor.

http://www.woodpeckerflooring.co.uk/

I would expect a specialist flooring business to be more familiar with
all the pitfalls than any general builder.

Colin Bignell

wrote:
I am going slightly mad trying to decide on some wooden flooring. We are getting underfloor heating (wet) fitted, there will be some plywood laid over that and then our wooden floor on top.

WE hav had some suppliers tell us we should get thin stuff (13-4mm) as it will be better with the UFH and others saying the 'standard' 22 mm will be fine.

I think the better quality stuff ha a thicker real wood layer on the top but the prices vary wildly for both the flooring and fitting. A local place has quoted about £3700 for fitting 14mm thick stuff in a a corridor and two rooms totalling about 53 sqm.
The cost of the flooring being about £43spm if memory serves. Other places want £60 + vat sqm plus another £15 spm on top for fitting.

I can't tell if there are wildly differing qualities that are worth paying more for? When I look online the prices are far cheaper but then I don't know if my builder is going to do as good a job at fitting as a 'specialised' place or my local carpet shop.

Anyone got any views on this? What is a reasonable price to pay? Can any builder type person fit it? I just want a mid brown level oak engineered wood floor that I can use with UFH and ideally don't want to pay 5 grand for it.


I laid Kahrs oak over a thin plastic foam underlay straight over the
screed. It works well enough.

It really is a doodle to lay yourself.

Go for thin..yes its a bit clacky sound wise but the heat gets through.


--
To people who know nothing, anything is possible.
To people who know too much, it is a sad fact
that they know how little is really possible -
and how hard it is to achieve it.

On Mar 26, 12:14*pm, wrote:
I am going slightly mad trying to decide on some wooden flooring. We are getting underfloor heating (wet) fitted, there will be some plywood laid over that and then our wooden floor on top.

WE hav had some suppliers tell us we should get thin stuff (13-4mm) as it will be better with the UFH and others saying the 'standard' 22 mm will be fine.

I think the better quality stuff ha a thicker real wood layer on the top but the prices vary wildly for both the flooring and fitting. A local place has quoted about £3700 for fitting 14mm thick stuff in a a corridor and two rooms totalling about 53 sqm.
The cost of the flooring being about £43spm if memory serves. Other places want £60 + vat sqm plus another £15 spm on top for fitting.

I can't tell if there are wildly differing qualities that are worth paying more for? When I look online the prices are far cheaper but then I don't know if my builder is going to do as good a job at fitting as a 'specialised' place or my local carpet shop.

Anyone got any views on this? What is a reasonable price to pay? Can any builder type person fit it? I just want a mid brown level oak engineered wood floor that I can use with UFH and ideally don't want to pay 5 grand for it.


I dont think theres any need to pay those sort of prices for
materials. Redwood's available at any builders merchants, oak can be
bought as cheaply as sawmill reject, if you dont mind doing
significant cutting, and reclaim yards have various species used long
ago, usually not in as good condition and in need of trimming.


NT

On 26/03/2012 15:19, NT wrote:
On Mar 26, 12:14 pm, wrote:
I am going slightly mad trying to decide on some wooden flooring. We are getting underfloor heating (wet) fitted, there will be some plywood laid over that and then our wooden floor on top.

WE hav had some suppliers tell us we should get thin stuff (13-4mm) as it will be better with the UFH and others saying the 'standard' 22 mm will be fine.

I think the better quality stuff ha a thicker real wood layer on the top but the prices vary wildly for both the flooring and fitting. A local place has quoted about £3700 for fitting 14mm thick stuff in a a corridor and two rooms totalling about 53 sqm.
The cost of the flooring being about £43spm if memory serves. Other places want £60 + vat sqm plus another £15 spm on top for fitting.

I can't tell if there are wildly differing qualities that are worth paying more for? When I look online the prices are far cheaper but then I don't know if my builder is going to do as good a job at fitting as a 'specialised' place or my local carpet shop.

Anyone got any views on this? What is a reasonable price to pay? Can any builder type person fit it? I just want a mid brown level oak engineered wood floor that I can use with UFH and ideally don't want to pay 5 grand for it.


I dont think theres any need to pay those sort of prices for
materials. Redwood's available at any builders merchants, oak can be
bought as cheaply as sawmill reject, if you dont mind doing
significant cutting, and reclaim yards have various species used long
ago, usually not in as good condition and in need of trimming.

Solid wood is not normally recommended for use with underfloor heating.
Engineered wood is more stable and not all of that is suitable either.

Colin Bignell

In article ,
Nightjar wrote:
Solid wood is not normally recommended for use with underfloor heating.
Engineered wood is more stable and not all of that is suitable either.

I got some oak flooring - end of range in Wicks, so cheap - which consists
of 4ft x 4in x 1/2in T&G planks. Each one made up of random lengths of 2in
wide solid oak strips. Dunno how those are fixed together - perhaps T&G
too? I fitted it direct (secret nailed) over the good condition old wood
floor in the bathroom - ignoring all the warnings - and it still looks
great some 5 years later. The pipes to and from the boiler run under this
floor - so it gets pretty hot where they do. Think I may have been lucky,
for once.

--
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