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Wood flooring


Daryl

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Estelle wants wood flooring down in all rooms except the kitchen in the new house. Im not really a massive fan,and been trying to argue that carpet will be better. Is it possible to take up some sections of wood flooring (we will probably go for engineered spec) after it has been layed down? Im aware that the skirting board needs removing and moving up to accommodate the floor,but does this mean that if i wanted to pull up certain areas,(say for laying stereo cable) that i wouldnt be able to do it?

Also,what are peoples experience of wood flooring,and would you (no pun intended) have it again?

Looking to see both sides before making a decision on what would be best.

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I have had a few houses with Wood flooring. If its the clip together type, once its down... its down. You would need solid boards if you want to lift it now and again.

 

Its very nice with underfloor heating :#1: and some nice rugs B) Also with laminate if you drop anything on it it will dent. :scare:

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I dont think we would go for the laminate stuff,but also think the solid wood flooring will be too expensive,as the living room is 21x12 ish,so i think IF we do go down this route,it will be the engineered stuff. Whats it like for keeping clean etc compared to carpet?

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Well this is the downside,that it is very noisy,which is why i dont want it. Its also cold,and under floor heating is not an option really,as it has a full compliment of radiators. Moving furniture shouldnt be a problem,but it is worth noting that it can be scratched easily. Guess il have to have little feet for my speaker stand spikes if i get them.

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We have engineered wood floor in our kitchen and hallway. Its lovely stuff and great for high traffic areas as its hard wearing and easy to keep clean. The stuff we've got you can relay, but it has to be backed out from one side to another (can be done from either side), but you cant do it from the middle.

 

Personally I wouldnt have it in the living room as it can be cold and gives off a lot of echo. Not ideal given the money it looks like you may be spending on AV equipment. Anything other than a budget system will be degraded by having wood floors unless you have rugs covering most of it, in which case - whats the point? Carpet on the other hand can easily be lifted to run cables, is warmer and reduces echos a lot.

 

Oh and speaker stands normally come with little rubber covers for spikey feet for hard floors ;)

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upside

it'll last for ever (mostly) and doesn't need to be replaced so on a long term basis its cheaper than carpet

looks far better than carpet

easy to clean - just run a mop over it

scratching can be an issue, just make sure you get a good hard wearing outdoor varnish (gloss or matt)

 

mine cost about £35/ sq metre to buy - T&G planks, tightly fitted

carpet can cost way in excess of this once you include undelay, gripper etc - and you'll have to replace it periodically

 

downside

once its down its down - no lifting to lay cables after

it feels colder than carpet - but in reality, there is little or no heat loss difference

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We have engineered wood floor in our kitchen and hallway. Its lovely stuff and great for high traffic areas as its hard wearing and easy to keep clean. The stuff we've got you can relay, but it has to be backed out from one side to another (can be done from either side), but you cant do it from the middle.

 

Personally I wouldnt have it in the living room as it can be cold and gives off a lot of echo. Not ideal given the money it looks like you may be spending on AV equipment. Anything other than a budget system will be degraded by having wood floors unless you have rugs covering most of it, in which case - whats the point? Carpet on the other hand can easily be lifted to run cables, is warmer and reduces echos a lot.

 

Oh and speaker stands normally come with little rubber covers for spikey feet for hard floors ;)

 

I said about it being cold and echoey,and was told that we will have a few rugs down,and i said exactly the same thing,whats the point in spending all the money on wood flooring if you are covering it with rugs! I suggested having it in the hall way,and maybe the dining room,but she said she wants it through out the ground floor. Well at £20 psm as a starting price,then with fitting and underlay,its going to get very expensive!

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Dont underestimate the cost of underlay for wood flooring, it can be just as expensive as its carpet counterpart. We actually went for a slightly cheaper flooring and more expensive underlay on the word of a friend and actually it made a real difference. The floor sounds a lot more solid to walk on than the parent-in-laws real wood floor. You can fit it yourself fairly easily though, that saved us a few hundred quid doing that over xmas a few years back

 

Also go price up some rugs, they aint cheap for good ones :scare:

 

I feel your pain Daryl, seems like the same thing I went through 5yrs ago, keep fighting though :lol:

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Make life easier for yourself, Daryl, and just write out the cheques as needed, you know that you are going to have to in the end so why make life hard?

 

My son had all the downstairs floors laid in the real stuff and at the same time all the door architraves, jambs and skirting boards changed as well. She had still not finished with him! They are now about a half way through having all the doors changed over to solid oak ones. It look s lovely but I hate to think what it's costing.

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I just dont see the point in wood flooring if you are going to have rugs over it! My partners brother in law has exactly the same view as me on it. So at a family gathering,it providing an interesting topic of discussion,as my partners sister wants it,and my partners mum has it. Looks like its girls v boys! lol

Whats wrong with nice warm carpet!!!!!

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Make life easier for yourself, Daryl, and just write out the cheques as needed, you know that you are going to have to in the end so why make life hard?

 

My son had all the downstairs floors laid in the real stuff and at the same time all the door architraves, jambs and skirting boards changed as well. She had still not finished with him! They are now about a half way through having all the doors changed over to solid oak ones. It look s lovely but I hate to think what it's costing.

 

Im not laying down on this one,im going to be fighting my corner until the bitter end! But thanks for the support! lol

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Tell the missus you want a man cave, nice and dark with carpet, projector, surround sound, lazyboy and PS3/XB360. Then when she says no way, the idea of having carpet in the living room seems like a good comprimise ;):lol:

 

Our living room is slowly morphing into a man cave-esq room. Next up is the Stressless sofa I want to go with the projector/surround sound/PS3 etc etc :teeth:

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As above - wooden flooring especially in a large living room makes for a very cold feeling environment. Not only tempurature but I find it hard to get cosy and really 'feel at home'. We are renting at the moment, have wood floors, if and when we buy another place it will be carpeted in the living room for sure.

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Some more points from someone with it in 90% of their house... We got it as we've got dogs and it's soooooo easy to clean. The only carpet we have is on the stairs and it's already been replaced once in 8 years as the bloody dogs choose to throw up on it rather than on the easy clean wood!

 

You don't need to remove and lift the skirting boards. You can if you want, but if you can handle moulding around the floor / skirting join then you leave an expansion gap between the floor and skirting (That can be handy for hifi cables although it's not exactly approved!). It's a DIY job but a decent mitre saw and tools make it look much better for neat cuts and edges.

 

It will be louder than 100% carpet but you'd be surprised at the difference furniture and curtains will make. Solid fibreboard underlay (not the stuff on a roll) also helps.

 

Real wood will also darken with age and exposure to light and as mentioned earlier make sure any furniture has pads on the feet to stop scrape marks. Depending on the actual flooring it may also take a sanding or 2 to remove light marks.

 

You can now get electric underfloor heating for wood - we have it in the conservatory and it's lovely. I don't find it cold in the rest of the house and I never wear anything other than socks in the house...

 

Any new build show houses nearby? I bet they may well have wooden floors. I wasn't sure before we did it but I'd happily do it again.

 

Decisions, decisions!

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Ive done wood flooring in more houses than I can remember. Plus side is that its quick and easy to do yourself if its the click together laminate type. You dont have to remove skirting boards else you end up having to replaster and decorate - you can get some nice subtle edge trim instead which goes between the skirting and the floor. Wood flooring does look very nice and is easy to clean. In my last house I had it over the entire downstairs - lounge, dinner, hallway etc.

 

Downside is that it is a bit noisy, but only if people leave shoes on then you get loads of noise and high heals will leave marks. But most people leave their shoes at the door. Animals hate it, as they get zero traction and end up sliding all over the shop. I never found it cold under foot, but then im always a warm sort of person myself and my house has heating.

 

Some of the cheaper older stuff does look crap now, but some of the newer laminate stuff does look very nice. I just fitted some in the downstairs hallway / cloakroom in a house and everyone who has seen it comments on how good it looks - this was just cheap B&Q stuff. If you go for solid food or stuff then it can get expensive.

 

The outside trim and underlay soon add up and will cost more than the actual laminate.

 

For hallways and cloakrooms its always worth considering tiles instead. Bedrooms i always prefer carpets.

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As timFF said, once you have rugs and furniture in (even paintings and things hung on walls) acoustics shouldn't be too much of an issue - although obviously it isn't ideal for an audiophile.

Engineered wood is actually very good as it tends to be more stable than solid wood which can warp if you aren't careful.

If the floor below the new finish is reasonably solid (ie thick floorboards) and you use a good underlay it shouldn't be too noisy either.

I like the idea of a man-cave compromise, or maybe a few goodies for your Zed . . . . good luck!

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Proper Engineered flooring is not cheap. The difference being the wear level of the wood. On the cheap laminates it is a lot thinner & the backing will not be as well constructed. I have been in the hardwood timber trade for most of my working life so have had a lot to do with solid timber flooring. We supply flooring (not engineered) if you are interested. (iWood Timber Ltd) If you need the names & numbers of some companies that offer all types just let me know. More than happy to oblige.

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a real pain in the ucking ar$e if you live in an attached house and with kids next door crashing about, or it seems that way to us and we are two doors away in a terrace - the neighbour in between is tearing her hair out with the noise who then turns her telly/radio up so we in turn suffer :dry:

 

Polite requests gets the response along the lines, children will be children and door is shut

 

Probably fine for the users - nice and easy to clean and all that, but neighbour friendly, definitely not :thumbdown:

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LOL,cheers for that confidence boost Liam. :lol:

 

Its an awesome house,that has all the features we both wanted. Me,the double garage and 6 car drive way. For her,a big kitchen with a table,a dining room,and 4 big bedrooms!

Now i just need to fight the wood flooring! :boxing::boxing::boxing:

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