SOS re groundfloor wooden floor

[Anonymous]

Which should I choose for my period barn conversion, a floating floor of engineered wooden strips, 3ply, 15 mm thick, or a solid wooden floor glued down, 18 mm thick, over (warm water) underfloor heating, pipes in a concrete screed. I have read a lot of technical advice re dampness & damp-proofing, ended up rather confused. Cost is a factor so reclaimed planks are not an option. Any comments would be greatly appreciated, as the builder is pressing me for an answer so the joiners can get on making a plain staircase.

 

[Anonymous]

I am not an expert or a professional, but here is an amateur view.
If you're going to have underfloor heating under a wood floor, it's essential that the floor material is suitably dried and as stable as possible. For this reason, if I were choosing I would definitely go for an engineered narrow board floor. Make sure the engineered boards are specified at under 10% moisture content. If you can afford it, choose a species known for its stability, rather than pine. I should talk to your engineered board supplier for advice on this.
For stability reasons, I would also favour glueing the floor on to a screed substrate - providing the concrete subfloor and the screed have both been allowed to dry out really thoroughly. I believe it is considered good practice to run the UFH for about 3 weeks after the concrete has dried out and before laying a wood floor on top.
It'll be interesting to see what others think about this.

 

[Anonymous]

I would hope that anyone carrying out a period barn conversion has a conservation architect supervising lal of this, and last minute SOS calls to PPUK would not be required.

Concrete isn't a very 'green' solution to anything.

 

[Anonymous]

I won't go into the reasons why I'm no longer with my 'conservation architects', suffice it to say they were worse than useless. However we're slowly making progress. Underfloor heating pipes are usually laid in a concrete screed, cost has to be a factor I'm afraid, and there was a concrete floor in the first place. Electric underfloor heating is not an option here.

 

[Anonymous]

Limecrete.

SPAB is having a day course on it 5th April.

 

[Anonymous]

I have underfloor heating in a concrete subfloor in my basement. I used laminated wood flooring - fairly wide boards with an oak top surface - and have found it very satisfactory. The laminated (plywood) boards are laid directly on the floor (I think there is some paper/fabric between them and the concrete) but are not fixed down.

The boards have machined edges which clip together are were laid before the skirting boards are attached. The skirtings are the only thing that holds them in place.

This laminate flooring will expand and contract with changes in the moisture content of the air (contracting in winter and expanding in summer), so it must be allowed to move, otherwise it can buckle.

Underfloor heating is a pretty standard technology now, so any good woodern flooring company should be able to advise you.

 

[Anonymous]

I would urge anyone having a new installation to look at limecrete - far more eco friendly than Portland!


http://www.limecrete.org.uk/limecrete_info.html

 

[Anonymous]

April 5th...



http://www.spab.org.uk/noticeboard_events.html