With years of experience in the industry, much knowledge gained throughout this journey, and a great skillset developed along the way, we can happily say that we are a leading floor installation company. One of the specialities we have been working on for the past few decades is solid wood floor installation. Solid wood is, indeed, one of the most classic and well-loved real wood flooring options. All people love solid wood floors because of their beauty, natural elegance, the variety of colours, textures, and styles they are available in, their amazing durability and long-lasting power.
In fact, a beautiful solid wood floor can be a great addition to the interior of every home or commercial space. Only a real wood floor can create this unique atmosphere of cosiness, warmth and elegance. Therefore, there is no wonder we find you here, looking to learn more about solid wood floor installation and considering having your own solid wood floor fitted in your home or office space. In case you are interested in solid wood flooring and you are looking for a reliable and reputable company with great expertise in this field, we will gladly help and assist you with your project.
A key to a beautiful and durable floor is how the site is prepared way before the fitting of the solid wood floorboards. In order to avoid horror experience such as floorboards rising up after installation or big gaps appearing between the floorboards, good and proper preparation is really important. As an initial stage of the installation process, this step involves both the preparation of the subfloor and acclimatisation of the floorboards. Finding reliable floor installation specialists who will pay close attention to these steps is the best thing you can do and will help you avoid tricky situations, damaged and unstable floors, expensive repair services. An experienced and knowledgeable specialist will always start by inspecting the condition of the subfloor.
The subfloor, no matter if concrete, joists, or hardwood, should be clean, level, dry, and overall in good condition. If some of the criteria are not met – professionals will take care and ensure the subfloor is fixed and installation can continue. Usually, levelling, thermal and acoustic insulation is achieved with a layer of underlayment that is installed before the floorboards are laid. Furthermore, since humidity, moisture, and temperature affect the condition of a real wood floor, it is very important that all the required tests are carried out on site.
If the site or room passes all these important tests, your project has a green light and installation can continue. In general, the humidity of the room should not exceed 65%, the moisture content of the subfloor should not be higher than 12%, uneven subfloors should be repaired with a self-levelling compound or plywood. Finally, the flooring materials should also be let acclimatize to their new environment in the room where installation is planned. Make sure to allow the floorboards laying out of their transportation packaging for at least a week before the actual fitting process.
First and foremost, it is important to mention the expansion gap. Every wood floor fitting specialist knows and understands the importance of an expansion gap. The expansion gap is the few millimetres of room left between the floorboards and the walls along the perimeter of the room.
Its purpose is really important as it allows the floorboards to expand and contract when affected by increased moisture, humidity levels and temperature, without getting damaged or breaking. Don’t worry, the expansion gap will not affect the appearance and beauty of your floor as it is covered with flooring accessories and decorative elements such as skirting boards.
Flooring accessories are also required for covering other areas of the floor such as where two floors meet – thresholds, around pipework, framework, etc. Since solid wood flooring is expected to expand mostly across the grain, our wood floor fitting specialists know that installation should run no more than 5m across the grain in the installation.
Solid wood floors could be installed in different ways. Depending on the subfloor, the type of the floorboards, and, of course, keeping in mind other specifics of the project that may affect the choice of installation method, solid wood floors could be fitted either by nailing them down or glueing them down. In addition, solid wood floors can be installed only on top of two types of subfloors – plywood and concrete.
When it comes to a concrete subfloor, solid wood floorboards are glued down with the help of specially designed and high-quality wood to concrete adhesive. Installation of solid wood floorboards over a plywood subfloor involves nailing the boards down. Worry not that nails will affect the appearance of your floor as they are pretty much invisible – nails remain hidden, connecting the tongue and groove edges of two neighbouring floorboards. Both installation methods ensure great stability and integrity and a durable and long-lasting wooden floor.
Solid wood floor fitting is not an easy job. It requires experience, knowledge, skills, craftsmanship. The people, who can ensure flawless results and a durable floor are the reliable installation specialists like every member of our company’s team. We know solid wood flooring and we have experience working on a great number of projects, both residential and commercial. We are passionate about real wood floors and our goal is to achieve the best results possible with the help of a tailored approach and respect to the requirements and desires of our clients. Make sure to contact us today and book a free inspection of your project and survey.