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Country Flooring » Tips & Info
General
Why is now in the credit crunch a good time to invest in a new wood or lamainte floor?
Investing in new wood or laminate floor in today's economic cliamte can only be a plus! If you are staying put and not moving for the foreseable future, the clean, clear and uncomplicated look a wooden floor gives adds to a feeling of space, and is so easy to keep clean and looks great for years to come. Unlike a carpet the tread areas are not likley to get grubby & worn looking, so in 5 - 10 years time if you decide to sell you won't need to change the flooring to spruce things up, any estate agent will tell you that a real wooden floor is a bonus when you come to sell.
Country Flooring specialise in supplying the right floor for the right living space, gives us a call and we will offer you all our expert knowledge.
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General
Come to Country Flooring at 167 Springfield Road, Chelmsford, CM2 6JP Tel: 01245 250074 to see our New Showroom floor and the New Amtico and Spacia stands we have now installed. With a great range of both Amtico and Spacia on display it will be easy for you to pick the flooring you require with our expert advice.
Samples are avaiable to borrow and we can also provide a full estimating and fitting service. As an Independant retailer we are interested in serving the customer as we rely on recommendation for much of our local business. Visit us to see the wide range or give us a call and we will visit you.
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General
The aim of Country Flooring from the County town of Chelmsford in Essex is to supply good quality flooring,to enable purchasers to be informed and confident that they are buying the right products for the right areas of the home. Please do not hesitate to telephone on 01245 250074 or e-mail info@countryflooring.co.uk for a well-informed discussion on your requirements, be they wood,laminate carpets or vinyl flooring.
As an Independant Specialist Retailer with our own warehouse we are able to supply goods from stock direct to the consumer or due to our years of experience, we are able to provide in Essex and the surounding areas our full Estimating, Design, Fitting and After care Service. This is avaiable for all products such as Amtico, with our own registered Amtico fitters, Carpets fitters with over25 years experience and fully trained wood fitters.
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General
Figure 1
 
Fitting Guide for Engineered Woodloc Flooring
A large majority of the Engineered Wood flooring purchased from this site use glue less locking systems, which are ideal for the DIY fitter.
Engineered Wood floors are designed to be fitted as 'Floating Floors' this means that they are not adhered to the floor or walls at any point. An expansion gap of 10mm - 15mm must be left all around the room; this includes areas such as fireplaces, patio doors and radiator pipes.
Laying an Engineered wood floor is very much like decorating preparation; the key to a successful installation is the preparation of the sub floor.
STEP 1.
Firstly uplift any existing floor coverings, carpet, underlay, gripper, vinyl flooring. If you have vinyl floor tiles that are stuck down all over then as long as they are still sound they can be left in place when a floating floor is being laid, however old solid wood parquet flooring should really be uplifted and the old bitumen covered with a self smoothing compound. There are cases where the parquet has been left and this has been successful, so our advice would be if you decide to leave the old floor down use beading around the edges so that if for any reason the new floor does need to come up to rectify the situation you will not have to remove fixed skirting.
STEP 2.
Now it is time to examine the sub floor. All floors should be level to a degree of 3mm over the length of a 2m straight edge, e.g. put a 2m length of straight edge across the floor and if at any point there is gap below the straight edge of more than 3mm then the floor will need some preparation.
If you have floorboards make sure they are all secure and repaired or replaced evenly. Remember to check for pipes or cables when banging in nails! If they are flat and sound then you can lay the underlay and laminate as a floating floor directly over them, ensuring that there are no air bricks blocked. But if the floorboards are uneven, as we have discussed then you will need to put a minimum of 4mm plywood over the top of the floorboards and possibly some self-smoothing compound on top of the plywood. The plywood should be nailed down with ring shank nails to stop them from working their way out and if you do need to put smoothing compound down you should leave a 2mm gap between the ply to allow for expansion.
If your existing sub floor is concrete or concrete covered in vinyl tiles and if it is level you can lay the laminate floor using either a separate damp proof membrane and foam underlay or an all in one membrane and underlay, this is to slow moisture rising from the concrete sub floor, all joints between the runs of underlay should be taped. If the floor is uneven then you will need to apply a smoothing compound to iron out some of the dips and high spots. Also if your concrete floor is newly installed it must be fully dried. Most manufacturers would give a guide of 1 month per inch depth of screed, this is a guide and it is your responsibility to ensure the sub floor is dry before installation.
STEP 3.
Once you have made sure the sub floor is level it is time to proceed with the next step. To fit an engineered wood floor correctly you should use either a Tenon saw or a hand saw to undercut the door liners and architraves. We have seen many floors where the fitter has cut very neatly around the door architraves and then filled the gap with mastic, this not only looks awful it is incorrect. Figure 1 To do this place an off cut of the floor plus a piece of underlay beside the door frame. Lay the Saw horizontally to the floor and carefully cut away the architrave. The cut should be through to the door liner and into the doorway where the floor finishes. Be careful, as there are sometimes nails or pipes hidden within.
STEP 4.
You are now ready to fit the floor. The first decision to make is which direction you are going to run the boards. As a general rule the floor would be fitted parallel to the longer wall. If the room is reasonably square it is best to fit the floor running away from the entry door, but these are not rules but guidelines and you can make your own judgments. All the flooring sold on this site comes with instructions and you may prefer to use this link for the Kahrs fitting instructions. www.kahrs.se
Lay down your first row of underlay against the wall you have decide to start on, you will need to check to see if the walls are straight, but don't forget if you have a fireplace or feature in the room you will want the floor to look straight in front of it so have a good look around before you start. If your wall is not straight you need to click two rows together with the first row beginning with a full board and the second beginning with a half board, to ensure they are running straight. Offer them up to the wall, if they are not straight then follow this procedure.
To scribe a board to follow the line of a wall, place your two rows against the wall and a second off cut on top against the wall, run a pencil along the line of the off cut and this will give you a line to cut along, which will ensure that your first line of boards mirrors the profile of the wall. Now unclick the two rows and separately cut each board if needed, you will need a jigsaw to make this cut.
You can now proceed to put the first line of boards into place, again click a separate row onto your first row to ensure they are running straight. Remember to use the spacers from the fitting kit to allow the correct expansion gaps around the room. When you are satisfied that this line is straight you can carry on across the room. You will need to keep a non uniform stagger, cut a few different sized starts to begin, e.g. one ¾ length board and one ½ board. Use the off cut left from the first line to start the next row ensuring that you build the floor with randomly placed header joints.
If you have radiator pipes coming out of the floor you must leave good expansion around the pies. To do this, drill a hole of 32mm for a standard 15mm pipe. First mark the board where the centre of the pipe will fall then drill the hole form the top of the Wood, next cut out either a triangular shape behind the hole or at a 45% angle cut one side triangular and the other straight across the hole, (make this cut from the underneath of the board and this will stop the wood from chipping), this enables you to clic the small piece onto the next board. ( Insert Pic 2)
The last line of boards will also need to be scribed to the wall, it may also be necessary to remove the last tongue on a Woodloc Board especially in a hallway with doors either side as it can sometimes be difficult to achieve the angle to lock the board down into position. If you do need to remove the tongue on the last board use some PVA glue and treat the last joint as a tongue & groove joint and stick the joint together, using the pulling bar to allow you to lever into place the final row of boards.
STEP 5.
You are now ready to fit the threshold bars and any beading or skirting. Remember when fitting the threshold bars to leave expansion, the available bars to match the wood are all available from this site. Beading should be pinned to the existing skirting with small brad nails, but ensure that you do not pinch the floor as this will restrict the laminate and not allow it to move when necessary. When joining two pieces of beading on a long wall ensure that you cut a 45% mitre joint and do not but up two pieces as this gives a more professional look. Also ensure that on any end pieces you mitre the ends to make small triangular returns again to ensure a professional look. ( see photo)
Fit the skirting boards where necessary but again ensure that the skirting does not pinch the engineered floor and restrict its movement as it will then have a tendency to squeak.
Your floor is now ready to be used. Always place felt pads or castor cups under any furniture this will protect the surfaces that have been added to protect the floor. Only clean with a recommended wood cleaner ensuring a minimal amount of water is used on a well rung out cloth or mop. Always use barrier mats on entry from an outside doors and keep the floor well swept to remove any grit or stones. Don't forget to use a Lacquer Refresher every so often on a Lacquered floor and to Oil or use an Oil Refresher on an oiled floor to keep them in good condition.
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General
All the laminate flooring purchased from this site uses the Unilin glue less locking system, which is ideal for the DIY fitter.
Laminate floors are designed to be fitted as 'Floating Floors' this means that they are not adhered to the floor or walls at any point. An expansion gap of 10mm must be left all around the room; this includes areas such as fireplaces, patio doors and radiator pipes.
Laying a laminate floor is very much like decorating preparation; the key to a successful installation is the preparation of the sub floor.
STEP 1.
Firstly uplift any existing floor coverings, carpet, underlay, gripper, vinyl flooring. If you have vinyl floor tiles that are stuck down all over then as long as they are still sound they can be left in place when a floating floor is being laid, however old solid wood parquet flooring should really be uplifted and the old bitumen covered with a self smoothing compound. There are cases where the parquet has been left and this has been successful, so our advice would be if you decide to leave the old floor down to either clip on skirting or beading around the edges so that if for any reason the new floor does need to come up to rectify the situation you will not have to remove fixed skirting.
STEP 2.
Now it is time to examine the sub floor. All floors should be level to a degree of 3mm over the length of a 2m straight edge, e.g. put a 2m length of straight edge across the floor and if at any point there is gap below the straight edge of more than 3mm then the floor will need some preparation.
I you have floorboards make sure they are all secure and repaired or replaced evenly. Remember to check for pipes or cables when banging in nails! If they are flat and sound then you can lay the underlay and laminate as a floating floor directly over them, ensuring that there are no air bricks blocked. But if the floorboards are uneven, as we have discussed then you will need to put a minimum of 4mm plywood over the top of the floorboards and possibly some self-smoothing compound o top of the plywood. The plywood should be nailed down with ring shank nails to stop them from working their way out and if you do need to put smoothing compound down you should leave a 2mm gap between the ply to allow for expansion.
If your existing sub floor is concrete or concrete covered in vinyl tiles and if it is level you can lay the laminate floor using either a separate damp proof membrane and foam underlay or an all in one membrane and underlay, this is to slow moisture rising from the concrete sub floor, all joints between the runs of underlay should be taped. If the floor is uneven then you will need to apply a smoothing compound to iron out some of the dips and high spots. Also if your concrete floor is newly installed it must be fully dried. Most manufacturers would give a guide of 1 month per inch depth of screed, this is a guide and it is your responsibility to ensure the sub floor is dry before installation.
STEP 3.
Once you have made sure the sub floor is level it is time to proceed with the next step. To fit a laminate floor correctly you should use either a Tenon saw or a hand saw to undercut the door liners and architraves. We have seen many floors where the fitter has cut very neatly around the door architraves and then filled the gap with mastic, this not only looks awful it is incorrect. (Add Picture of undercut doors.)
To do this place an off cut of the floor plus a piece of underlay beside the door frame. Lay the Saw horizontally to the floor and carefully cut away the architrave. The cut should be through to the door liner and into the doorway where the floor finishes. Be careful, as there are sometimes nails or pipes hidden within.
STEP 4.
You are now ready to fit the floor. The first decision to make is which direction you are going to run the boards. As a general rule the floor would be fitted parallel to the longer wall. If the room is reasonably square it is best to fit the floor runnin away from the entry door, but these are not rules but guidelines and you can make your own judgements. All the flooring sold on this site comes with instructions and you may prefer to use this link for the Quickstep fitting instructions. www.quick-step.com
Lay down your first row of underlay against the wall you have decide to start on, you will need to check to see if the walls are straight, but don't forget if you have a fireplace or feature in the room you will want the floor to look straight in front of it so have a good look around before you start. I your wall is not straight you need to click two rows together with the first row beginning with a full board and the second beginning with a half board, to ensure they are running straight. Offer them up to the wall, if they are not straight then follow this procedure.
To scribe a board to follow the line of a wall, place your two rows against the wall and a second off cut on top against the wall, ru a pencil along the line of the off cut and this will give you a line to cut along, which will ensure that your first line of boards mirrors the profile of the wall. Now unclick the two rows and separately cut each board if needed, you will need a jigsaw to make this cut.
You can now proceed to put the first line of boards into place, again click a separate row onto your first row to ensure they are running straight. Remember to use the spacers from the fitting kit to allow the correct expansion gaps around the room. When you are satisfied that this line is straight you can carry on across the room. You will need to keep a non uniform stagger, cut a few different sized starts to begin, e.g. one ¾ length board and one ½ board. Use the off cut left from the first line to start the next row ensuring that you build the floor with randomly placed header joints.
If you have radiator pipes coming out of the floor you must leave good expansion around the pies. To do this drill a hole of 32mm for a standard 15mm pipe. First mark the board where the centre of the pipe will fall then drill the hole form the top of the laminate, next cut out either a triangular shape behind the hole or at a 45% angle cut one side triangular and the other straight across the hole,(make this cut from the underneath of the board and this wil stop the laminate from chipping), this enables you to clic the small piece onto the next board.( Insert Pic 2) The last line of boards will also need to be scribed to the wall, it may be necessary to use the pulling bar to allow you to click into place the final row of boards.
STEP 5.
You are now ready to fit the threshold bars and any beading or skirting. Remember when fitting the threshold bars to leave expansion, the available bars to match the wood are all available from this site. Beading should be pinned to the existing skirting with small brad nails, but ensure that you do not pinch the floor as this will restrict the laminate and not allow it to move when necessary. When joining two pieces of beading on a long wall ensure that you cut a 45% mitre joint and do not but up two pieces as this gives a more professional look. Also ensure that on any end pieces you mitre the ends to make small triangular returns again to ensure a professional look. (see photo)
Fit the skirting boards where necessary but again ensure that the skirting does not pinch the laminate floor and restrict its movement as it will then have a tendency to squeak.
Your floor is now ready to be used. Always place felt pads or castor cups under any furniture this will protect the surfaces that have been added to protect the floor. Only clean with a recommended laminate cleaner ensuring a minimal amount of water is used on a well rung out cloth or mop. Always use barrier mats on entry from an outside door and keep the floor well swept to remove any grit or stones.
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General
Each of these has their own advantages and disadvantages.
Laminate - This product is a man made copy of a real wood, the high quality photocopy of either the wood or tiles is applied to a HDF (High density Fibre) board, the quality of the laminate is determined by
1). The quality of the base board, this will determine the impact resistance.
2).The quality of the paper used for the photocopy.
3).The locking system.
4). The quality of the wear layer.
Laminate floors are quite resistant to scratching although not scratch proof and also very resistant to dents, but if you are unlucky enough to damage a laminate floor to repair it properly you will probably need to replace the board, this is where the Quick Step and Witex ranges have such an advantage as they have glueless locking systems that enable you to Unclic a board and replace it with a new board.
All these fators are not visible to the naked eye but are very important when it comes to the quality and longevity of the product. As a company that for many years has based our business on a supply and fitting service we are keen to offer quality products that we know and trust.
Engineered Wood - This product is a Multi Layer Board made from a 4mm wear layer of the particular wood chosen ie.Oak, with two different boards behind this running in two different directions, this means that the three layers are working against each other, this produces a very stable board that can be laid as a floating floor in the same way as a laminate can over the appropriate underlay. It still requires an expansion gap of between 10 & 15mm as does any wood floor but it is the ideal wood when fitting over a concrete sub floor.
Any wood flooring will show some dents and scratches over a period of time but it is the nature of the product and denotes the fact that it is a real wood floor. The advanatages are that it sounds different to a laminate floor and that if you do damage a floor it can be filled and or sanded an re-sealed. any wood floor will last be hard wearing but its performance will be based on how you treat the floor.
Solid Wood - This product is the most complicated to deal with. There are two differnt types of solid wood flooring sold on this site. As a rule a 14 or 15mm solid wood flooring is classed as a Overlay, that is it must be laid over the exisiting subfloor as it would not be strong enough to be the main load bearing floor unlike an 18-22mm Floor which can either be used to replace an exisiting floor or fitted over the top of an existing subfloor. Generally solid wood should be fixed to the floor JUNCKERS Wood floors are an exception and can be laid as a floating floor because the method of drying they use makes their product exceptionally stable. Any other solid wood should be either secret nailed to Joists or a wooden subfloor or glued to a concrete subfloor. All wood or laminate floors need a damp proof membrane underneath them when they are laid onto a concrete subfloor, on a floating floor this can either be seperate or incorporated in the underlay, but for a solid wood this needs to be a chemical membrane to allow the wood to be glued to the floor.
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