Son and his girlfriend are buying a new build. They are looking at hardwood as the downstairs flooring in the main area. It is on top of concrete base.
It seems that engineered hardwood is probably the way to go based on performance and cost. A couple of enquiries suggest around £30 a sqM for laying which sounds quite a lot of money but accepting trades costs are for more than just a bloke turning up and fitting.
I’ve fitted laminate before and also laid ceramic and wall tile floors so I’m thinking it’s not beyond my capabilities. I have various power saws, table saw, chop saw etc.
Has anyone any experience of doing their own. Are there any significant pitfalls, specialist tools, tips or tricks to laying this stuff. Obviously getting it straight and square is vital so setting out etc will be key.
Any advice at all or should I just let them dig in and pay a fitter.
Having just had 55 sqm of 20mm engineered hardwood laid, I’m not convinced I’d have done as well, and I’m pretty good at DIY.
I just wanted to say, if you can glue down like we did, it feels soooo much more solid under foot. The glue costs around £120 a tub though, and we needed 4 iirc.
It was interesting seeing him using ratchet straps across the room to clamp all the planks together. Also, random joints looks better than regular joints.
Last edited by tz-uk73; 17th May 2022 at 22:52.
With respect, unless you're a hardwood floor layer by day, I'd personally leave it to those who are.
I have done it myself in the past. It wasn’t too difficult but I would be tempted to get the experts in. Insist on them removing the skirting boards and refitting after the floor has been laid rather than having that horrible scotia trim round the room.
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Tbh laminate etc is a whole different ball game..I have laid a lot of laminate flooring, tile, etc and I am very handy (all things considered)... However I would easily pay a bit of a premium to have an experienced hardwood floor layer carry out the works. It will pay off in the long run and look/feel much better. And we are talking 20 years+ long run!
Give it a go, and then pay a Pro.
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The amount of times I should have heeded this warning.Originally Posted by jukeboxs
Thanks folks. I know what you all mean. I would like to think I could help my son out with the skills I have but sometimes it is probably easier to recognise there are others better equipped
I work for a hardwood flooring company.
I recently installed flooring my girls bedrooms and it was fine, and I am no good at DIY. I did get one of our fitters to do my downstairs though. It is pretty easy to do tbh if you float it, harder if you stick down. Sticking down does feel much better underfoot and is the better way to install, a 15kg tub of adhesive should cost you around £90 max you can get them much cheaper if you shop around. 1 tub should cover around 12-15m2 depending on the sub floor. The more important aspect is the standard of the sub floor, a nice flat surface makes life much easier than a screed thats all over the place. The quality of the planks purchased also can help or hinder the situation, if its very cheap they might not fit together very well which makes everything so much harder.
If its just plank a local fitter should be £20-£25 a m2 to install.
If you did it yourself all you really need is a jigsaw (makes so much less mess than a chop saw), some floor clamps and a pull bar. If you do it yourself I can send you a full breakdown of how it is normally approached.
Drop me a pm if you want a price from one of our fitters, as we are fairly local to you. They are all independent from our company but are all very good.
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