Hardwood Flooring

Mechanical fixing of wood flooring is arguably the most successful method of fitting as it is the way that wooden floors have been traditionally fit for many years.

Mechanical fixing of wood flooring using tongue tite flooring screws

Mechanical fixing means nailing or screwing the wood floor down onto joists, battens, subfloor or existing floorboards. Although there are several ways of achieving this such as pre-drilling and screwing or face nailing, by far the most popular method is to ‘secret nail’ or ‘secret screw’.

When secret nailing, a nail gun is used to drive a special flooring nail at between 33° and 45° through the side of the tongue joint (as above). This method is quite fast as the gun positions the nail in exactly the right place and then it is simply hammered home. It does, however, require the use of a nail gun, which may bear an additional cost if hiring is necessary.

Porta-Nails for secret nailing wood flooring

Increasingly popular are the specially designed Tongue-Tite flooring screws which are fixed in a similar way to nails but do not require a nail gun. There is a special star driver in each box of 200 screws which will fit into any standard power screwdriver or drill. Simply position the screw at a 30° angle and these superb little screws will pull the boards together nice and tightly. They are self piloting and countersinking, so no pre-drilling is required. Unlike nails, they don’t work loose over time which can result in creaking floorboards.

Tongue Tite flooring screws - for secret fixing

Once you have decided whether to use screws or nails, inspect your subfloor thoroughly. Existing floorboards should be sound and securely fastened to the joists beneath. If they are not sound, make good any defects or overlay with plywood. Pin a layer of building paper over the whole floor, particularly at ground floor level. Once the subfloor has been prepared then you can start to nail or screw the hardwood floor down allowing for an expansion gap around the perimeter of the whole floor. How you intend to cover the expansion gap will dictate what space you allow, as follows:

1. Leave ½" expansion gap from the wall and cover with skirting boards. This is the neatest option but entails removing existing skirtings and re-fitting or replacing (diagram 1).
2. Leave a 1" expansion gap from the existing skirting and cover with low profile bead. This is an easier option and is still neat as the beading is unobtrusive (diagram 2).
3. Leave ½" expansion gap and cover with either quadrant or scotia bead. This is the cheapest option but the beading does 'ride up' the skirting by ¾" which may be a problem, particularly on shallow skirtings (diagram 3 and 4).
4. Undercut the existing skirting boards with a bear saw and position the floorboards so that they neatly run just underneath (diagram 1).

It is important to understand that any movement that may occur will be across the width of the boards and not in the length. Keep this in mind when planning the run of the boards. When fitting over existing floorboards, we usually recommend that the new boards run at 90 degrees perpendicular to the old ones. Choose the wall that you want to start from, this will usually be the longest wall. The first one or two rows of boards will have to be face fixed, i.e. vertically. First pre-drill a fine hole, nail through into the sub floor, sink the nail head with a punch and fill. Be careful that the nails used are suitable flooring nails and that they will not penetrate further than the sub floor. As you start to secret nail/screw the boards down, take care to ensure that the joints are completely random (see diagram below).

Try not to line joints through or set the floor out brickwork style. If you have a floor that has a variegated pattern such as brown oak, ash, coloured maple or fumed oak, ensure that you open several packs at a time in order to ensure an even mix.

Nails or screws should be at 6" to 8" centres with a nail/screw a couple of inches either side of joints. Once you reach the far wall you will need to face secure the last one or two lines of boards as before. Whilst fixing the floor a few points should be borne in mind:

1. The boards should fit up snugly together, if not there is a good chance that there is some debris in the groove or a tongue is damaged. Clear this before fixing.
2. Flooring should not be scribed around areas like architraves and casings. These should be undercut by hand or with a jamb undercut saw so the flooring can neatly slide under. Remember to leave some gap for expansion.
3. When fitting around radiator pipes a 20mm hole (for 15mm pipes) should be drilled in the floor to allow for expansion. The floor should then be cut out as below.

Our customers often ask advice about the best way to fit the wood flooring that they have bought from us. The advice we offer can vary depending on the type of flooring purchased and also what the customer is fitting the floor onto (the subfloor). This mini guide offers guidance for floating both our solid and engineered wood floors. The term "floating" means that the floorboards are not secured to the subfloor but instead are laid using a foam or fibre underlayment, offering an economical and popular alternative to either mechanical fixing or gluing. Floorboards can be floated onto a solid subfloor such as concrete or existing timber floorboards.

Classic European Solid Oak Flooring by British Hardwoods

Floating method for solid wood flooring When fitting solid wood flooring we would recommend the use of floor fitting foam. First ensure that the subfloor is clean, dry and level, then lay a full layer of visqueen over the whole floor overlapping on the joints by 8" and running slightly up the walls.

Floor Fitting Foam Underlay - for floating Solid Wood Floors

Roll out the floor fitting foam at 90 degrees to the run of the new floorboards with the plastic coated face uppermost. Leave a slight gap between rows of floor fitting foam. On the wall where you intend to lay the first board peel back approximately 500mm of the plastic top film exposing the glue. Onto this glue apply a spare sheet of the plastic top film and fold it towards you with the fold to the wall. Onto this separate piece place the first few rows of flooring, locked tightly together and leaving an adequate expansion gap round the perimeter of the room. Carefully, pull out the loose piece of plastic sheet and affix the boards firmly to the floor fitting foam. Once this is done, lock in the next row of boards and then peel back the main plastic sheet by 75% of the width of the board (to allow the next row to be laid without sticking), continue to do this across the room. Please note: we would strongly recommend against gluing the edges of a solid wood floor.

Floating method for engineered wood flooring When fitting engineered wood flooring we would recommend the use of Timbertech2™ Silver Underlay. This superior underlay is quick and easy to install and offers thermal insulation, protects against moisture migration from the sub floor and also reduces impact sound and in-room noise.

TimberTech2 Silver Underlay - for floating Engineered Wood Floors

Again, ensure that the subfloor is clean, dry and level, then lay a full layer of visqueen over the whole floor as described above. Then lay the TimberTech2 Silver underlay 90 degrees perpendicular to the way that the floorboards will run. The edges can be secured with tape on the underside if required. The engineered wood floor can be floated above the underlay and glued together by running a small amount of PVA glue on the bottom of the groove joint and then pushing the boards tightly together. A pair of ratchet clamps can help with this process.

Ratchet Clamp (sold singly)

Our hardwood floor fitting DVD offers great advice for floating wood flooring and also shows methods for mechanical fixing and gluing, sub floor preparation and finishing.

Hardwood Floor Fitting DVD

For further advice on fitting and finishing your wood flooring call us on 01535 637755 or follow the link to download our free Hardwood Floor Fitting and Maintenance Guide.

One of our customers in the South of England has recently sent us some stunning photos of the Character Oak Flooring he purchased from our online shop earlier in the year. The flooring has been installed in a landmark London warehouse conversion, and we're sure you'll agree the photos are indeed beautiful.

We have uploaded the images to our Character Oak Flooring pages on our website, but felt that they were worth sharing here also.

As you can see from the photograph above, our Character Oak Flooring contains a fair amount of natural figuring, some splits and open knots up to 50mm in diameter. The knots can be left open, which enhances the rustic appearance of the floor, or filled and sanded if a smooth finish is preferred. It has universal appeal and looks great in either traditional or contemporary settings such as this.

The organic nature of the oak flooring looks great against the exposed brickwork, and we love the way the timber complements the reflective breakfast bar and unusual bespoke bar stools.

We are extremely grateful to our customer for taking the time to send us these photos and for allowing us to use them. If you have photographs of British Hardwoods flooring in your own installations, we would love to see them and, with your permission, share them with our customers.