OT: Solid Wood Flooring <frustrated>

[EdinburghGary]

Guys,

I realise this is completely off topic, hence posting in OOF....but I have purchased loads of French Pin Flooring for home, trying to lay it....

Is it right that I am unable to get a perfectly snug CLICK just like laminate? It is almost impossible to aboid random gaps....

A quick look at google images, and indeed - gaps everywhere. I quite like the rustic and non perfect look, but before I stick it all down - any of you guys floor fitting experts and no what I should expect?

G.

 

[SpikeK6]

If its solid proper wood then you will get gaps as it will shrink expand etc etc etc. laminate is man made so does none of the warping expanding etc etc so stays its shape.

If you have gogled it aswell then thats how its meant to be.

spike

 

[russdaz]

If its solid proper wood then you will get gaps as it will shrink expand etc etc etc. laminate is man made so does none of the warping expanding etc etc so stays its shape.

If you have gogled it aswell then thats how its meant to be.

spike

Kinda agree, but disagree at the same time.

Well laminate does expand contract with heat, but being its man made its uniformed in the way it does it, therefore you dont notice it.

Real wood wont be so uniformed in the way it expands etc due to the gain patterns so will be more noticeable.

 

[Canon Bob]

Gary,

I fitted some oak flooring in the UK and it was less than satisfactory as it was supposed to have tight joints. In winter they were fine but each summer gaps started to appear. When I bought the stuff there was nothing axplicit about its suitability for various areas of the house....a "do-all" product.

I'm now half way through the same exercise here in France....totally different. Each type has details of where it can be used....upstairs or downstairs, onto solid or wooden floor etc......seems that things are much more specific here and "do-all" doesn't exist.

In short, gapless in real wood is probably not a good thing to aim for unless you intend to install humidity and temperature control.

Bob

 

[tiler65]

You can get tight joints but you either need to secret nail them or use straps to pull them together.

like this


I will try and find you a secret nailer video.

Here is one. this is a pneumatic one but you can hire manual ones too.

[YOUTUBE]
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[david357]

If you are laying real wood flooring, it's usual to use flooring cramps to push the boards together really tightly before nailing them, to minimise gaps. (I am assuming we are talking about French Pine flooring). Being a fast grown softwood, pine is prone to far more shrinkage than any of the hardwoods.
That said, however, unless the wood has been dried properly before you fit it, and also acclimatised in the room where it will be fitted for a time before installation, you may still get some gaps as it shrinks.