Solid Wooden Floor - No T & G

Carb

Hi All, sorry for posting another wooden floor question. I recently came across flooring for sale (unfinished) with no T & G. Recommended installation is complete adhesion. Has anyone ever heard of this? I know the timber is very stable, with very little movement, and I'm sure the glues for this purpose are very strong, but can a floating wooden floors actually be laid without a T & G.

Lex Luthor

Carb wrote:

Hi All, sorry for posting another wooden floor question. I recently came across flooring for sale (unfinished) with no T & G. Recommended installation is complete adhesion. Has anyone ever heard of this? I know the timber is very stable, with very little movement, and I'm sure the glues for this purpose are very strong, but can a floating wooden floors actually be laid without a T & G.

Never heard of it

charlesanto

New to me too, but presumably

complete adhesion

means that it is glued down onto the sub floor not floating. Floating this would be a seriously bad idea !

Carb

Sorry, I'm getting my terminology mixed up. My understanding too is that it is glued to the floor, so I shouldn't have used the term floating. From what I have found out so far, this method I think is called jointed flooring. Its primary use is in industrial/comercial applications, as it makes it easier to replace damaged boards. I just haven't been able to find out any guides/instructions or people's experiences of this.

kadman

In theory, if you were sure that it was 100% dry and stable, you should be able to fix this to a concrete or plywood subfloor, and get as good a result as a solid tg&v floor 200 mm thick, fixed with a portanailer secretly through the tongue to battens or plywood.

In practice, a tg&v floor whether floated or nailed, is guaranteed to lay level with its partner board. This is because of the nature of the tongue locating into the groove of its neighbour. Its very doubtful that you could achieve this on a flooring material with no tongue or groove. Also from the point of view of a floating floor, the increased surface area of the joint, allows for more glue between the boards, hence a stronger joint. Also slight shrinkage between plane edged boards would be more noticeable.

I would have to agree with current opinion, that this is not the norm, and personally I would not reccommend this method.

Why not bring the boards to a joinery, and get it t&g 'ed. Quick enough process through a spindle or moulder.

Kadman:)

Lex Luthor

if you are any way unsure about the stability of the wood, I'd stay clear. The wood will bow much easier without the T&G's, so it'll look a right mess in 6 months. Although glueing the wood to the floor completely would reduce the bowing. Still wouldn't be my cup of tea

dogg_r_69

Haven't see n this either The only flooring I've seen that was glued down (with stuff the next best thing to tar) was from what I can remember was called wood block flooring Althoigh I'm not 100% sure on the name. It's been a few years since I used it so can't remember if it was t&g. The boards in this flooring were about 250mm x 60mm And about 25mm thick

rooferPete

Hi,

I think dogg.... is describing Maple Flooring famous in churches and dance floors but usually fully bonded if memory serves me correct.

Hi Carb,

There is a chance we have both seen the same material because it is unusual if it's the same the moisture content would be very low and it was stacked correctly.

I think you would need a plywood sub floor to bond each board to and then a lot of work going into finishing the floor with the chance that just one board out of line would make the floor look terrible.

Kadman's idea is a good one, bring it to a joinery and have the timber finished then all you have to do is give the floor a finish coat of varnish.

I would cost it first because there is a wide variety of finished flooring on the market that comes with a guarantee (of sorts).

.

Carb

Thanks guys for the replies. My main concern too was how to keep the boards level. I know my concrete floors were finished as good as you'd get anywhere, but you never get it all perfectly level, and I would expect laying floorboards with no T & G on to the concrete would creeate variations on the finished surface. I'm currently getting quotes from the same company for the same timber with a T & G, so I'll see how it goes.