Timber Floor Installation

Floors can be laid over concrete, chipboard, particleboard, plywood,  timber joists or battens, underlay, existing flooring.  Secured by either secret nailing (no visible nail holes) or face/top nailing (nails straight through the board). Top nailing is a more robust fixing method than floors secretly fixed and must be used for timber boards 130mm or wider. If you are constructing a new house or are undergoing renavations your timber floor should not be installed until other construction activities (particularly wet trades) are complete. 

Timber is a natural product that responds to changes in weather conditions with seasonal himidity and temperature changes in the air causing boards to shrink and swell at different times throughout the year. During the less humid times of the year boards lose moisture and you may have gaps appear between the board, similarly during the more humid summer months your boards will expand with moisture and and you may notice timber grow resulting in expansion joints seeming to disappear.  

Timber expansion joints (consisting of an approx 10mm wide strip of cork) are compulsory throughout large timber floor areas and prevent your boards from expanding and poping up. Timber is dried to a moisture percentage rate of around 12% and sometimes needs to rest at the location which it is being installed for a few days to allow it to ajust to the current climate conditions. This is especially important in fully airconditioned buildings.