Mr Skill

Putting a new wooden floor into a room can transform a tired appearance into a brand new look. Solid timber floors are attractive, hard wearing and modern – matching almost any style of home. Whereas wooden flooring boards used to be plain-edged planks of wood that were nailed into joists, nowadays packs are available from DIY stores with boards that are tongued and grooved, and interlock – preventing draughts and dust entering from beneath. If laying the floor on top of an existing concrete floor, you will also need to buy a sufficient quantity of underlay with a built-in vapour barrier. This will prevent any moisture seeping through the concrete damaging your new floor.

Laying a wooden floor is an advanced DIY project for which you may need the assistance of a London handyman. Not only will you get the job done in half the time, but a second pair of hands will save you moving heavy packets of timber around on your own. To prepare for the job, it is a good idea to open the timber packs and leave them in the room for 24 hours before you intend to start to enable them to adapt to the change in humidity. You should also remove any doors which open into the room and the skirting surrounding the room. Tip: When removing the skirting, place a wooden block behind the crowbar so that the leverage is not against a plaster wall.

Before you start laying the wooden floor, thoroughly vacuum the floor and fit the underlay first. Underlay normally comes in 15 metre rolls, so you can just roll it out and use a Stanley knife to trim it to the right size. Each section of the underlay should be securely taped to the next one to ensure the integrity of the vapour barrier, and secured into the floor at the point where the skirting when replaced will form a seal. Boards normally look best laid in the same direction as the longest straight wall, however some people prefer to lay the boards in the direction of incoming daylight.

The first step is to place 10-15mm plastic spacers around the entire edge of the wall. These will create an expansion gap which will allow the wood to breathe as the humidity in the room changes. Then lay the first row of boards along the longest straight wall, with the groove facing the wall and starting from a corner. Check the manufacturer´s instructions for fixing the boards as the ends may also be tongued or grooved. Cut the last board at a perfect right angle, ensuring that it is sufficiently short to allow for the expansion gap at the end.

Depending on the length of the cut-off from the last board of the first row, you may want to use this to start off the second row. Normally end joints are staggered by at least 30cm, but again, the decision is yours based on what you would like the final effect to look like. The pack of timbers usually includes a fitting tool which you can use to push the sides of each board together, and you can work your way across the room, tightening each joint by tapping the edge block against the grooved side of each board with a hammer.

If you have a radiator pipe to negotiate, mark the position of the pipe on the board that will be laid there. Drill a hole in the board around 5mm wider in diameter that the pipe itself, and make two opposite angled saw cuts from the edge of the board to the sides of the hole. Then fit the board and carefully glue the small triangle of wood you should have left over back into place behind the pipe.

Should the last row of boards not be a perfect fit, measure the remaining gap between the last row of boards and the wall. Deduct 10mm (for the expansion gap) and saw the boards horizontally to fit. Don´t panic if the cut is not always perfectly straight. The edge closest to the wall will be hidden by the skirting boards when you replace them.

Replacing the skirting boards and re-hanging any doors are indeed your final jobs before you start moving all the furniture back in and start enjoying your new floor. There are many different paints, stains and varnishes that can be applied to your floor to protect it and vary the effect – but right now, you have done enough for one day! Relax and take pride in your work – We´ll leave painting and varnishing until another day!

As mentioned in our Inspirations feature, this is a job that can be done professionally by local carpenters in London, or with assistance from a local handyman. Although there is a certain satisfaction in finishing a project such as this by yourself, if you need help on any part of this job, use the “Post-a-Job” facility at the top of the page, or speak with one of the London tradesmen featured in our Tradesmen´s Directory.