Solid Oak Overlay Flooring from Hackworth Sawmill

Fitting Overlay Floors - Case Study

We were contacted by a customer who wanted to install solid oak hardwood flooring throughout the ground floor in a small house which he had bought for his son to live in while at university. His idea was that his son could let out some of the rooms to other students, generating income to cover his own expenses, and that after 3 years he could sell the house, getting his investment back, and hopefully some profit. The existing carpet in the house was shoddy and needed replacing, but with a view to future sale of the property, oak flooring seemed a sensible option. The floor under the carpet was a mixture of wood and concrete. Having discussed all the options the customer settled for our 8 mm thick by 70 mm wide oak overlay. Apart from the ease of fitting, cost was an important consideration. The standard 20 mm thick oak floorboards were hardly necessary since the new floor did not have to be load-bearing, and the customer liked the appearance of narrow boards. Had he wanted much wider boards, we would have recommended a thicker floor, possibly 16 mm, but under the circumstances 8 mm was adequate. The concrete floors in the house had been put down fairly recently and were level, and so the overlay could be glued direct to the concrete without the need for any self-levelling compound. Some of the existing wooden flooring, however, was in poor condition although sound, with some cupping, and quite a lot of patching. The solution here was to sand the floors (having made sure that all nails were punched in) with a very coarse paper to remove the high spots. The overlay was then secret-nailed down at 350 mm centres along the length of the boards. Three coats of sealer, and the job was finished and looked stunning. The sequel to the story was that having bought the property just before a property boom, the customer made a handsome profit after the three years.