What floor do I have?

[sonaldo]

I’ve attached photos of a loose ‘board’ which I think is ‘engineered wood’ or laminate?

As far as I can tell I can’t stain or paint this.

From the other photos it looks like it’s on top of traditional wooden floorboards (which themselves are on top of a wooden subfloor).

We want to change the floor but what are the options? My worry is the eng wood / laminate is glued to the original floorboards and therefore impossible to remove?

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[opps]

Given the foam underlay, it isn't glued down.

It looks like a floating floor. It looks like a MDF click laminate.

Correct, you won't be able to paint it.

 

[sonaldo]

Given the foam underlay, it isn't glued down.

It looks like a floating floor. It looks like a MDF click laminate.

Correct, you won't be able to paint it.

of course! can't be glued if there's an underlay there... thank you

i'm considering removing the laminate and the underlay and sanding / staining the original boards underneath. however i'm guessing that will be considerably less energy efficient (given that i've removed two upper layers), and will result in a slug problem?!

if anyone's done something similar before and has any advice that would be great

 

[opps]

of course! can't be glued if there's an underlay there... thank you

i'm considering removing the laminate and the underlay and sanding / staining the original boards underneath. however i'm guessing that will be considerably less energy efficient (given that i've removed two upper layers), and will result in a slug problem?!

if anyone's done something similar before and has any advice that would be great

Are you absolutely sure that the sub floor is timber? The bit in your photo almost looks like plywood- but I may be wrong...

I think you need to lift a sizeable section of laminate before you can workout how to proceed. If your existing boards are in a pretty poor state, you may need to match the timber at a local reclamation yard.

How old is the property (approximately)?

From your photo, it is clear that you will need to fill the gap under the skirting boards. You can use quadrant or scotia moulding to do that. Gaps between floor boards- you can buy coloured springy elastic/foam that you stretch to make it thinner (as required) and then push it in to the gaps.

If you decide to sand it yourself, you can do a weekend hire of a drum sander and edger. You will be supplied a number of belts and sanding pads, and be charged for any abrasives that you use. You may need to use a linbide scraper as well. Some companies will provide one and charge you for the blade.

You will need to ensure that any floor brads or screws are below the surface of the wood. If they aren't you will blunt the £10+ belts.

You then need to factor in the cost of the stain (look at companies like Myson) and the cost of the finish coats (eg Osmo).

In reality another laminate floor will be significantly cheaper. Soulless, perhaps, but much cheaper.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Judging from the manky edges of original floorboards actually visible in the 3rd photo, I'd hazard a guess that the iriginal boards really aren't that wonderful. Possibly why someone laid lami ate o er the top of them in the first place!

The only way to tell if the floor is recoverable is to lift the laminate and underlay completely, vacuum out and thoroughly examine it. Matching replacement boards are probably not going to be readily available, and it is highly likely that there are other plumbing and electrical installation "repairs" lurking beneath that laminate, so you might be opening a can of worms

 

[sonaldo]

Thanks for all the replies on this. I had assumed there were original floorboards under there because that's what we have upstairs:

However, having removed some of the laminate, and inspecting the existing 'hole' further, I believe the downstairs has had the original floorboards removed and replaced with a plywood subfloor:

If anyone more knowledgeable than me was able to confirm that I'd be grateful!

 

[sonaldo]

Are you absolutely sure that the sub floor is timber? The bit in your photo almost looks like plywood- but I may be wrong...

I think you need to lift a sizeable section of laminate before you can workout how to proceed. If your existing boards are in a pretty poor state, you may need to match the timber at a local reclamation yard.

How old is the property (approximately)?

From your photo, it is clear that you will need to fill the gap under the skirting boards. You can use quadrant or scotia moulding to do that. Gaps between floor boards- you can buy coloured springy elastic/foam that you stretch to make it thinner (as required) and then push it in to the gaps.

If you decide to sand it yourself, you can do a weekend hire of a drum sander and edger. You will be supplied a number of belts and sanding pads, and be charged for any abrasives that you use. You may need to use a linbide scraper as well. Some companies will provide one and charge you for the blade.

You will need to ensure that any floor brads or screws are below the surface of the wood. If they aren't you will blunt the £10+ belts.

You then need to factor in the cost of the stain (look at companies like Myson) and the cost of the finish coats (eg Osmo).

In reality another laminate floor will be significantly cheaper. Soulless, perhaps, but much cheaper.

I think you were right about the plywood! (see my previous post)

 

[sonaldo]

Are you absolutely sure that the sub floor is timber? The bit in your photo almost looks like plywood- but I may be wrong...

I think you need to lift a sizeable section of laminate before you can workout how to proceed. If your existing boards are in a pretty poor state, you may need to match the timber at a local reclamation yard.

How old is the property (approximately)?

From your photo, it is clear that you will need to fill the gap under the skirting boards. You can use quadrant or scotia moulding to do that. Gaps between floor boards- you can buy coloured springy elastic/foam that you stretch to make it thinner (as required) and then push it in to the gaps.

If you decide to sand it yourself, you can do a weekend hire of a drum sander and edger. You will be supplied a number of belts and sanding pads, and be charged for any abrasives that you use. You may need to use a linbide scraper as well. Some companies will provide one and charge you for the blade.

You will need to ensure that any floor brads or screws are below the surface of the wood. If they aren't you will blunt the £10+ belts.

You then need to factor in the cost of the stain (look at companies like Myson) and the cost of the finish coats (eg Osmo).

In reality another laminate floor will be significantly cheaper. Soulless, perhaps, but much cheaper.

thanks for your help in identifying my subfloor. having discovered that it is in fact (or at least very much appears to be) plywood, i'm thinking about buying some reclaimed pine floorboards (such as these) and laying these over the plywood subfloor.

do you know if that would be ok? or will i need underlay or a vapour barrier between the plywood subfloor and the pine planks? also, is it ok to simply screw the pine planks to the subfloor or do they need to be attached by some other method?

appreciate any advice you can provide

 

[opps]

thanks for your help in identifying my subfloor. having discovered that it is in fact (or at least very much appears to be) plywood, i'm thinking about buying some reclaimed pine floorboards (such as these) and laying these over the plywood subfloor.

do you know if that would be ok? or will i need underlay or a vapour barrier between the plywood subfloor and the pine planks? also, is it ok to simply screw the pine planks to the subfloor or do they need to be attached by some other method?

appreciate any advice you can provide

A bit beyond my ken... but I can see no reason why you would need a vapour barrier above the ply given that that ply seems to be sound.

If you don't want visible screw heads, you can hire a tool that will angle nails through the side of the boards. I have never used one. @JobAndKnock can probably advise you better.

regards Opps