Please tell me everything I need to know about engineered wood floors 🪵

[ImNoReady]

We have narrowed down the options and think we want engineered wood floors in our dining room, and maybe in our hall.

Our skirting boards are Victorian and there is no way in the world that they’ll be removed from the wall. I don’t want beading so I’ve been told there’s a tool the fitters can use that slices off a bit of the bottom of the boards so the floor panels can go under, is this right?

How much are fitting costs, does £25/square metre sound right?

Finally are there any brand you’d recommend above others, or any to stay away from?

thank you very much!

Bump :)

I can't help with your other questions, but with this one:-

"I’ve been told there’s a tool the fitters can use that slices off a bit of the bottom of the boards so the floor panels can go under, is this right?"

Yes, it is right. It's usually referred to as a multi-cutter.

Although, usually, people will remove the skirting boards and replace them after fitting a new floor, if you don't want to do this then it is certainly possible to cut off the bottom part of the skirting boards.

Here is a youtube video that shows laying a wooden floor in a Victorian house. The relevant part is at about 8:00 which should be the link here-

Although I would encourage you to watch the video from the start as there is a lot of prep to be done, especially if the floor is uneven, before installing a new floor.

Not every fitter is likely to be as meticulous as this guy. But you pays your money and you takes your chance.

We had our skirting board cut and refitted but we had to add silicone to fill the gap between the skirting board and the floor which is an enormous pain to clean.

I would suggest going for a floorboard which is UV cured, they’re very resilient to staining.

Can't help you with the skirting boards as we removed and replaced. With mine I just made sure they had a good 6mm layer on top so they could withstand being sanded a few of times. They've been in about 8 years now and would probably benefit from their first sand soon (although I have a 3 year old so may wait for him to get a touch older and less bashy with his toys). I treated them with fiddes hard wax oil.

Victorian skirtings can be removed and replaced. They might bring some plaster with them though especially if you have blown plaster areas.

The wear layer (basically the layer on top which is real wood) is important and varies a lot. The thicker the better as it means you can sand down the floor and make it look new again more times.

You’ll need to choose between oiled and lacquer finish basically (there are others like hard wax but this is in the oiled family). An oiled finish looks more natural, but isn’t as protective as a lacquer. However when oiled wood gets scratched you can oil the scratches but if lacquer gets scratched then that’s that.

Watch out for flooring changing colour over time, especially oak and especially in sunny rooms

I used Kährs when I laid engineered floor. Brushed Matt lacquer absolutely bombproof-had a dog with long claws and never showed scratches. It helped it was Matt-so you got the look of oil but not the maintenance. European oak. Thick layer so could be sanded but never needed to-was in my house 12 years with it down. Oak does turn more golden over the years. An investment but shouldn’t need replacing.

Put a good thermal underlay underneath would be my tip.

Good luck in getting an installer to go right around your skirting boards with an undercutter. It will take forever, cost a fortune and probably not look great because it will be hard to get an even cut all the way round. They would probably use a thick layer of sealant to mask this.

I don't get why people don't want beading. Cheap, easy to install and replace if it starts looking tatty.

We used a Natura oak from flooring supplies. Would recommend as thick a layer as you can afford!! Ours is around 2.5mm, but we've had it about four years and it's very very scratched up and dents with the slightest touch, discoloured etc. If I was doing it again I would have just done a good quality laminate while our kids were young and then splashed out on solid wood when we get our forever home, or if not used an engineered wood with a much thicker veneer. But engineered wood with a thin layer is possibly the worst of both worlds - more expensive than laminate but more easy to damage. It does look very nice when new though!

The theory is you can sand and re-oil but the reality is you will rarely do that. We're supposed to re-oil every year but who has time to move all the furniture out to do that?! As PP have mentioned, a good underlay is essential.

If you want a good finish you're going to have to remove the skirts. Budget to replace with new as likely will get damaged removing.

Even if you find someone with the time and patience to undercut the existing boards, they will still have to remove them or use beading on the far side of the room, as you lay sequentially starting one side and moving to the other.

Think how much you're spending on the floor and how long you plan to have it. Then think is it worth a small bit of extra time and money to remove the skirts and do it right. You won't regret it. It sounds daunting but it's hardly any extra effort in the grand scheme of things.

I don't get why people don't want beading. Cheap, easy to install and replace if it starts looking tatty.

We replaced all our skirting and it looks so much better.

I agree with the undercutting being expensive though, and the difficulty in doing it well.

OP, you'd be able to get new skirting very similar to what you have - I'd recommend replacing it too.

Thanks all, so many good tips here.

The skirting board is original, over 130 years old. It’s deep and beautiful and also goes round two curves in the walls. There is simply no question of it being removed. Let alone the issue with replastering all the damage it would cause.

I think we will just have to get beading.

DH cut all round our skirting, then laid the floor. This was about ten years ago. He spent hours doing it, as he's a perfectionist, and it's a massive area. He didn't use any sealant around the edge. It still looks great. However, I doubt a tradesperson would take such care, unless you paid them enough to compensate for all that extra time!

A friend of mine has original deep skirting-didn’t want to risk removing it so went for beading. If it’s done well, it’s not noticeable. If your skirting is white can get white beading, otherwise match the wood.