- [Voiceover] Good day, knuckleheads.
Uncle Knackers here, and welcome to episode 36 of my own e-Builder series.
Now I've been looking forward to this, and that's installing the timber flooring.
I was going to do it myself, but after hearing a few horror stories about excessive timber
movement in those humid conditions which is where I live, I've decided to go with professionals
which I think will pay off in the long run, and here is the flooring.
The species is blackbutt, which is an extremely durable hardwood, and the size is 130 by 19.
And these are the timber battens which are secured into the slab, and the flooring is
attached to those battens.
Now some guys or some floor installers like to direct stick the flooring to the slab just
using glue.
Personally, I'd put a batten down first 'cause that creates a layer of air between the top
of the slab near on the side of flooring so there's a bit of air circulation or ventilation
which is always a good thing.
Now what's happening here is there's holes being drilled through the batten, and into
the slab, and then some anchors are hammered in to secure the batten to the concrete slab.
That's a really good system.
Now with any flooring project, the most critical board is that first one.
You have to get it down straight, and using a string line helps you guide you through
that process.
Now like I said before, timber flooring will expand when there's moisture in the air.
That's why it's very important that around the perimeter of the room that you're doing
that you have at least a 10-millimeter gap between the dry wall, and the edge of that
perimeter board.
Make sure you do it.
And that way, you'll minimize any potential dramas that may occur down the track if you
do those four boards expanded.
And look at these guys go, they are on fire!
And just in case you're wondering about the nail gun, it's called a secret nailer, and
all you have to do is hit the top of it with a rubber mallet which in turn drives a staple
just above the tongue on the floor board, and into the timber batten which secures it
nice and tightly.
Now the good thing, what?
What was that?
That totally threw me, and the good thing about this system is that there are no visible
fixings, so that need to get a bit lighter, and punch and fill any of those holes.
Which is a real time saver.
And this is all you have to do.
Is hit the top, and that drives in the staple.
Too easy.
And the guys are just finishing off here, the hallway, got a bedroom to go, and we are
done.
Love it.
So as you can see from the video, what they boys do to secure these hardwood battens down
to the timber slab, is that first of all, they run a bit of glue down the back edge
of each of these boards.
And the glue that they use is this stuff here, called Ultraset.
If you can get your hands on it, do it, because it's absolutely amazing.
And once the boards are glued, you can place down on top of the slab, and drill a series
of holes into that board every 500 millimeters or so.
Into those holes, insert these anchors called Splitz anchors.
S-P-L-I-T-Zed.
Once they have driven into the board, and the glue dries, to remove this batten, from
that concrete slab, you'll be living timber on the concrete slab.
It is that good a system.
So one thing to remember, when lying your timber floor, is that you need to have a gap
between the edge of your last board and the plaster board or drywall.
And the gap has to be at least 10 millimeters.
And the reason for that is in most conditions, your boards do expand.
And if there's no expansion joint there, the boards will eventually hit up against that
wall, and have nowhere to go but to force the rest of the boards to come up.
And you don't want that to happen.
And don't worry about that gap, with your skirting board or your baseboard, will cover
it.
So that rule for the expansion joint also applies for areas where you might have a big
run of boards.
And around here, the rule is for every six metres of board, you need at least 10 mil
worth of expansion joint.
Which is what I have right here, this is the end of my six metre run.
Once the floor gets sanded, this gap is filled with flexible filler.
And it's going to put in a spot where you're not going to notice it.
I've got some double doors going here, so you won't notice it much at all.
But the main thing is, is that you do it.
So that's it, folks.
The floor is done.
And just between you and I, I cannot wait to show you how it turned out, after it was
sanded and polished.
It turned out beautiful.
But you will just have to be a little bit patient for that video to come out.
Now, I've also sanded the old floor in the old part of the house.
And the contrast between the two, is fantastic.
With the flooring down, I can now get stuck in the fit out or fix out, so I hope you can
stick around and see how it all comes together.
And as per usual, I hope you enjoyed and found that video useful.
And don't forget, big thumbs up, is always greatly appreciated, and if you haven't already,
please hit that subscribe button for more handy tips.
Floor's down.
Video's done.
Must be time for a cup of tea.
So till next time, I'm out of here.
Cheers.