Solid Oak Flooring -

"Without doubt the easiest to lay" - Simon (floor fitter) Lincs. As the name suggests, this type of oak flooring is solid all the way through, and machined from one piece of oak. It's similar to any other stick of wood that’s sawn straight off a log and then machined, with no additional materials added. It's usually just called "Solid Oak Flooring." Solid oak flooring is supplied as either unfinished (just plain oak that’s sanded but not covered with anything) or prefinished (sanded as the unfinished but covered with an oil or lacquer within the factory it was produced). Unfinished oak flooring tends to be a little cheaper than prefinished because it goes through less processes to be produced, but does require a light sanding by hand after installation, before being covered with the owners choice of finish. The unfinished oak flooring should always be sealed like this immediately after installation, and after finishing you will need to wait for the finish/sealant to dry, and sometimes additional coats may be required. With unfinished, the advantage is that you can colour and seal it to your exact specification, thus matching up with any colour you choose. With prefinished oak flooring, you can walk on it virtually immediately after installation (unlike the unfinished where it needs to be ‘protected’ by a finish first). With prefinished, the advantages are a faster installation time and no extra work afterwards. Solid oak flooring must be fixed down to the sub-floor, by either nailing or gluing. Most concrete subfloors will require to be ‘sealed’ by a liquid Damp Proof Membrane to prevent any moisture from within reaching the oak flooring. Another option for installation that has recently become popular is self-adhesive underlay, where the solid oak flooring is sort of ‘floated’ above the subfloor by being stuck down to the underlay. This underlay type is also available with a ‘built-in’ DPM, so there is no need to seal the subfloor otherwise. This method of installation is said to save up to 60% time and effort but does take a little getting used to. One of solid oak flooring's greatest advantages is that it can be re-sanded numerous times, so extending its life literally for decades. When purchasing solid oak flooring, always ask to see the machining tolerances allowed within production because when there's a variance in thickness or width, cost for remedial work after installation can sometimes cost more than the installation itself!