If you’re planning to fit a new floor in two rooms which are situated on the same level, the end result will be much more professional and pleasing to the eye if you can have a seamless finish between the rooms. While door bars and thresholds provide cosmetic solutions to this problem, ideally, if you can plan your floor to run from room to room at the same level, the overall result will be significantly more successful.
There are several floor fitting methods available and which you decide upon for your project will depend on a whole range of factors. Floor fitting methods include:
Glue-down – Glue-down floor fitting is when you use a bonding agent or adhesive, which you apply directly to the subfloor. Glue-down installations can be very stable when done properly, although it’s best allow a good amount of time before walking on your floor.
Nail-down – Nail-down installation is probably the most straightforward solid wood floor installation method but is only recommended if you have a wooden subfloor. When installing over plywood the direction you choose to lay the planks does not matter. However, if you are going to nail down a new floor over existing floorboards you must face the planks of the new floor in the opposite direction to the existing floorboards, essentially making a crisscross pattern. This is done to ensure stability and avoid the risk of warping or buckling. Solid wood floors are also thicker; hence they need to be nailed down in order to stay in place.
Staple-down – Staple-down installation is similar to nail-down, only with this method, staples are used instead of nails to attach the floor to the subfloor.
Floating – Floating Installation is the most do-it-yourself (DIY) friendly of all the installation methods because it is the easiest and the fastest to do, and it does not require any special skills or prior experience.
So, no matter which fitting method you choose to use, if you’re fitting a wood flooring through two rooms at the same level, the best way to achieve an attractive and seamless look across your two rooms is to ask your fitter to run the floor underneath your doorframes or architraves making the flooring look like it has always been there. While cutting through doorframes or architraves might sound a bit scary, you can rest assured that it’s not necessary to cut all the way through. All that’s required is enough of a cut to slip the flooring underneath remembering, as always, to leave enough of a gap for expansion.
While not a job for an inexperienced DIY-er, if do you decide to take on this task yourself, you may find it useful to use a mechanical jamb saw for the job. A mechanical jamb saw will help make sure the cut you make is the right size for the thickness of your flooring because it allows you to use the flooring as a guide when making the cut.
