EddScott

We are having a wooden floor fitted in our hallway. It's not very big so only need 5m square.

Prices range from £20 to £60 a square metre. I definately don't want laminate.

What I want is more of a dark wood, slightly distressed type of wood.

I'm not if I should get solid or engineered wood?

Also need good underlay to reduce the noise.

Any advice appreciated.

tarmac terror

iTrader: (2)

noise on real wood flooring (18mm thick) is not too bad - nothing near a bad as laminate flooring. Just lay 6mm ply on the existing flooring and screw it down at 18" centres, assuming you are onto wooden boards or sheet flooring.

I have oak flooring in two rooms of the house, one is dark oak therefore dyed, the other is oiled which is light in colour.

Depending on how dark you want your floor to be, I would consider a dyed oak, acacia, walnut or wenge.

stevebt

iTrader: (8)

I would go with an 18mm oak floor, I have a maple coloured oak floor in my conservatory and it still looks superb after being down for eight years. I have recently put some engineered wood in the hallway but have noticed that it can scratch the finish and there is no way to repair.

EddScott

Cheers guys.

Think I'll go with solid flooring. B&Q has it at like £45-£50 SqM but online it can be had for much less. My big concern is that the stuff online is lesser quality but I can't imagine the B&Q stuff being "top flight" - I've read the underlay is rubbish.

It's going on a concrete floor.

mamoon2

B&Q - Well overpriced on flooring. Source it online and perhaps visit them to see it in the flesh.

P1Fanatic

I did my hallway and lounge diner last year. Went with 18mm solid oak by Elka. Golden oak I went for which is darker than it sounds. Has the distressed look which IMHO is a lot better at hiding dirt, dust and damage. I price matched local shop with an online retailer but watch out with prices as many advertise non vat.

Well laid on a screed base then just adhesive. No sound when walking on it. I wasn't so impressed with the fitters I used as a few gaps and dodgy finishes so if you get someone on triple check everything.

If I could change one thing it would have been to make the extra effort and raise the skirting boards for a tidier finish at the edges rather than using trim to cover the gaps.

Coffin Dodger

Pretty much echoing everything above we had a large quantity of solid oak flooring from Floors2Go, it was a click together type that is put down on an underlay and requires no gluing. Pleased with it so far, seems to stand up okay to normal use, and when it eventually does start to look tired it can be sanded down and re-oiled. It's so thick I suspect you could sand it back at least 5-6 times without issue. As mentioned remove and refit (or replace) your skirting boards when you do it as the edge trims look sh*t

If you do look at Floors2Go try to screw them for the biggest discount you can get, the sales folk are hungry and commission led.

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

This.

Last Christmas we were decorating our front room. Couldn't afford proper wood so we looked for a better laminate - bevelled type with an embossed type surface. Floors2Go had good offers on, and with a bit of a push I got another 20% off. Managed to floor a room 5x4 yards inc. underlay (concrete floor) and beading for £210 rather than near £280 Happy with that.