Flooring: 1st floor part 4 - bedrooms

Having completed the engineered oak in the landing and main bedroom, it was important to get the two upstairs bedrooms finished as soon as possible. Although we had sealed the dry screed that contained all the underfloor heating pipes, walking through these rooms kicked up bits of sand and grit that could easily scratch up our brand new floors.  

We decided to tackle bedroom 2 first. The initial step was to carefully measure the room and check all the walls were square; a string line across the centre of the room helped establish exactly how parallel the walls were.

Next, we tested out the first few rows. We cut the boards to size and chose the placement of each one carefully to ensure that the joins were all staggered properly and looked 'random' (uniform, repeating patterns do not generally work with these types of boards).     

Once we were happy with the layout of the first few rows, we began fixing them in place. As before, we used a combination of specialist floorboard adhesive and concealed screws to secure the planks. 

It didn't take long to complete the first 6 rows. The battens in the sub-floor had been VERY firmly attached to the joists below, so we were confident that the engineered oak boards would feel extremely solid underfoot.

Adhesive laid down and awaiting the next plank. The idea to use both glue and screws was decided after discussing our situation with the very helpful technical rep of the adhesive manufacturer.

The final planks nearing completion in bedroom 2. The hat-shaped doorway piece had to be installed first, as it needed to be slid under the door linings and would not go in if the rest of the row was already in place. Luckily we discovered this when dry-fitting the boards, or it would have meant undoing (and ungluing) a row of planks...

Originally we wanted to have the whole of the upstairs as one continuous floor with no gaps, but when planning the layout we discovered that this wasn't possible. The manufacturers recommend that there should be an expansion gap every 7-8 meters (width), so having already put a continuous run of boards from the main bedroom through to the landing, we'd planned to leave the required gap in the doorway to bedroom 2.

We will be covering it with a thin oak threshold at a later date so hopefully it won't be too noticeable.

Looking from the landing into the freshly-boarded bedroom 2. No more grit! Hurrah!

After leaving the glue to dry overnight, we were able to apply treatment to the floor. Once again we used Fiddes Natural hardwax oil which we knew from our experience with oiling the other rooms, would give us exactly the colour and sheen that we wanted. 

Oiling was pretty straightforward. The product is applied thinly with a brush and then worked into the grain with a lint-free cloth. It looks a bit shiny at first, but dries to a much-more natural sheen. The Fiddes really worked on our boards, giving them a warm, oak-ey look.  

Once the first coat was finished it transformed the room completely. 

Unfortunately we didn't have time to paint the room before installing the floor, so that will have to be done later (with lots of dust sheets to prevent any paint spillages...) 

Once the first coat of oil had dried, we de-nibbed the floor with special abrasive pads to get a smooth, unblemished finish, before applying the second coat.

Bedroom 3 had been used as our 'cutting station' for the upstairs flooring, so before we could get started, we needed to remove all the saws, power tools, wood offcuts and (tons of) sawdust. Once the room had been cleaned up, we sealed and filled the dry screed.

Bedroom 3 mirrors bedroom 2 so the layout of the boards was fairly similar.

Fitting floor boards in the cupboard was a bit of a tight squeeze.

It's always a pleasure to watch someone who so clearly enjoys their work...

We were still making use of the pre-oiled boards (the supplier did not have enough untreated boards in stock) by sanding away the finish so they matched our existing planks. It was a bit of a pain but we ensured we only used the pre-oiled boards when absolutely necessary.

Just as in bedroom 2, we would be leaving an expansion gap in the doorway which would later be covered with an oak threshold.

Bedroom 3 flooring fitted. In total, we'd installed about 60 square meters of engineered oak upstairs. 

Before the untreated floors could get messed up, we protected them with hardwax oil.

Oil drying out.

Naturally the job could not be signed off until the site inspector had conducted his final survey.

Replacing all that dusty, gritty, crumbly screed upstairs with new, clean oak dramatically transformed the feel of the rooms. Everything just looked, smelled and felt so much better.

   

Flooring: 1st floor part 3 - oiling

With the stairs up and (most of) the floorboards down, the next job was to apply some protection to all of the bare oak. We'd decided to use hardwax oil (that sinks into the grain), rather than varnish or lacquer (that just sits on top) but took some time to test out various products first, to ensure we would be happy with the results. 

We'd seen a lot of floorboards that after oiling had turned rather orange and looked more like pine than oak. Once you've oiled it, you're pretty much stuck with it, so it was important to get it right first time. Luckily we had plenty of samples so we tested loads of different oils looking for something that would make the oak look as natural as possible. 

We had high hopes for various 'raw' oils, but these proved very disappointing. These are marketed as preserving the light, pale look of raw oak, but we found they didn't bring out the grain at all and instead gave the oak a dull, milky-white or pink finish that made it look more like plywood! (see sample area in top right of picture below).

But one oil stood out as a clear winner; Fiddes Natural was sold as an oak lightening oil and we found it produced a warm, honeyed-oak colour that emphasised the grain but didn't make everything too dark or too orange like so many others. (Fiddes oil is on the top part of the bottom-left sample pictured below).

Once we'd decided on the oil, the next job was to get the floor ready for treatment. As they were all newly-laid boards, there wasn't much prep to do.

We gave the boards a quick sanding with 150 grit paper to ensure the surface was clean and free of any glue spots.

Once all the boards had been sanded, we vacuumed to make sure there was no dust or debris left behind.

We applied the oil very sparingly, using a lint-free cloth to wipe it into the grain. It immediately brought out all the rich patterns in the wood.

The oil looked dark when first applied, but got gradually lighter and more oak'y as it dried. 

The main bedroom with its first coat of oil drying. 

Same process in the landing. We brushed on a very thin coating of oil, then spread it thinly across the wood using a cloth.

The first coat looked a bit patchy as it was drying.

We left it to dry thoroughly overnight, then sanded it gently with denibbing pads to smooth it off further, before applying a second thin coat of oil.

The decision to use untreated rather than pre-oiled oak boards worked really well. Not only were we able to colour and finish them exactly as we wanted, but it also meant that the stairs (also supplied untreated) matched the floorboards really well. 

We're really pleased with the way that the stairs seem almost to be a seamless continuation of the floorboards. It would have been impossible to match the stairs and boards so well if we'd used pre-oiled boards.

We'd already oiled the outside edge of the stairs (before the glass was fitted) so only needed to treat the steps. 

We also re-fitted the diagonal panel that runs alongside the stairs. This had been removed to allow access to fit the glass, but could now be permanently installed. Once screwed into place, we filled and sanded...

...then painted it to match the rest of the hallway. 

Despite it being tucked away in the cupboard, we weren't happy with seeing the underfloor heating pipes emerging untidily from the screed, so decided to box them all in.

Alan built a framework out of some old battens...

...which we wrapped in Fermacell off-cuts...

... before filling and painting it to finish it all off. 

Once the floorboards had dried, we could finally start using the main bedroom. We set up a temporary clothes rail in the walk-in wardrobe.

Before we could move in, the site inspector insisted on conducting a series of rigorous tests on the new floor. 

They were highly technical tests, involving measuring...

 ... checking that the floor was perfectly level...

...and finally a stress test, to ensure the floorboards could support extremely bulbous and heavy weights.

Fortunately the boards did not buckle under such a massive load and thanks to the site inspector's diligent testing procedures, we were able to move furniture into the main bedroom. Hooray for the site inspector!

Stairs: part 3 - glass

After a few months the glass for the stairs and landing had all been cut to size, so the stair company returned to get it installed. We'd finished all the prep a few weeks ago, so everything was in place for the fitters.

This was not a job we could do ourselves; although relatively straightforward to fit, the glass was extremely heavy (needing two people to carry each piece). Plus if anything got broken, it was nice to know it was someone else's responsibility (for once).

The fitters started out with the glass on the landing. After lugging it up the stairs, this was just dropped into the pre-prepared aluminium channel and then adjusted with a series of plastic wedges.

Getting the glass straight took a bit of time. Once everything was level, more wedges were added to clamp everything tight. Using small bits of plastic to hold a heavy glass safety barrier in place seemed a bit worrying, but the system is well established so it was probably best not to think about it too much... especially when leaning casually over the edge!

Once the first sheet of glass had been secured, the next piece could be dropped in alongside it.

Getting the two sheets aligned took quite a time (mainly because the fitters had turned up with the wrong installation kit and were having to bodge something together - sigh). But once the glass was all level, it was clamped into place and a rubber seal fitted on both sides of the metal channel. 

The glass for the stairs was a trickier prospect. When the staircase was first installed, the ends of each step had been pre-drilled with pilot holes and these had been transferred to a template from which the glass had been made. That meant that the holes drilled in the glass would hopefully line up perfectly with the holes in the steps.

The pilot holes were drilled out to size and special 'pig nose' bolts were screwed tightly in position.

Despite having reminded the staircase fitters (about 20 times...) that they would need a right-angle drill in order to access the top part of the stairs, it was no surprise to find that they turned up without one! They had to borrow some of Alan's tools (irritated tut) and also had to waste time trying to bodge a DIY adapter to get the tools to fit (even more irritated tut).   

We had removed the bottom Fermacell panel (that runs diagonally under the stairs) to allow access to the top bolts. It was a tight squeeze, but eventually all the 'pig nose' fixings were secured at the top of the stairs.

Once all the pig nose fixings had been secured, each glass panel was carefully lifted into position. After the bolts had been tightened up, the glass was held rigidly in place.  

It seemed surprising that a few small bolts screwed into the side of the oak could hold such a heavy weight, but the glass certainly felt nice and solid. 

The glass bannister was used to open up the staircase and make it feel less confined. It certainly worked in that respect, but we're still expecting some scrutiny from the building inspector when the house is submitted for completion. Building regs allow for no handrail on the first two steps, but whether the curved glass will be judged as an acceptable 'handrail' for the third step is rather open to interpretation... we'll see. 

The worst case scenario is that the building inspector will demand we put an additional handrail on the left hand side of the stairs, which we will naturally do in order to get approval (then promptly rip out and toss straight into the bin as soon as he has gone).

Conventional bannisters, with thick handrails, stringers and posts would have narrowed the stairs by at least 100mm. Not only did the glass make everything wider, but it made everything feel clean and light too.

We do have the option of fitting an oak or stainless steel handrail over the top edge of the glass in future, but for aesthetic (and budgetary) reasons we decided to stick with the all-glass look. 

The glass reflects a lot of light onto the stairs from the windows upstairs and casts some interesting shadows too.

Still a little way to go; the bare oak requires oiling, the under-stair cupboard needs a door and we will be fitting stair lights into the wall.     

The site inspector was not impressed to find his shortcut had been blocked off.

It wasn't possible to climb over the glass...

... or squeeze through any gaps...

... so there was nothing for it but to walk round the long way.

Epilogue: The fitters attempts to bodge the job using the wrong installation kit didn't work. A few days after they'd gone, the landing glass on one side started to work loose (gulp)...

 

Before anyone could plummet to their doom, the (apologetic) staircase installers promptly returned - this time with the correct installation kit - and the glass was thankfully clamped tight. Of course, it would have saved everyone a lot of trouble if they'd used the right kit in the first place, but as we've discovered, this kind of palaver happens all too often in house-building!