I’m with you on the use of wood, and all of our house has either original timber boards or floating floor made from reclaimed wood. I use hardwax oil (usually Osmo) for a nice natural finish.
The only exception is the kitchen, which gets heavy wear as well as spills. Here I used oak engineered board. I used a 2-part matt varnish here because the high build finish seals the gaps and stops water penetration. 16 years later I’m now thinking about refinishing it for the first time.
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Thanks Chris. As this is a floating floor over timber floor boards on joists, I think what I am going to do is use a few big screws to gradually pull the flooring down again as it dries. Hopefully I can get it safe again more quickly that way and then use countersunk brass screws to hold it down until we are ready to replace the lot.
Best
David
Depending on the thickness of the flooring I think you’ll need some serious screws right through into the joists to have any chance of bending it. Good luck!
The oak floating floor is only about 10mm, so it bends quite easily, eg if I stand on it. But the major problem is that two boards have bowed up and the glue in the tongue and groove has failed. At the moment it’s totally impossible to shift it. I’m not sure whether I may need to cut the tongue off along one plank. But I’d rather not do that!
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I guess it depends if this it a permanent fix. Wood does have a habit of behaving exactly how it wants to behave, but 10mm is relatively thin so you may be OK.
Sounds like the glue used was not waterproof, or maybe wasn’t applied continuously along the tongue.
If the tongue is deformed and won’t fit back into the groove you’ll have no choice but to cut it off. Then maybe seal the joint as best you can before wrestling it back into shape.
We laid engineered boards over a timber floor with a deadening sheet between.
We used:
Engineered Wood Flooring | Direct Wood Flooring
They were good in terms of service and product.
G
Looks suspiciously like our kitchen floor…
Regards
Richard
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That may well be true - however the acoustic effect of hard floors can be wearisome (possibly less of a health problem than asthma, though maybe no-one has studied…).
However, one thing I’ve noticed is that with hard floors a daily, vacuum clean is essential because dust etc is made re-airborne by walking or other activity, while hair accumulates in unsightly clumps, whereas both dust and hair are trapped by carpets until a periodic (e.g. weekly vacuum) removes anything that could be made airborne. Hard floors not cleaned very frequently could thereby result in greater respiratory irritation than carpeted floors.
We have a combination, flooring suited to room use.
No, you mist the point. I was talking about dust mite faeces, not dust.
With regards to your assumption about dust and hair flying about in the air more easily from wooden flooring…I suspect being able to visually notice the dust easier on a wooden floor will increase the frequency of cleaning, just my assumption.
Whereas dust, hair and faeces hidden in carpets is quite often difficult to get out with a standard vacuuming or left for long periods of time or they are in areas difficult to get to.
But yes, an acoustic underlay and a good rug of ones choice and colour will help with the acoustics.
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No, I got that, acknowledging before I raised the dust aspect, and recognising that for susceptible people the asthma issue may be tge greater.
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I’m also one who likes to walk around the house with bare feet. With the downstairs wooden and ceramic floors I notice the build up of dust and general fallout by dirty soles on my feet 
Most days I’ll have a quick whizz round with the Dyson and a mop.
Freshly moped floors are a thing of beauty and seems to restore inner peace.
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Our last house but one had solid oak fitted the whole downstairs. It looked gorgeous. The fitter was VERY good. 18mm chipboard under-board on a DPM. Secret nailed and superbly fitted around the doors and fireplace. It was then sanded level. Then filled and then sanded again before multiple coats of varnish/sealant. We had to vacate the house for two weeks whilst the work was done. This was some years ago now but it wasn’t cheap - it did look good though. I remember opening the front door (with nailed up letter box so letters weren’t delivered onto wet varnish) when we came back from the two week vacation and we just stood there and went WOW!
That sounds like a proper job! All this prefinished stuff with v-grooves and clip-together systems is designed to make a fast buck for contractors as they can get in and out in a day or less.
Yes… he did a ‘proper’ professional job. He was a proper joiner. We were going to get him to come back and fit oak skirting all round but we weren’t rich enough.
Having read these replies perhaps I’ll stick to carpet, lol 
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Dont do that! 
Hello David, this should be an accidental damage claim under your buildings insurance
best wishes
Ian
The thicker the carpet the better for sound quality!
I think it is best to match floor covering to room use, the needs being different and one surface not best fitting all even if it may look good. As well as lounges carpets are great in bedrooms and routes from bedrooms to bathrooms - but a no-no in bathrooms and utility rooms where you need waterproof and easily cleaned, likewise kitchens where you need water/stain proof, hardwearing and easily cleaned, and entrance areas/passages where you need hard wearing and easily cleaned.
Yes I noticed you pointed out that before. For various reasons I’m not keen to go in that direction. Once bitten twice shy sort of thing. So I regard insurance as for the really big problems.
Best
David
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The spit, sawdust and straw flooring we use in the guest towers and dungeons are very practical and durable. Although requires some creative maintenance.
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