Structural wood flooring usually refers to any type of hardwood flooring that is 18mm or over in thickness. The thickness of structural wood flooring will give you the option and versatility of where and how you can install your wooden floor.
Why would I need structural wood flooring?
The main reason you would need structural wood flooring is if you want to install over joists. With the thickness of the floor being at least 18mm, you can be sure it is stable enough to go over joists. Fitting over joists can add extra pressure to your hardwood floor, but structural wood has the correct load bearing properties to cope with this. You should not fit wooden flooring under 18mm in thickness over joists – it is not safe! If you are fitting over joists, first of all, you will need to lay the floor perpendicular to the joist. Then you should secret nail or secret screw the tongue part of the floor, into the joist. You must use the correct nail gun and equipment. Portanailer are ideal as they have nails with a flat head with teeth on each side to grip into your floor and the joists. Always consult a professional floor fitter, especially when fitting over joists.
Is structural wood flooring engineered or solid wood?
You can find structural wood flooring in both solid and engineered formats. All flooring that is 18mm or over has a tongue and groove fitting profile. If you are fitting over joists (as mentioned above), you must secret nail or screw the floor into the joist. However, if you have a solid subfloor you have the choice of the following fitting methods:
• Floating over an underlay (engineered wood flooring only)
• Gluing down using flexible flooring adhesive (engineered or solid wood)
• Secret nailing or screwing down to the subfloor (engineered or solid)
