Building a Home in Davao

[Mike J]

2 hours ago, RBM said:

I was trying to convey that the wood tiles I installed were absolutely without gaps. flush to the walls. No issue ever with lifting, except for around the water dispenser due to spilt water i guess.

You were very fortunate my friend, they were not installed correctly based on every installation instruction I have read.  Used to do a lot of remodel work and did extensive research into wood flooring.

[intrepid]

6 hours ago, Tommy T. said:

Yeah, RBM... there are still a fair amount of rubbish scraps - bits of metal, plastic, wood, cement scattered around... Either one of us or some hired help pick it up bit by bit... It is very irritating.

We had the same issue Tommy.  As impressed as I was with our construction and details I still cannot get over the fact how lazy the workers are with their garbage and scraps.  Even as the construction was winding down and only a few workers left they still continued to eat on the new new tile floors and leave food scraps laying around for the cats and what else?  They did pick up and larger construction scraps but like you, a month or so later we were still picking up all kinds of garbage and whatnot.  Then we hired landscapers to bring in some topsoil and plant grass in some areas.  I asked them to rake it out first to remove any stones and garbage but still no joy.  But the worst were the ants that continued inside the house looking for their old scraps.  It was a few months until we finally found the right stuff to finally get them gone for good.

[graham59]

I have finally ALMOST convinced my workers that my property is a useless rusty excess lengths of ugly and potentially lethal,  steel rebar sticking out of the top of every wall,  free zone. 

[Dave Hounddriver]

9 hours ago, intrepid said:

As impressed as I was with our construction and details I still cannot get over the fact how lazy the workers are with their garbage and scraps.

For me it was the peeing.  "Pissed" me off to see my workers pissing on the neighbor's gate/wall and their workers pissing on mine.

[Terry P]

14 hours ago, Mike J said:

You were very fortunate my friend, they were not installed correctly based on every installation instruction I have read.  Used to do a lot of remodel work and did extensive research into wood flooring.

Agreed fitted a few in my time

Timber flooring tiles planks or whatever should arrive on site preseasoned and should be stacked for a period in the room they are to be installed to 'normalise'. Any warping or twisting at this stage proves they have not been stored or seasoned correctly.

While laminate or composite flooring doesn't require this stage all flooring needs edge gaps to allow lateral expansion.

Unless it's 'click' type flooring it should be laid with flexible adhesive below

[RBM]

19 hours ago, Mike J said:

You were very fortunate my friend, they were not installed correctly based on every installation instruction I have read.  Used to do a lot of remodel work and did extensive research into wood flooring.

Wondering if perhaps we are on slightly different wave lengths here. My tile wood planks were bought from Citi Hardware, the come in lengths of about 3 meters, quite thin and have a tongue and groove fitting, sit on a foam which is spread on the concrete. Further the flooring  we built has little direct sun exposure.  

[Snowy79]

1 hour ago, RBM said:

Wondering if perhaps we are on slightly different wave lengths here. My tile wood planks were bought from Citi Hardware, the come in lengths of about 3 meters, quite thin and have a tongue and groove fitting, sit on a foam which is spread on the concrete. Further the flooring  we built has little direct sun exposure.  

I think the tongue and groove flooring is similar to the laminate flooring I've used in the UK.  Some of the flooring is composites and the expensive stuff is real wood. All the instructions I've seen have said to leave at leact 1cm gap around all borders which is usually hidden by the skirting board.  Like most things they expand and contract due to temperature and moisture so this allows them to move slightly without being put under pressure like my waist belt after a good meal. 

[Mike J]

3 hours ago, RBM said:

Wondering if perhaps we are on slightly different wave lengths here. My tile wood planks were bought from Citi Hardware, the come in lengths of about 3 meters, quite thin and have a tongue and groove fitting, sit on a foam which is spread on the concrete. Further the flooring  we built has little direct sun exposure.  

Perhaps we are.  It sounds like what you have is not engineered wood but rather a laminate product.  About 3/16 of an inch thick (maybe even a bit less) with a very hard and durable surface?

[hk blues]

18 minutes ago, Mike J said:

Perhaps we are.  It sounds like what you have is not engineered wood but rather a laminate product.  About 3/16 of an inch thick (maybe even a bit less) with a very hard and durable surface?

 

3 hours ago, RBM said:

Wondering if perhaps we are on slightly different wave lengths here. My tile wood planks were bought from Citi Hardware, the come in lengths of about 3 meters, quite thin and have a tongue and groove fitting, sit on a foam which is spread on the concrete. Further the flooring  we built has little direct sun exposure.  

I'm 99% certain it is the same type of laminate I bought in Citi Hardware, not engineered hardwood or solid hardwood.  Regardless, the expansion gap is important to allow expansion as numerous have mentioned - you can see that after a period of time some of the once tight joints can separate very slightly even in the better installations - if there is no expansion gap around there is nowhere for the expansion  to go and it will push against the wall/skirting (baseboard) and cause what is known as tenting.  

Of course, it is by no means certain this problem will occur depending on the environment but it is a possibility.  

[Tommy T.]

1 hour ago, hk blues said:

if there is no expansion gap around there is nowhere for the expansion  to go and it will push against the wall/skirting (baseboard) and cause what is known as tenting. 

I did not take any photos but, HK, ours was a circus tent! The planks had lifted to almost touch the bed frame in our room!

And, I forget if I mentioned this before - probably did - but our wood was just laid onto fairly thin (maybe 3/16 inch or less?) foam padding. The panels sometimes move very slightly when treading on them. I was assured this is normal and will diminish over time as the foam compresses.

This method is the common one used by the pros who do contract installs for both Citi and Trust here in Davao. This the same way as @RBM has, but the panels in contrast, as mentioned before, are pressed bamboo tongue and groove and maybe 1/2 inch thick. They are quite robust.

I researched wood tiles fairly thoroughly before buying and the bamboo is supposed to be stronger than hardware flooring - like maple, I think oak also? It's also a lot cheaper and available here. I could not tell from the packaging, but I think they came from China?

From my research, I also learned that gluing the panels directly onto the substrate is commonly done but I am not sure if anyone does that here in this climate?

I will add one more comment. We both love the warm appearance and feel of the wood tiles in bedrooms, the wooden steps and the wood decking of the small lanai - and those railings. They are just so much "softer" than all the ceramic, granite, steel and concrete in the rest of the home.

Edited January 29, 2021 by Tommy T.