In January, 2011, Origin Direct carried out an installation within this stunning Cumbrian property set in the small village of Dovenby near Cockermouth. 
The owners of the property paid for a joiner to supply and install a solid oak floor into this room approximately three years ago.  Unfortunately, the owners experienced major problems with this wooden floor which resulted in the flooring needing repaired on several occasions.  Due to the joiners lack of hardwood flooring experience, the flooring was now only fit for the wood burning stove.

We uplifted the existing wood flooring to expose the joists.  We took the opportunity to strengthen the joists by adding additional support noggins and applying a coat of timber preservative.  When entering the room from the hallway, there was a significant step down into the room which we have now eliminated by adding additional timbers on top of the joists to raise the floor height.

High levels of moisture and the lack of protection for the wood flooring against this moisture was the reason for the original floors failure.  We installed telescopic air vents to increase and assist air to circulate around the joists.  To protect our floor from the high levels of moisture, we have installed a two layer dpm system.  The first layer is laid over the joists with a small amount of sag between the joists.  We have installed this to ensure that any moisture that condenses on the membrane, will run down the lowest point of the sag and away from the timber joists.  We then installed a second layer dpm which sits tight on top of the joists to provide additional protection against moisture.

With the subfloor preparation now complete, we carried out the installation of the flooring.  We installed approximately 21m² of 180mm wide, European Oak planks of a Multiply construction.  Due to the age of the property, a natural oak would not have been in context with the building so the planks had an Antique Oak tint that is protected with several coats of Matt Lacquer.

We finished off the project by installing 7" Taurus skirting boards of which we primed before their installation.