choonkeat

choosing between "Goh Hang Meng" and "Wood & Wood". Any red flags or recommendations?

this particular unit (pre-war tiong bahru flat) is too sloping. can't grind off anymore at highest point (I can feel it!), and if we level up the whole area, the windows at the lowest end will come to hip level!! very dangerous. after exploring many options, we're proceeding with a sloping floor, with approx 2cm minor correction. we tried going for a new flooring company (another story!), but assessed it will affect many many built-in stuff... so end up letting the existing contractor to fix everything :-( hoping for the best.

How "harmful" is an unleveled, sloping floor with regards to installing parquet? (Strictly about renovation works, ignoring concerns about the owners, myself, feeling the house is sloped) Background: We've stayed in the house for a couple of months and the tilting didn't bother us, though visitors who come will sense it. The parquet floor wasn't done well (previous post months ago) and we decided to have the contractor rip up the floor and do-over. The slope is quite significant: 165mm from one corner to another corner (14m).. this also mean to level everything will add that much cement -- is it even allowed to add so much cement? Hence I'm wondering how much sloping can the house "put up with" before it affects the parquet (reason why we rip up the place). Or is this totally unavoidable, a 100% level floor is the best thing to do, everything else is necessary collateral damage

I had laminate flooring for 6 years the first time round. Deteriorated and became squishy in the last 2 years. Decided to hv parquet this time instead for a longer lasting solid feel (don't care as much about it looking shiny or sparkling new)... but now it is squishy from day one. Oh well

I'm pretty sure there's glue. Back when we were waiting for bi-fold door installations, the parquet floor was not terminated with a "nose" at the balcony ledge. I recall the pieces look stuck there, otherwise we'd have easily kicked up out or something if they were "laid over without glue" So I'm gathering that - I should not be feeling the "sink" feeling when stepping between two pieces of parquet EVEN if it is "new parquet", it is not supposed to be like that - it is unheard of to lay parquet over tiles (separately, MrWoodVarnish did not seem surprise when I mention how the current parquet was done) - parquet over cement screen should be glued + nailed in The first night I moved in with aircon on, I did hear the "ticking sound" (rather creepy). My understanding is that's due to the contraction of wood. So I did experience that for 1-2 evenings but no more than that. Is there a trustworthy parquet contractor/supplier I can contact to assess the current situation? I'm unwilling to go back to the original contractor (even though it is "right" for them to fix it) because I'm just so tired to deal with them any further (and after all these, i can't be sure if their next effort is any better)

What I was briefed before the reno was that "parquet need to sit for up to 3 weeks" for it to settle nicely and "people cannot walk around" However during reno, it must be the next day or day after parquet being laid, when I visited the house, the electrician was already walking around, climbing ladders and doing his stuff. The parquet was not covered. When asked about "no walking around", the PM said light work can be done (though i see carpenters setting up wardrobes, plumbers walking around). When asked about the parquet not being covered, the PM said there'll be another round of grinding + lacquering (though even after that, no cardboard protection was laid over and people still walked around.. plumbers entered and left bathroom with water dripping.. oh well) Separately, I consulted MrWoodVarnish and he did show me some pictures of how he'd lay plywood, then nails like yoongf mentioned. However he did indicate this is usually done for bigger pieces of wood -- not for parquet. I remarked that it seem like an awesome process and no reason it shouldn't be the norm for parquet too. In any case... so what can/should I do now? I feel my parquet floor (almost typed "laminate" there, because that's how it feels like.. a 5 year old laminate floor) is not properly done. And the advice to "wait for months" for it to settle... I really can't see how the current floor "gets better" after a few more months.

Sorry for the dumb question, but I'm not sure how much I can trust the contractor(s) for replying along the lines of "it's like that" anymore. Situation is: my parquet is new, laid over previous owner small mosaic tiles. The parquet supplier and contractor inspected and deem the floor "okay" for overlay, thus proceeded. Here's what I thought I'd get when we chose parquet for the renovation: a solid feel. i don't feel the wood on the floor bending/sinking when I step (even on the edge of a piece of wood where it joins to another piece) But that's not what it is now. During renovation, I'd indicated problematic areas (literally an entire walkway). Fixes was done by injecting glue, further grinding, gluing edges using "502" glue, relacquering etc. The fella who did the final grinding say some problematic areas (he's not the original crew) he grind "5 times" and he'd refuse even if I ask him to fix again, otherwise the wood will be too thin and become damaged. I've moved in for a few weeks. There are still many spots that sinks along the joins when I step. There seems to be even new joins where the pieces have "become uneven" -- i actually feel and know when i'm stepping between some pieces of wood. I'm told "glue injection can't fix entirely"... "original laying of parquet, glue slightly not enough"... "not a problem caused by overlay; same might've happened otherwise"... "it takes a long time for the parquet to settle"... "will expansion and contraction".. and i should "give the parquet time, wait for 8 months or so" So, I'm asking is this bull**** or real? Since I have minimal furniture now + built-in carpentry, should I get the contractor to redo the entire parquet (since it is too "thin to grind further"?). Since I can't trust this contractor anymore, who should I approach for a good fix? Anyone who renovated with new parquet flooring pls advice how it was for you (at the beginning, weeks after, months after?)

TLDR: what are the "faulty" feeling of a new parquet flooring (overlay), right now I don't know how much to believe when contractor say "it's like that, parquet will settle over moths, there's limitation to what can be fixed" My expectation had been: parquet floor feels sturdy. I've just completed my renovation. Amongst many issues is the parquet flooring. We found many spots where the parquet pieces don't fit we'll and you can clearly feel the edge/corner of one individual wood pieces. There's many spots where, when you step along the lines of 2 pieces of parquet piece, you'd clearly feel one of the pieces sink. We were told "there's limitations" when overlaid over tiles (but we did say if the tiles are ok, then overlay. otherwise pay the cost and do the necessary of ripping up existing tiles... so somebody did "pass" the tiles for overlay right?) We were told the fix is to inject more glue. This causes small holes in the parquet - which I don't mind as much as.. the fact that the problems still exists. Our ID engaged another group of parquet guys to re-grind and re-lacquer the entire floor (spot fixes will be patchy, so they advice doing the whole thing). After completing thr job, this new team complained many many spots had to be fixed and the problematic area was grinder "5 times" and any more grinding would spoil the wood (too thin) Unfortunately, the problems still exist: you'd feel edges joining of the pieces, some pieces sink when you step at the join lines. We've moved in nonetheless and at night there was loud cricking sound - which I suppose was contraction/expansion of the parquet. Since the floor is "grind to the limit" now and shouldn't do more.. I'm wondering what is my recourse or is this what having a new parquet is supposed to be?