Should i put door bars in wood flooring

[m3jappa]

I can't seem to determine if i should have door bars/thresholds or not.

Floor is approx 50m2 and runs through lounge,hall,cloakroom,kitchen. Longest run length ways is just under 12m widest is around 5 m across grain.

I,ll have a 15mm expansion and will cut under door lining etc, i really do not want thresholds.

Floor is 14mm engineered.

Some people seem adamant they are essential, some are adament its just fitters making their lives easier.

My own thought is that worst case scenario if i do get movement i can just cut a channel out and then retrofit later.

Thoughts?

[B17NNS]

12m sounds like a long run without any.

What does the manufacturer recommend?

[SeeFive]

As said above, the manufacturer will give recommendations on expansion, including protecting the wood from absorbing damp from below.

when I am working with wood in carpentry, I tend to worry more about expansion across the grain as wood fibres swell that way rather than along the grain. So if you are dealing with a solid wood floor, and not engineered wood, most of the expansion will occur across the grain. I have no idea what happens to engineered wood flooring I am afraid as the grain seems to me mixed across the layers.

One thing is for sure. You will need to get the wood in the room it is going to go in and let it acclimatise for a while to either dry out or pick up moisture - depending on the humidity on your house.

[m3jappa]

Yes I have read it's across the grain which can be problematic, it's About 5m max that way I think. Manufacturer does not say a lot, infect the whole Internet does not say a lot.

May just risk it

[satans worm]

If it helps, we have a run of about 12m for our lounge/diner with engineered walnut, no issues at all, although its only been down about 2 years.

[sinizter]

We had some laminate floor across the ground floor with no door bars, but due to expansion and the boards raising up in spots we had them come in and put in a door bar.

Not sure how much it applies to wood, but something similar must be happening.

[miniman]

We originally had our hall done, solid oak planks - then subsequently had the lounge done with the same boards. I was not keen on the idea of traditional door bars so our carpenter made a bespoke one out of a plank of the flooring and has laid it completely flush with the rest of the floor which seems like a decent compromise.

[VxDuncan]

Have recently done the same on a smaller scale with engineered oak and ditched the thresholds (though only with a max run of ca. 8m) No problems so far...

HOWEVER... don't under estimate how tricky it is to get the flooring to run through the doorways. You obviously have to maintain your expansion gap, but also allow extra space for knocking the pieces together (which is a nightware when the ends are trapped under the doorframe. If your flooring is like mine and clips together then you need one plank at a fair angle to the other to get them to join, which is impossible when going through a door if you are trying to hide the expansion gap under the door frame. You really need to take the door frame off to do it.

I spent a good day laying most of the floor, then twice that taking it through a doorway and into a tiny bit of hallway...

[m3jappa]

floor came today and it states in the instructions that 12mx8m is max allowed with no expansion.

I do see what you mean about going through doorways, mine is a click system too so it could well be awkward.....