HOME MAINTENANCE Wooden Flooring
Found in both softwoods and hardwoods, including oak and elm, timber flooring comes in many forms, from simple planks to tongued-and-grooved boards and parquet blocks. On the ground floor, floorboards are usually nailed to joists suspended on brick ‘sleeper’ walls that incorporate a damp-proof course. The resulting void is generally cross-ventilated through air vents in the outer walls. If these become blocked or other failures occur, moisture can accumulate, resulting in insect attack and rot. A good carpenter can fairly easily make repairs to a wooden floor, though.
