[Bbnm]

Hi,

Im going to be running some speaker cable under a solid wooden floor, the wood is 18mm thick and 150 mm wide planks.

Anyway below the floor will be the dpm sheet and then a solid concrete floor with those cheapo tiles on top, the sort you get before you would lay carpet on top.

To get to my question, is it ok to lay standard speaker cable under the wooden floor (2mm thick) or will i need to get the flat type of cable ?

Thanks to anyone who can confirm what i should do.

Brenda

[Bbnm]

Hello,

Anyone care to clarify please.

Brenda

[27neth]

Hows the floor fixed down? If its a floating floor there should be underlay under the flooring.

John..

[albriscoe]

Brenda

If your laying a new floor have you got the skirtings on yet, if not can`t you place the spk cables behind the skirting.

If the skirting is already on and the new floor butts up against it, you should leave a 10mm expansion gap which will be covered with a bead so leaving room for the cable their as well.

HTH`s Al

[Bbnm]

Hi,

I did not from my research believe i needed a floating floor, just a glued down one ?

I'm intending on getting new skirting boards down as it looks better and negates the need for expensive beading, or tough sanding of existing skirting.

I was going to run the cable flat or otherwise to the preferred floorstanding location and then have the wire pop up through some grommets that will be inserted in the wood ?

The stereo speaker locations are giving me trouble at the moment, as per speaker thread on corner placement and rear or front ported !

So is flat cable the way to go ?

Thanks for your help.

Brenda

[27neth]

If the flooring is getting glued down to the concrete floor i would not run any speaker cable under it. You need the concrete floor as flat as possible.
If you are fitting new skirting, you have to leave a expansion gap all the way around the flooring usually about 10mm, you can lay the speaker wire in the expansion gap before the skirting is fitted.
If you need the speaker wire running across the floor, i would get a angle grinder out

John...

[Bbnm]

Thanks John,

So to the original question, will flat speaker cable taped to the membrane allow me not to chop ones fingers of with angle cutter ! lol

Brenda

[27neth]

Hi Brenda,
If it was me i would either get a angle grinder or ask who ever is supplying or fitting the flooring if you can lay the speaker cable down.
I would not risk just putting it down, if something goes wrong the suppliers or fitters will probably blame you for it..

john

[Per156GTA]

When I put my wooden floor down - it is 15mm engineered oak, I layed 2mm breather membrane down, and then cut out sections of the membrane for the speaker wire to run between the wood flooring and the concrete floor underneath.

I am using QED Silver Anniversary wire and there is no problem with this - I think it is about 2 to 3 mm thick and there is no noticeable rise in the floor where the cable is. When I had carpet down, there was a very clear line where the cable was!

Hope this helps.

Per

[Bbnm]

Hi,

Right i think i can cut the membrane and tape it up leaving a gap, but allowing the membrane to be together as it were.

I might just run some flat type cable on top of the membrane.

My old friend is going to visit and do the floor along with many other jobs that i cant manage.

It will be ok, i think/hope ! lol

thanks

Brenda

[27neth]

What is the membrane you are using? Is it solid timber flooring you are using or engineered? If its solid timber this is usually glued direct to the concrete floor, if its engineered you can just cut out strips of the underlay for the speaker cable to lie in.

John..

[Bbnm]

Hi,

Solid floor and im sure you stil use a dpm even with glueing ?

Brenda

[27neth]

With solid flooring it glues directly to the concrete with a horrible resin type glue

John...

[Bbnm]

hello,

Yes, DPM is a must with any concrete floor.

thats from one of the proposed suppliers ?

Brenda

[27neth]

The dpm will only be a liquid, so there will be no room for speaker wire http://www.russwood.co.uk/flooring/d...odSikabond.pdf

John...

[27neth]

If you are using this stuff instead of glue you still wont be able to put speaker wire underneath Natura Peel and Stick Solid Wood Underlay - Accessories - Flooringsupplies.co.uk

John...

[Bbnm]

Hi,

Me and my friend can not be doing with this liquid dpm stuff !!

I thought i was doing whats easiest but have come across this floating floor method using a dpm sheet, what do you think, should i go floating ?

edit - thats one of the potential suppliers, and i dont know bar the solid floor what to use and why lol

I wont be buying for a month or two mind. Its for the living room and hallway , around 16m2 and its the ground floor, no need for noise reduction.

Thanks for your time in helping me.

Thanks

Brenda

[27neth]

Hi Brendas,
The floating floor is for laminate or engineered flooring as the boards lock together. Solid hardwood floor is usually just t&g on all the edges, you might be able to get a type of solid floor that will lock together i have not seen any..
I would stick with solid flooring if i was you it does look the best compared to laminate and engineered. Another easy way to fit it is fix battons to the floor, then secret nail the boards to these. (This could be a problem if the boards come in random lengths) and also it will increase the floor height.
If it was me, i would just use the liquid dpm and stick the boards down with the glue. The easiest way to do it is cut and fit about 2 or 3 rows without any glue then draw a pencil mark along the edge of the last run. Then take them up, spread the glue to the pencil mark and relay them. It saves a lot of messing about as the glue is awfull
Take your time its easy enough to do as it isnt a large area....
(Hiding your wires i would lay them around your expansion gap around the floor edges, you may just need more speaker cable)

John.....

[27neth]

It looks like you can get solid flooring that clips together Easiklip Flooring
I have never used it or seen it before.. I would also look in to the Junckers range of flooring as you can fit this with a clip system..but its not cheap..........
http://www.flooringsupplies.co.uk/ad...tallation.aspx
John.

[Bbnm]

Thanks again John,

Will look into it more, and i love the glue tip, thats going to save a lot of mess!

Thankyou

Brenda