On our knees

That's where we'll be for most of tomorrow as the time has come, after several weeks of acclimatising, for us to start laying the oak flooring.

The flooring in the 'wet' rooms was completed way back in August/September with tiles and limestone to allow the plumber to complete his work. With it being less of a priority, the new flooring in the remainder of the downstairs, the upstairs landing and the master bedroom have been left till now. A combination of a delay in getting all the oak planks delievered and various busy weekends have meant tomorrow is the first chance we've had of tackling the floor laying.

As the 1970s' concrete floors downstairs have a suspect dpc, with a risk of moisture ingress, we've put down a layer of bitumen impregnated building paper as a first line of defence before laying a plastic membrane on top. This should give us all the protection we need to prevent damp coming up through the concrete and causing the oak to 'cup', warp and lift. We're not using underlay in all areas as there is existing parquet and chipboard that will act as a level subfloor. Where this isn't the case we'll be using a fibreboard underlay to provide levelling along with acoutic and thermal insulation.

We've chosen oak as a renewable material from maintained woodlands that is also in keeping with the cottage and the floors that it once had, before they were ripped out in the '70s. Properly laid and looked after, with a few coats of Osmo oil, they should provide a hardwearing surface that will last for years.

If all goes well tomorrow we should have somewhere to put the Christmas tree just in time!