Week two on our Chiswick project, and the house is coming apart before it goes back together.
Last week finished with the hoarding up, which is the point at which a job stops being a drawing. Since then the team has stripped out the old flooring, the skirtings, the architraves, the doors and the carpets. All of it is in the skip.
With the floors open, new noggins have gone into the joists. There were none there before, which is common in a house of this age and is the reason a floor bounces. Noggins stiffen the joists against each other, so the finished floor sits flat and stays flat.
Insulation is going in next, chosen for thermal performance and for sound between the floors. After that the plywood deck goes down, and then the engineered oak.
Engineered oak is the right board for a floor over heating and over a suspended timber structure, because the ply core moves far less than a solid board would. It is also the visible part, which is why it goes in last.
More next week. If you are planning something similar in west London, tell us about the house, or see finished work on our projects page.
Published 19 May 2024. Written by the NU Projects studio, edited since for house style and accuracy.