Walnut Floors + Nice Windows..

Levi25

Hi All

The roof is going on the house at present ad I'm getting prices for wooden floors (just for the budget really). Problem was there was no space left for the solid wooden floors when the concrete finished floors was poured, I heard that my only option is junkers - appart from them being expensive, they don't do walnut. Has anyone else overcome this problem? I'd like the walnut floors on most of teh downstairs - someone suggested laying plywood and nailing the boards down?

Another question is that I will probably not be able to afford walnut, doors, skirts, stairs etc - what type of doors etc would go with walnut?

We're also pricing windows - has anyone got very good prices (pvc windows), we want a nice window that won't distract from the view (any websites with ideas would be welcome).

PS: We're in the south west

yop

What color window?

daithi01

with regards to the windows,I hear Munster joinery are supposed to be very good on price http://www.munsterjoinery.ie/ (website under construction) but there are contact no's on it.

Levi25

Was thinking of golden oak pvc windows ut would prefer black or dark green, I've seen beige ones lately that look well although not sure if they're pvc?

Lex Luthor

just a note on walnut floors....they are extremely soft wood and scratch very very easily and are really difficult to keep.
Bear in mind...I'm serious

Levi25

I hadn't heard that they were hard to keep before, just out of curiosity, does anyone have them? What other types of dark wooden floors are available, I had my heart set on walnut.

rooferPete

Hi,

Sorry to upset your plans but I recommend that you read the warranty on the pvc windows before you place an order, most offer a ten year warranty on white pvc and seven on any of the dark colours.

PVC migrates and is subject to breakdown by UV that is why the woodgrain finishes although 20% more expensive have a shorter warranty period with most manufacturers.

.

FX Meister

I have found that most of the woodgrain finishes on PVC windows look cheap and tacky. How about real wood windows? They are making a comeback these days. Some Rationel ones perhaps? I've heard they are dear so maybe there are similar ones from other manufacturers?

Eve1

Timber windows are expensive alright!! I just got our first quote back for €13,731 and we stuck to regular sized windows, granted it includes the back and front door and they are tilt and turn, low-e, argon filled hardwood with a U value of 1.1. I'll let you know if I get a better price, I sent out for around 15 quotes.

Eve

yop

We got a bog oak PVC window from Mahon Windows in Athlone, not given a plug or anything but the grain is very prominent and anyone who has seen them has commented as to how real the look, even my engineer.

If I think of it I will take a close up pic and put it up here

FX Meister

Jeez, I nearly misread that and didn't see the PVC part, thought you must have paid a fortune for bog oak windows.

yop

Friends of mine put down walnut flooring, they love it but the amount of marks on it after one year is unreal, it seems a very soft wood and my friends are very disappointed with this

slopey

Has anyone looked at Aluminium Frame Exterior/Wood Interior windows. They look really good but I'd imagine they're pretty pricy. Getting a quote off crowd in Barna, Galway that import them from Germany (www.germanqi.ie), will post about price then.

Wobs

Hi,

We are getting the aluminium clad windows from Marvin. 24 windows (sliding sash) and 2 sets of french doors, the quality is very good and they come with a guarantee of 50 or 70 years not sure which at the mo. They were pretty expensive but they will look great and we feel money well spent.

I would say the cream ones you have seen may have been the alu clad or natural wood painted, I haven't seen cream PVC before.

CJhaughey

There is a crowd in Killarney selling German windows and doors my mate just fitted his house out with them and they are fantastic quality, as eve said a U- value of 1.1 and tilt and turn. available in any type of stain that you would like.
I will find the name and contact details.

Lex Luthor

yop wrote:

Friends of mine put down walnut flooring, they love it but the amount of marks on it after one year is unreal, it seems a very soft wood and my friends are very disappointed with this

Yip, Walnut floors, although probably one of the nicest floors you can have, will make you weap & cry like a baby in a short amount of time. If its just 2 adults in the house, you will have to spend all your time in your socks. Even visitors should be made to remove their shoes. Any sign of kids, they will be wrecked.
I have oak down a year and in one room where my kids play, there are a lot of dents but its wearing well. The hall has one 2" long dent that was caused by the hoover rolling down the stairs and hitting it full on. I was impressed at the little damage it caused.
Are you really set on a real dark floor...?
Maybe you could get an unfinished harder wood floor and get it stained darker, if thats possible.

yop

Lex you would recommend the oak, is that a wide board you have down, lovely looking floor

Lex Luthor

yop wrote:

Lex you would recommend the oak, is that a wide board you have down, lovely looking floor

Ya, I'd recommend the oak floor. I have 5" wide boards and I really wouldn't have went with anything thinner.
The boxes came in various lengths and there is enough grain in it to make it interesting but not too much to make it look sh1te.
Junckers do a nice wide plank oak with medium grain called Variation. But they are expensive.

The oak boards I got were from Heiton Buckleys in the Robin Hood Ind Est and they are called Jaguar White oak. They have a 3.5" board but I personally prefer the wider board.

I'll try take some pictures for you later and post them on tonight, if I get my camera link to PC working.

yop

Cheers Lex, they sound good, Heiton Buckleys, I am suprised, I did not think that they would be competitive!!

exilio

Levi,

This page contains lots of links to firms who sell windows:
www.irishbuildingindustry.ie

There's a good gallery of pictures on this website in particular:
www.h-v.ie

As for floors, this website has a nice selection...they don't seem to have any dealers over here at the moment tho, but it may give you some ideas...
www.parador.de

Lex Luthor

yop wrote:

Cheers Lex, they sound good, Heiton Buckleys, I am suprised, I did not think that they would be competitive!!

I got a great deal...wife works for a building company who had an account with them.
Taking in the discount they had, less VAT and deducted the cost from her gross salary, I worked it out we got them for about €13/sq yd. For solid wood, you cant beat that.

For the avg Joe soap, the cost was about €36 per yd

Eve1

exilio wrote:

Levi,

There's a good gallery of pictures on this website in particular:
www.h-v.ie

H-v.ie look great but the earliest they could quote me was next Febraury!!

The crowd CJHaughey mentioned are prob the same company I got my quote from and are called Sorpetaler.


Levi25 have you considered looking into a dark floor that isn't walnut. I visited an architects house in Mayo with a tf company and he had this amazing floor. The wood had been created by grafting two types of trees together (cherry and something else). He told us he bought it somewhere in Clonbur (Yob might know) and it was a great price. He is the architect for Mayo Co. Co. and said that anyone could e-mail him about his house. You could always get him e-mail online (sorry I couldn't be more precise).

Does anyone know if it is possible to purchase upvc windows that are one colour on the outside and say white on the inside?

CJhaughey

Yep thems the ones!!
Great windows I was really impressed by the quality of the finish in my mates house, even the french doors were tilt and turn.
The front door has a bolt system that locks the top middle and bottom as you turn the key.
The roofer gave a blank look when he tried to explain the low U-value... 1.1 is exceptional for a double glazed window.
Munster joinery is something like 2.2 or something.
Our house will have triple glazed windows but I think the U-value is still 1.2 or so.
regarding white/brown I have never seen a window profile like you are describing and I have worked for a U-pvc manufacturer.
all the woodgrain laminated profiles are made from a dark brown plastic.it would look very strange when you opened a woodgrain window to see a white profile inside.

rooferPete

Hi Eve,

The cobination of colours you describe used to be available as a brown aluminium window with white pvc finish on the inside, I had them installed in our last house.

They were very good but withdrawn because all of the window manufacturers didn't know how to weld the pvc section properly.

.

yop

Eve, me a yob!!!

I must find out who ur mano is with my contacts in Mayo Co Co

Lex Luthor

davidoco

Levi25 wrote:

Was thinking of golden oak pvc windows ut would prefer black or dark green, I've seen beige ones lately that look well although not sure if they're pvc?

I got golden oak pvc from Munster joinery back in 2000 when it first came on the market and they are fantastic quality - most people even after they rub them still think they are real wood -

Munster Joinery installed timber iroko doors and side windows which are are a great match for the pvc golden oak. The pvc golden oak is very common now down around the south east. We made sure to put in teak window boards and clear varnished them as soon as they went in and then covered them in plastic to keep the plasterers off.

ifahey

Hi all,

I got a dark wide plank solid wooden floor which is made from a wood called sucupira which is in effect a South American type of teak but without the reddish quality.

I put it down myself and did I need a diamond blade on my chop saw. This is the hardest wood I have seen for quite some time and a year on there is one tiny dot of a mark where I dropped a poker on it on a total area of 60 m2. It is extremly dense and very dark.

I got it from Renaissance Flooring who are out the Newcastle direction from Dublin City Centre. Contact was Willie Nolan 086 193 9333.

We did all the trade shows etc trying to find a wood that looked like walnut but didn't wear as badly as it. At the time we bought it I did find a hardness rating on the web somewhere which showed it's rating as being about 25% harder than White Oak.

Cheers

ifahey

Just found that url - it is

http://www.canfloor.com/guide_hardness.htm

cheers,

Wobs

Renaissance also have a place in Clondalkin, I went in there the other day looking for Willie Nolan as I had dealt with him before but he is no longer with them. They do have a very good range of flooring and they also do decking and doors.

yop

fabulous flooring lex, ta for the pics