Whist we never recommend fitting your floor using a floating installation, we understand that sometimes it is not possible to use any other method. The most important thing for a successful installation this way will be the level of your sub floor. If your floor is not level it could seriously compromise the installation.
For a professional installation call Turgon on 020 8343 3463
It is vital that the conditions set out below are strictly observed, if not, it will be to the detriment of your hardwood floor.
Please note. You should never take an engineered floor out of the box to acclimatise. Once opened the floor should be fitted immediately.
1.1 Sub Floor
- Any sub floor must be smooth and flat to within +/- 3mm over a 3 meter radius
- Concrete sub floors must be sound and not loose
- Wooden sub floors must be sound and securely fixed
- Moisture content of wooden sub floors must be between 8-10 % and within 4% of your hardwood floor to avoid over expansion or contraction.
- Moisture content of concrete screeds must be no greater than 75% relative humidity
- A DPM must be incorporated below the screeded surface
1.2 General Site Conditions
- Air relative humidity should be at a stable point between 40-60 %.
- Moisture content of the walls must not exceed 8%
- Air temperature should be no less than 130C and the general operating environment should be between 180C – 240C
- All wet trades such as plaster, terrazzo and floor tiling should be completed and dry before wood floors are installed.
- Windows must be glazed and outside doors hung before wood floors are installed.
- New buildings or extensions should be adequately ventilated and heated for at least 10 days before wood floors are installed.
- All radiator and water pipes should be subjected to a water test before installation of wood floors.
- For floors fitted over underfloor heating, please see separate sheet relating to underfloor heating.
2.0 Fitting
- All the door liners, architraves and doorstops must be undercut at the finished floor height to allow the flooring to be fitted beneath them with no visible gaps.
- All wooden doors, where necessary, must be taken down and trimmed to allow the doors to clear the new flooring. Once trimmed the doors must be re hung.
- If the subfloor is concrete or screed then 1000 gauge plastic sheeting must be laid in order to protect the wooden floor from any residual moisture in the concrete. Any joints must be overlapped by at least 200mm and the joints must be taped.
- Over the plastic sheeting the underlay must be laid to all areas where the hardwood flooring is to be fitted.
- The engineered hardwood flooring boards are laid on top of the underlay, each board will be fixed to the next board by using PVA adhesive inside the tongue and groove joint. This will form a continuous wooden raft. The boards will be held in place while the adhesive dries with a series of temporary spacer blocks fitted between the boards and the wall/skirting board. Once the adhesive is cured these spacer blocks must be removed.
- The boards will be laid to give a random joint pattern. This will normally be achieved by using the off-cut from the end of the first row to start the second row and the off-cut from the end of the second row will be used to start the third row and so on. Adjustments may need to be made to ensure that no two end joints are less than 150mm apart and that no two end joints are level with each other within 3 adjacent rows.
- An expansion gap must always be maintained around the entire perimeter of the room to allow for the seasonal expansion and contraction of the floor. In general the expansion gap will need to be 1.5mm at each side for every metre of span. The expansion gap must not be filled and must be kept free of debris.
- This expansion gap will be covered by either:
A matching pre finished solid hardwood scotia trim measuring 19mm x 19mm which will be pinned to the existing skirting boards.
A plain pine scotia trim measuring 19mm x 19mm which will be pinned to the existing skirting boards. You will need to have this trim decorated to match the skirting boards once the installation is completed.
By the re fitting of either the existing skirting boards or the re fitting of the new skirting boards..
- All other thresholds can be supplied and fitted where necessary in matching solid pre finished hardwood.