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Preparation
Acclimatise
Your solid wood flooring has been specially kiln-dried to 8-10% moisture, 10-12% at delivery which is the ideal level for most European countries. Therefore, your solid wood flooring should be stocked horizontally, in the packaging at least 72 hours before installation, in the room where your floor will be laid. Make sure that you have a room climate of about 18°C and relative humidity between 45-60%.
In winter, especially when the temperature is 0°C or below, and the air is dry outside, we recommend the use of a humidifier, especially when the room temperature is high.
Take care of the following
Wood lives and breathes, changes in humidity cause natural expansion and contraction of the flooring.
Therefore make sure that:
- All the painting and wallpapering is done.
- All the plaster is dry.
- Floor and wall tiles have been installed for 3 weeks.
- Windows are in place.
- Make sure radiators have been bled
- No rehumidification takes place in the room where the floor will be installed.
Open several packs of flooring to allow you to mix the planks when laying, taking into consideration the texture of the wood and the change in colours. Each floor, even each board is a piece of nature, which is guaranteed to make your home a place of beauty.
The Sub Floor
In most modern homes we have a concrete floor. In older homes we find a structure of battens on which the flooring can be nailed, with renovation we may have a wooden floor. It is important for each base floor that it is dry, clean (no glue or residue), firm and level.
Concrete Floor
Your concrete floor must be sufficiently dry this means maximum moisture of 3% full depth of screed for concrete sub floors with anhydryt. Your concrete floor must also be level, this means no unevenness of more than 2mm over any 1M length. If so, you should make your concrete floor smooth with a proprietary leveling compound. Your concrete floor also has to be firm.
Structure of Battens
Wooden battens are the most traditional sub-floor for the installation of your solid wood flooring. Make sure they are strongly fixed and that they are level. The battens distance between centres is maximum 40cm to allow perfect support.
Wood Floor
These sub-floors are mostly softwood in 22mm, with tongue and groove. The new flooring has to be laid at right angles to the existing floor. Make sure that all loose boards are nailed down with no protruding nail-heads and uneven boards are sanded or smoothed. Old paint or lacquer has to be removed to allow good adhesion of the glue.
Underfloor Heating
When laying a floor where underfloor heating has been installed it is important to follow these guidelines:
- The heating has been started up at least 3 weeks before laying the floor, make sure that there is no water leaking and the concrete is dry, this means not more than 3% moisture full depth of screed.
- The concrete has to meet all the requirements of underfloor heating.
- The surface temperature of the ground can not exceed +27°C.
- The heating has to be turned off 48 hours before laying the floor.
- 8 days after laying the floor, the heating should be turned on gradually (increasing 2-3°C every 24hours).
