IMPORTANT : PLEASE READ CAREFULLY AND KEEP FOR REFERENCE
WE RECOMMEND THAT YOU USE A PROFESSIONAL FLOORING CONTRACTOR TO INSTALL YOUR WOOD FLOOR.
Wood is a natural product and each piece unique in colour and design. Our wood floors are manufactured in accordance with accepted industry standards, which permit a defect tolerance not to exceed 5%. The defects may be of a manufacturing or natural type.
1. The installer assumes all responsibility for final inspection of product quality. This inspection of all flooring should be done before installation. Carefully examine flooring for colour, finish and quality before installing it. If material is not acceptable, do not install it and contact your sales person immediately.
2. Prior to installation of any hardwood-flooring product, the installer must determine that the job-site environment and the sub-surfaces involved meet or exceed all applicable standards and recommendations of the construction and materials industries. These instructions recommend that the construction and sub-floor be dry, solid and flat. The manufacturer declines any responsibility for job failure resulting from or associated with sub-floor or job-site environment deficiencies.
3. Shade Variations: Flooring, like any natural product, will show variations between boards. It is important to work out of four to five boxes at a time to assure a beautiful blend of shading. The majority of the material should be spread out to compare shades and create a pattern that will enhance these variations in the finished floor. Warranties do not cover color variation, so staggering boards with colour differences throughout the floor is important.
4.Use of stain, filler or putty stick for defect correction during installation should be accepted as normal procedure.
5. WHEN FLOORING IS ORDERED, 5% TO 10% MUST BE ADDED TO THE ACTUAL SQUARE FOOTAGE NEEDED FOR CUTTING AND GRADING ALLOWANCE. DO NOT INSTALL ANY DEFECTIVE FLOORING OR BOARDS THAT ARE NOT OF A SUITABLE GRADE FOR THE END USER. FLOORING THAT HAS BEEN INSTALLED IS DEEMED ACCEPTABLE. THE INSTALLER MUST USE REASONABLE SELECTIVITY AND LEAVE OUT OR CUT OFF PIECES WITH DEFECTS, WHATEVER THE CAUSE. YOUR SUPPLIER WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH INSTALLING/REPLACING OF FLOORS INSTALLED WITH OBVIOUS DEFECTS OR OF A GRADE THAT IS NOT SUITABLE.
BEFORE INSTALLATION
Our engineered flooring can be installed as floating or glued down to the sub floor. However boards over 200mm in width must be glued down directly to the sub floor.
1. JOB SITE INSPECTION
The building should be closed in with all doors and windows in place. All concrete, masonry, framing members, drywall, paint and other “wet” work should be thoroughly dry. The wall coverings should be in place and the painting completed. Installation of the flooring should be the final job in any building project.2. STORAGE AND HANDLING
Handle and unload with care – lay boxes flat. Parquet flooring should be stored in the environment in which it is expected to perform (see ideal room conditions) the flooring must remain in unopened packaging for 48 hours in order to reach the room temperature. The original packaging should be opened only at time of installation.3. IDEAL ROOM CONDITIONS
All rooms shall be normally heated during installation (minimum 18oc/65oF); the relative humidity must be between 45% and 65% – never lower than 40%. Maintenance of correct relative humidity during and after installation reduces the possibility of deformation (warping, shrinkage and movement). Check the air humidity using a hygrometer.4. EXPANSION
It is of the utmost importance that a distance is maintained from walls, door frames, pipes etc (a minimum of 10-15mm). If the floor is wider than 7m and/or longer than 12m, a wider gap must be left and further expansion gaps must be allowed for between rooms.5. SUBFLOOR REQUIREMENTS
The sub floor must be free of any old floor covering, clean, permanently dry, level and firm without cracks and structurally sound. Variations in level of the sub floor of more than 2mm, measuring with a 2 meter level, have to be filled or planed. Sub floors with direct contact to the soil, sections which are over unheated rooms or basements or with increased humidity loads like boiler or laundry rooms require additional protection against moisture. For technical support, please contact Floor design on 01-6234157.HUMIDTY: Excessive humidity has a detrimental effect on the flooring. Maximum permitted humidity levels for sub floors are: concrete sub floor 3.0%, for an anhydrite screed sub floor 0.5 % and must be verified before installation.
FLOATING INSTALLATION: A suitable moisture barrier shall be laid directly on the sub floor (e.g. 1000 Gauge visqueen). The barrier must overlap by 20cm (Tape Joints) and go up the walls a few centimeters. A sound isolating underlay of maximum 3mm thickness is installed on top of the moisture barrier. The flooring is glued with a continuous glue line into all grooves.
GLUE-DOWN INSTALLATION (FOR EXPERIENCED PROFESSIONALS ONLY): The suitable adhesive shall be elastic and both water and solvent free. If necessary a primer/damp proof membrane should be applied on the sub floor. The specific application instructions of the adhesive supplier must be obeyed. We recommend Bona Adhesives / Moisture Barriers. (See www.bona.com or www.floordesign.ie)
6. INSTALLATION WITH UNDERFLOOR HEATING – (WARM WATER TYPE):
Prior to Installation, the sub floor must be dried by following the heating protocol (heating start up procedure) (see heating manufacturer or www.floordesign.ie). The allowable maximum moisture content on a dry weight basis is: for a concrete sub floor 2%; for an anhydrite screed sub floor 0.3%; and must be verified before installation.
For best results, the flooring should be professionally glued to the subfloor. The flooring should be glued (see above) using a glue suitable for use on a floor heating system. During installation the surface temperature of the slab should be around 18-20oc and the Relative Air Humidity should be approx 50%. The heating system should be turned off and the subfloor should be cooled off. The heating system should not be used until 2 weeks after installation. The system should be warmed up slowly and the temperature of the flooring should never exceed 27oc. At the start of each heating season the temperature shall be gradually increased evenly over 7 days until normal heating levels are achieved. With under floor heating wide boards (150mm+) and some exotic species have a greater tendency to create small splits and openings between the boards.To avoid cupping and gaps between boards it is important to maintain optimal room conditions: Temperature of approx 20oc and 45-65% relative air humidity.
NB: Covering heated floors with rugs etc is not recommended as this may lead to unacceptable heat concentration and deformation of the wood flooring.
WE ONLY RECOMMEND BONA ADHESIVES / MOISTURE BARRIERS, FOR STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS ON FLOATING / GLUEDOWN OR NAIL DOWN OF WOOD FLOORING CONTACT FLOOR DESIGN ON 01-6234157.
