General Instructions for Solid Wood Flooring

Our fitting instructions are based on our own experience and cannot replace the official rules and prescriptions

Preparation: Acclimatise - Your Solid Wood flooring has been especially kiln-dried to 8-10% relative moisture; 10-12% at delivery-which is the ideal level for European countries. Therefore, your Solid Wood flooring should be stocked horizontally, in the packaging, at least 48 hours before installation, in the room where your floor will be laid. Make sure that you have a room-climate of about 18oC and relative humidity between 45-55%.

In winter, especially when the temperature is 0oC 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 2.5% for concrete sub-floors with cement and only 0.5% for concrete 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 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 batten distance between centers is maximum 40cm to allow perfect support.

Wooden 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, to make sure that there is no water leaking and to dry the concrete.
• The concrete has to meet all the requirements for underfloor heating.
• The surface temperature of the ground can not exceed + 28oC.
• The heating has to be turned off 48 hours before laying the floor.
• 8 days after laying the floor, the underfloor has to be turned on gradually (i.e. 3 oC every 24 hours)

Installation: There are 3 methods to install your Solid Wood Flooring:

Gluing (on concrete floor) - You must use a water free, alcohol-glue, especially for wood, and follow the instructions of the manufacturer. With this method, you don't need a sub-floor and you don't need to glue tongue and groove. Always be aware that wood lives, so provide an expansion gap of 15mm between the wall and the flooring. Please note, with large area (lengths in excess of 10m) the floor must be divided with an expansion gap. On completion, this gap is covered by a profile that is not fixed to the floor.

Nailing onto battens (not for flooring 14mm) - This is the most traditional method of installing your floor. Boards to be secret nailed at an angle of 45 degrees through the top of the tongue. Use lost head machine nails of 50mm and pneumatic nailing-machine (to avoid damage to the tongue). For extra security, nail the boards to each batten with a pair of nails. For some extremely hard wood species, it may be necessary to predrill nail holes. Don't forget expansion gap (15mm) everywhere.

Floating Solid Flooring - It is entirely possible to float most solid flooring.

However:

• Correct in house conditions must exist.
• Expert installation personnel must be employed