Installation
Woodsmith engineered flooring has been designed and manufactured to the highest standards and gives the home owner a beautiful timber floor that will provide many years of service and style.
This engineered flooring product has been designed and manufactured to the highest standards and gives the home owner a beautiful timber floor that will provide many years of service and style.
To ensure this however it is critical that the following installation instructions are followed carefully.
The recommended method for the laying of this product is direct stick glue down installation.
Whether Woodsmith Engineered Flooring is being installed over a timber substrate or a concrete slab it is imperative that the correct sub floor preparations are carried out.
Timber Subfloor Preparation
Ensure the timber subfloor is dry, flat and level. When installing over yellow tongue sheeting it may be necessary to take out any high areas with a belt sander and any screw or nail heads should be driven below the surface level. Prior to installing ensure any squeaking areas are remedied and note that extra screwing down of the yellow tongue sheeting may be necessary. Any excessive gaps between yellow tongue sheets should be filled with sealant.
If installing over existing strip flooring, this product must be installed at right angles to the existing floor. If this is not aesthetically pleasing or not appropriate to do so then plywood should be first fixed down at a 45 degree angle to prevent gaping during the life of the Woodsmith Engineered Floor.
Once the timber subfloor is prepared and you are ready for installation, ensure it is clean and free of dirt and dust. Sweep thoroughly.
Concrete Subfloor Preparation
We recommend that when installing over a concrete slab subfloor that the slab must first be checked as flat and level, with any imperfections remedied by using a cement-based levelling compound floor-filler. The moisture content of the slab must be 4% or less and should be at least 60 days old.
Age resistant polyethylene membrane plastic sheets (0.2mm thickness) to provide a moisture vapour barrier are then laid over the prepared slab. Joining between the plastic sheets should have sufficient overlap and sufficiently tight joins to avoid leakage of vapour from underneath. Recommended overlaps should be at least 20cm.
6mm plywood sheets must then be laid over the plastic vapour barrier and fixed to the slab in a brickwork pattern with masonry anchors, ensuring the fixing heads are driven below the surface level of the plywood.
Note: this product is not recommended for situations where under floor heating is present.
Adhesive
This product is installed using the direct stick glued method. Most important is the quality of the adhesive used. Installation should be carried using a quality elastomeric adhesive such as Sikaflex or Bostik Ultraset. There is a large range of quality flooring adhesives available but lower quality, cheaper adhesives should be avoided for this application as they may harden up as they age and lose the elastomeric properties that are critical as the floor expands and contracts during its lifetime.
Flooring adhesives should be used following the manufacturers recommendations closely. Flooring adhesives should be spread using a notched trowel or as per the instructions specific to each manufacturers product.
Installing Woodsmith
Engineered Floor
It is most important that the Woodsmith Engineered Flooring product be able to acclimatise to the environment that it will be installed. Ensure that the unopened packets of flooring are placed in the room they will be installed in. Do not leave in one large pack but rather break the pack down into smaller numbers of individual packets to enable air to easily circulate around the product. They should be left to acclimatise for an absolute minimum of 48 hours.
When ordering this product it will be necessary to order up to an additional 5% more product than the actual square metre requirements to allow for offcuts through docking and wastage.
Flooring should be carefully examined for finish and overall quality prior to and during the installation process. The installer must exercise good judgement and common sense in arranging boards to be installed for best aesthetic appearance during the installation.
Boards that may be darker or have a natural characteristic that may be unsuitable for example in a wide open area of the floor should instead be considered for installation inside a cupboard or another out of the way area. While boards of this nature may be few, it is good practice to pay close attention and identify boards that suit a given area of floor space.
As timber is a natural material created by nature, some colour variation is to be expected and is therefore within grade.
Final grade, manufacturing and finish quality checks are the sole responsibility of the installer and if any boards are found to be defective, the installer must contact the supplier immediately. Once installed, the floor is considered as having been accepted by the installer and owner.
After removing all skirtings, installation can begin ensuring that a 10mm expansion gap is established along the longest wall where the first row of boards will be laid. This is done using blocks or wedges to create a straight line approx.10mm from the wall.
Ensure that the first row of boards are adequately supported by the blocks or wedges as it is important that this first row is straight and true. Begin installing with the groove side of the first board towards the wall. To join the boards together, a small wooden block and a rubber mallet may be used to gently knock the joints of the boards home, however do not use excessive force against the tongue of the boards as this may result in damage to the tongue making it very difficult to fit the next board.
When installing the boards it is recommended that a minimum distance of 300mm is maintained from one head-joint to the joint in the next row of boards for best aesthetic appearance.
Any adhesive that may squeeze up through joints should be wiped off immediately with a damp cloth.
When installing this product in large areas, consideration should be given to expansion joints. In general terms, when installing flooring in a room more than 6 metres wide an expansion joint may be necessary. When installing this product into adjoining rooms an expansion joint should be provided at the entrance to each room. When all installation has been completed all expansion joints may be filled with silicone free sealant or with a profiled insert designed for this purpose.
When installation of all boards is complete, expansion gaps blocks or wedges can be removed from around the perimeter of the room and all skirtings can be fixed back into place.
