High Quality Oak Flooring at Realistic and Affordable Prices

Fitting Guidlines

Stick Down Method (Suitable for Solid and Engineered) Print

Moisture test the subfloor and the flooring and record the results. Proceed if satisfactory. Continue acclimatisation if not.
Using a piece of the floor that is to be fitted as a guide for thickness, cut the bottoms of the doorframes and architraves in the room to suit. Chisel out as much of the cut pieces as possible because this will make the fitting of the floor easier.
Once the direction in which the floorboards are to be fitted is decided, measure the width of the room and divide the distance by the face width of the planks to be fitted. This will determine the size of the final row of boards. If the result is less than ¼ of the face width you will need to reduce the width of the first row to increase the size of the last.
Working from 3-4 boxes of flooring at any one time to ensure an even mixture of colour and shade, cut and lay the first 3 rows without adhesive for now, and place plastic wedges between the floor and the wall to maintain the required expansion gap. 1.5mm expansion for every linear metre should be allowed with a minimum of 15mm at all times. The joint spacing should be random and no closer than 200mm in an adjacent row. The first and last plank in a row should be no smaller than 200mm long. Once assembled, use a string line to make sure the floor is straight and adjust the expansion wedges if not. When satisfied, mark the floor at the edge and carefully lift and stack the boards to be fitted in order.
Using a suitable flooring adhesive such as SikaBond T54, apply to the marked area using the correct sized notched trowel. Then place the first row of boards into the adhesive and tight up against the expansion wedges, making sure to apply a suitable joint adhesive to the grooved end of each plank. Locate the tongue and groove correctly and then press down into the adhesive to ensure good contact. Continue this process until the first 3 rows are installed, making sure that the floor is straight by using the string line.
Continue to install the floor but remembering not to spread too much of the flooring adhesive to the extent of it ‘skinning over’. This will depend on the site conditions. It is good practice to occasionally lift a plank back out of the adhesive to ensure good adhesive transfer. Make sure that any excess adhesive on the surface of the floor is removed immediately because it will be extremely difficult to remove later.
When you reach the other side of the floor, measure and cut the planks lengthwise remembering to allow for the expansion gap. Use the expansion wedges to tighten up the floor and allow the adhesive to set.
When the adhesive is completely set, remove the expansion wedges and fit your beading, skirting board, pipe covers and door threshold profiles to cover the expansion gaps.

Floating Method (Suitable for Engineered only) Print

Moisture test the subfloor and the flooring and record the results. Proceed if satisfactory. Continue acclimatisation if not.
Using a piece of the floor that is to be fitted as a guide for thickness, cut the bottoms of the doorframes and architraves in the room to suit. Chisel out as much of the cut pieces as possible because this will make the fitting of the floor easier.
Once the direction in which the floorboards are to be fitted is decided, measure the width of the room and divide the distance by the face width of the planks to be fitted. This will determine the size of the final row of boards. If the result is less than ¼ of the face width you will need to reduce the width of the first row to increase the size of the last.
Lay out the underlay (we recommend to always use one with an integrated DPM like our Comfort Silver Underlay or Sonic Gold Excel underlay) and preferably tape the joints
Working from 3-4 boxes of flooring at any one time to ensure an even mixture of colour and shade, cut and lay the first 3 rows without adhesive for now, and place plastic wedges between the floor and the wall to maintain the required expansion gap. 1.5mm expansion for every linear metre should be allowed with a minimum of 15mm at all times. The joint spacing should be random and no closer than 200mm in an adjacent row. The first and last plank in a row should be no smaller than 200mm long. Once assembled, use a string line to make sure the floor is straight and adjust the expansion wedges if not. When satisfied, take the 3 rows apart and stack in order
Place the first plank in position ensuring you have the required expansion gap and then, using a suitable joint adhesive, apply a constant bead of adhesive to the underside of the groove along the length and at the end of the next plank.
Align the planks and tap them together using a suitable tapping block at least 30cm long, remembering to only ever tap against the tongue and never against the groove. Continue this until the first 3 rows are assembled. Remove any glue from the surface of the planks immediately with a damp cloth and make sure the floor is straight with a string line.
Allow the adhesive to set for about 45 minutes and then continue to install the floor until you reach the opposite wall. Measure and cut the last row of planks remembering to allow for the expansion gap. Then use the expansion wedges to tighten the floor and allow the joint adhesive to set.
When the adhesive is completely set, remove the expansion wedges and fit your beading, skirting board, pipe covers and door threshold profiles to cover the expansion gaps

Nail Down Method (Suitable for Solid and Engineered) Print

Moisture test the subfloor and the flooring and record the results. Proceed if satisfactory. Continue acclimatisation if not.
2. Using a piece of the floor that is to be fitted as a guide for thickness, cut the bottoms of the doorframes and architraves in the room to suit. Chisel out as much of the cut pieces as possible because this will make the fitting of the floor easier.
3. Once the direction in which the floorboards are to be fitted is decided, measure the width of the room and divide the distance by the face width of the planks to be fitted. This will determine the size of the final row of boards. If the result is less than ¼ of the face width you will need to reduce the width of the first row to increase the size of the last.
4. Working from 3-4 boxes of flooring at any one time to ensure an even mixture of colour and shade, cut and lay the first 3 rows without fixing for now, and place plastic wedges between the floor and the wall to maintain the required expansion gap. 1.5mm expansion for every linear metre should be allowed with a minimum of 15mm at all times. The joint spacing should be random and no closer than 200mm in an adjacent row. The first and last plank in a row should be no smaller than 200mm long. Once assembled, use a string line to make sure the floor is straight and adjust the expansion wedges if not.
5. Carefully lift and stack the first 2 rows and place some sacrificial blocks against the back edge of the third row and screw them to the sub floor to ensure the row is held straight. Apply a bead of joint adhesive to the grooved end only of the planks in row 3 and then place back in position. After making sure the row is straight, the row can be nailed using suitable flooring cleats inserted using a suitable flooring gun. Barbed cleats should be used to prevent them working loose over time after installation.
6. The planks should be nailed 50-75mm from each end and every 200-250mm along their length. Continue to install the floor remembering to apply the joint adhesive until you almost reach the other side of the floor at a point where you can no longer use the nail gun. At this point you need to pre-drill a 3mm hole and secret nail the planks by hand using a punch to ensure the nails are in far enough.
7. Measure and cut the final row that will need to be face nailed along the edge closest to the wall. A 3mm hole needs to be pre-drilled every 150mm and the plank must be hand nailed down.
8. The sacrificial blocks can now be removed and rows 1 and 2 hand nailed as described above. You can now fit your beading, skirting board, pipe covers and door threshold profiles to cover the expansion gaps

INSTALLATION ABOVE UNDER FLOOR HEATING – IMPORTANT INFO Print

IMORTANT NOTE: We can’t guarantee our Engineered Oak Flooring With UFH because we have no control over what happens after delivery. There are special guidelines on how it’s stored, acclimatised, and installed and these must be followed for successful installation and performance thereafter.
Oak, like all timber, absorbs moisture from the environment into which it’s installed and it will undergo dimensional changes as it does so, usually resulting in expansion.
Likewise, in some situations, especially when UFH is present, the Oak will ‘give off’ moisture too, resulting in shrinkage.

Because of this possible expansion and shrinkage, it is vital that the moisture content of the subfloor onto which your Oak Floor is to be fitted is at the correct level.

When considering these facts, an underfloor heating system can have a dramatic effect on the moisture levels of the room and also on the stability of the Oak Floorboards fitted above it.

Specific installation instructions are below for a more detailed report on how to fit an Oak Floor above UFH and which boards are recommended.

Is It Guaranteed?

Many people ask why we cannot guarantee our flooring above UFH and the answer really is because we cannot guarantee that the flooring will be fitted correctly, as our guidelines, in the first place. We have every confidence in our product, it’s just that we have no control on how it’s acclimatised and fitted after it gets delivered.

Unlike situations where UFH is not present, it's virtually impossible for us to prove weeks or months after installation that our fitting guidelines were not adhered to at time of installation.

Although we are the only company within the UK to provide a Lifetime Quality Guarantee with our products, we cannot guarantee installation over UFH systems because we have no control over the fitting methods used, the amount of time allowed for proper acclimatisation, and the progressive increase of output from the UFH afterwards.

Having said that, as long as our fitting and maintenance guidelines are followed, you will have no problems with the performance of your floor.

We recommend using our Self-Regulating UFH System under our 15mm engineered oak flooring for optimum performance and efficiency.

We recommend using our 15mm or 21mm Engineered Oak Flooring with UFH, and never recommend fitting Solid Oak above such ambient heating systems.

Our plywood backed Engineered Oak boards are the only boards that we recommend for installation above UFH systems.

Supplied T&G on all 4 edges for minimal waste and easy fitting, we know that due to its construction method that it’s the most stable and suitable product to install above UFH systems.

This method of multiply construction minimises the risk of surface cracks and movement under normal varying levels of humidity, moisture and heat. The 6mm wear layer of solid oak on our 21mm Engineered Oak provides an equivalent life span of solid oak boards, along with the same beautiful appearance.

Rooms fitted with our 15mm or 21mm Engineered Oak Flooring above UFH must be maintained at humidity level of between 40-55% and the surface temperature must not exceed 26 degrees centigrade. This may seem low to some people but the warmth generated from all-floor ambient heat is much greater than the warmth generated from wall-hung units, even when running at much higher temperatures.

IMPORTANT NOTE
After installation and during the different seasons of the year, the use of an appropriate air humidifier and temperature control is recommended in rooms with extreme varying conditions because failure to control and keep them consistent will increase the risk of shrinkage and expansion, which will cause cracking of the oak surface.

When the 15mm or 21mm Oak Flooring is fitted in accordance with our instructions and recommendations, the floor will reach the same level of humidity as the room itself before installation, and maintaining this thereafter will result in minimal movement of the oak floor.

UFH Installation Guidelines

Prior to Installation

The subfloor must be structurally sound, clean, dust free and thoroughly dry. To ensure the subfloor is properly dried, it must be allowed to dry naturally for as long as is necessary.

Then the underfloor heating should be turned on to maximum for a full 14 days, so that any accumulated moisture is dried completely.
Then, and only then, the Oak Flooring should be introduced into the room and stored for a further 10-14 days with the UFH system running ‘as normal’ (meaning as it will be when used). The cartons should be opened and stacked in a way to allow the air within the room to circulate them fully.

IMPORTANT NOTE
DO NOT RUSH THIS PART OF THE PROCESS IN AN EFFORT TO SPEED UP INSTALLATION. If you do, you will no doubt regret it at a later date when your floor begins to fail, and when you contact us to complain about the product, I’m afraid the reasons for failure will be strikingly obvious.

Installation

The heating system should be turned off and must not be operating during installation but should be turned on after installation has been completed. Depending on site conditions, it may be necessary to use portable units to maintain consistency within the room, especially if the job is expected to take more than 24 hours to complete
After the UFH is turned back on, it should then be increased in small steps of 2 degrees every 8-12 hours (starting from Zero degrees), until it reaches 26 degrees.

Then it should be reduced in steps of 2 degrees every 8-12 hours until the temperature has reached Zero degrees again. After this has been done, the underfloor heating system can be used normally up to a maximum of 26 degrees, ensuring that there is no great change in temperature in any 24 hours.
This process is simplified with our Self-Regulating UFH System because the digital thermostat can be set to automatically make these small adjustments of heat output as and when required.

Summary;

The concrete screed must be completely cured and dry
Moisture content and humidity levels must be checked and proven as acceptable
The underfloor heating system must be fitted correctly and working as manufacturers recommendations
The UFH system must be confirmed as being suitable for use with wood flooring by the manufacturer
The underfloor heating system must be turned off during installation but the room temperature and humidity level must be maintained by using portable units
15mm or 21mm ply-backed Engineered Flooring must be installed
If the floor is installed by the ‘Glue Down Method, Sika T54 Flexible Adhesive or Sika AT-80 Flexible Adhesive must be used.
An expansion gap of 10mm minimum must be left to all perimeters of the room
If your floor is installed using the floating method, we advise using an underlay with low thermal resistance (our QuickTherm, Comfort Silver and Sonic Gold underlay are designed for this) between the flooring and the subfloor.

So, Back To – Can We Guarantee It?

Now you’ve read the fitting guidelines, I’m sure you can understand why we cannot provide a full guarantee for all installations above UFH. In this modern day of rush-rush-rush, we are concerned that some fitters (not all) will try to speed up the process and make short cuts, which will ultimately effect the way your floor performs.

Unfortunately, because we have no way of making sure that the above instructions were adhered to at time of installation, should a floor fail after installation above UFH, we cannot be held responsible unless the actual Oak Flooring product is proven to be faulty, which in our experience of our plywood backed product, has never yet been the case, and is extremely unlikely to be in the future because of its construction. Although our plywood backed engineered boards provide excellent stability after installation, they are still constructed from natural hygroscopic materials, so will react or respond to the conditions they are subjected to.

We must insist on the following; If the flooring was accepted ‘on site’ as being in a satisfactory condition for installation by the fitter/owner, after having been allowed to acclimatise for the necessary period of time, any defect such as lifting or cupping within the floor after installation is due to external conditions beyond our control.

By fitting the flooring supplied, acceptance of suitability for installation above UFH is determined by the fitter and the owner of the property.

It seems obvious to us that if a floor was in good condition when installed, to change in shape or size afterwards means that it has been subjected to excess heat or moisture, or simply hasn’t had sufficient acclimatisation time to reach equilibrium with the room.

We Recommend…
We recommend either to install our engineered flooring over under floor heating systems by using the stick down method (especially the 15mm) with the Sika Flexible T54 Adhesive or Sika AT-80 Flexible Adhesive because this method is said to provide the best thermal efficiency for the floor, or by the Floating method above a suitable underlay with low thermal resistance because this allows the floor to expand and contract as and when it requires to do so. When the flooring is fitted using the floating method, our QuickTherm, Sonic Gold Excel or Comfort Silver underlay must be installed between the UFH system and the flooring.

When a wood floor is fitted above underfloor heating, it is not unusual to experience some dimensional movement due to the extreme varying heat levels. To prevent this from happening, the humidity levels should be controlled by using a suitable device.

Unless our Self-Regulating UFH System is used, rugs and mats should be avoided if possible because they can create ‘hot spots’ in the flooring. In sun rooms and conservatories, care should be taken to protect your flooring from excess direct sunlight.

RECOMMENDED UFH FOR USE WITH OAK FLOORING?

Yes, take a look at our ‘intelligent’, self-regulating UFH system.

Please ask for more details or go to our UFH Page on the website.

Just took delivery of our flooring and it is wonderful, very happy with the quality. Couple of the boxes damaged by the courier but on first apperance wood looks o.k.Thank you for all your help and advice in buying your flooring, would recommend you to others, infact already have done so!!

Jane - Rugby

Sika T54 Flexi Adhesive

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Sika T54 Flexi Adhesive

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