Frequently asked questions

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I am a little concerned that your guarantee does not cover under floor heating.
The reason for this it is because we have no direct control or way of monitoring the under floor heating use. If a problem were to arise there is no way of proving what has been done to the floor. Has the under floor heating been installed, commissioned and used correctly, is there a leak; all of these things are hard to find after the floor has been installed.
Was the flooring fitted at the correct time i.e. was they building dry etc.
We visited one site that was installing a floor onto a heating system whose screed had only been down a week, the room stats were on at 24 deg C but the room had no windows in - they were covered with plastic. The moisture was being driven out of the screed into the floor and the heating was working flat out trying to get the room up to temperature.
So why should I use your product when there are others that are guaranteed?
Spend a little time and actually read the guarantees carefully. You will find that they are very carefully worded and have many ways out. There will be no way that you would be able to prove that you did everything according to their instructions, no proof ? no guarantee. We were once told by probably the best known flooring supplier that any problems with a floor can always be pushed onto the fitting or building conditions at the time of fitting the floor. We do not take that approach. We come from a Joinery background, our fitting guidelines are done on a belt and braces approach. If you fit to our guidelines you will never have a problem.
Why do you say to glue the floor to ply and the ply to the floor. Other companies say that it can be glued directly to the screed.
We have never known of an adhesive to fail. However floors have failed because the bond has been broken between the adhesive and the screed. This is because the quality of the screed was not correct. There is no easy way on site of testing that the screed is of a uniform quality. By gluing the ply to the screed and the floor to the ply, if the screed fails the whole floor is still strapped together with the ply. Its all part of our belt and braces approach. Also by having the ply down it acts as a heat distributing layer which produces a very even temperature over the whole floor surface in order to avoid causing hot spots. Hot spots could cause cell collapse.
Why do we need to know the surface temperature of the floor
This is because the surface temperature should never exceed 27 deg C. if it does you may cause cell collapse in the hardwood wear layer. Which means it will split. This relates to the amount of moisture driven out of the wood and the rapidness of the drying process.
I am concerned that with your floor and the ply that the heat will not get through and make our room warm enough.
Do not worry. We have managed to achieve surface temperatures of 27 deg C through 80mm of solid wood, which would give a room temperature of around 20-21 deg C. All that will happen is that you will have to turn your heating on and off an extra hour or so early to achieve the necessary room temperature. The extra thickness of wood will actually act as a storage heater.
Why do you specify that both the top and bottom of the grooves have to be glued?
In our extensive testing we have found that the weakest part of the floor is the top part of the groove. After submerging the wood in cold water for ten days and then placing onto a direct heat source, we have found in some instances that delamination if it occurs will start at this part of the flooring profile. This is in fact the weakest part of the profile. Gluing the tongue top and bottom will assist to prevented this from happening. Obviously it goes without saying that submerging your floor in water is not really a good idea! Gluing top and bottom of grooves is also recommended by Kahrs
Why do your boards come in different lengths, can”t I have all long ones.
60% of your floor will be 2400mm long. The rest will vary between 900mm up to 1500mm. This prevents you from getting a pattern of repeated joints on the floor. If you were to have all one length you will still end up with shorter ones in your floor because you will have to cut the boards at the end of each run and you would not throw that piece away but would use it to start your next run. It also makes the floor look more realistic with different lengths.
The floor needs sanding after it has been fitted but you say that it is factory sanded. What does that mean.
The floor is pre-sanded so could be laid and sealed without sanding. We feel though that it is always worth going over with a light sand because you may have scratched it or dented boards in the laying process. Also the floor may have gotten dirty whilst you have been laying it (other trades have walked all over it). So by giving it a light sand you are getting the best out of the floor. Do not use a large industrial drum sander ? you will ruin the floor. An orbital would do or one of the many new disc sanders that are coming on the market.
We have floors in our showroom that have been laid and finished without any sanding. Come and see if you can tell which ones they are.
Why do you not sell pre-finished boards We feel that pre finished floors look artificial. Especially with lacquered floors. The floors look more realistic if they are finished on site. It also gives you the opportunity to finish it with your preferred finish i.e. wax, lacquer or oil.
Do the V grooves hold dirt.
The V grooves are a maximum of 1mm and as such do not hold dirt. We find that by having them helps accentuate the length of the boards.
Have the butt joints got grooves.
No the floor has grooves only on the long edges. We feel that floors that have it on the short length start to look like plastic floors.
Why is it more expensive than solid oak that I can buy elsewhere.
Because of its construction and the manufacturing processes. It has a base board of 15mm high quality birch faced ply. We chose to use this as opposed to the standard block board cores because it is the most stable product that we could find.
Why do you say that you should put ply over the joists before fitting the floor. Surely 21mm is strong enough, after all we use 18mm chipboard.
You are correct, 21mm is strong enough to span the joists. However you should not really have a joint of a board falling between two joists. You should always cut back to joist. Your floor is far more expensive than play or chipboard and if you cut back to the joist the waste factor will be high. If a chair or bed leg was placed on this joint and pressure was placed on it constantly it may fail. We have learned this lesson the hard way. To try and fix it after a floor has been laid is a nightmare. Also by fitting chipboard or ply to the joists the rest of the trades are able to get on with their work before you then fit the floor at the end of the job. You would not really fit the floor and then let plasterers and painters electricians etc work on it.
Why do you use a damp proof membrane (DPM) when there is one already in the screed and what exactly is the reason for having one?
Houses are invariably built with a concrete floor. First they put rubble down then a layer of sand on top of which they place a DPM. Next they put a screed. The DPM is put down underneath the screed to prevent moisture coming up into your house. When you lay a hardwood floor it is always advisable to put a DPM underneath the wood. This is because you can never be sure that the one in your screed has not been perforated. If you had a carpet down and your DPM was perforated you would never know. The moisture would just evaporate into the air. A wooden floor however is hydroscopic and as such would suck the moisture up and expand. Even if you have joists and a chipboard floor we still recommend putting a DPM down. It costs so little but could potentially save your floor.
Why do you say to put the foam down first and then the DPM.
The foam should go down on top of the screed because it acts as a buffer and makes the wood floor feel more dead to the tread. It also helps to reduce any condensation on the under side of the d.p.m.