Engineered hardwood flooring is a designer hardwood flooring made from a thin layer of hardwood bonded over a substrate of high-quality plywood. In installing your designer hardwood flooring, several requirements are to be met to ensure it is properly installed. The following are some of the requirements needed for the installation of the designer hardwood flooring:
- OWNER/INSTALLER’S RESPONSIBILITY
The owner or installer of the designer hardwood flooring should take out time to inspect all materials before carrying out the installation to avoid mishaps during installation. The warranty that comes with the materials does not cover materials with visible defects once they are installed.
It is the responsibility of the owner/installer to determine if it is environmentally and structurally acceptable for the installation of the designer hardwood flooring.
- WORKSITE CONDITION
The designer hardwood flooring must be stored in the room where it is to be installed for at least 48 hours before installation to acclimate the flooring to the room. Heating and air systems should be fully operational 5 days before wood acclimation, maintaining a consistent room temperature between 60-80o F and a constant relative humidity range of 35%-65%.
For this reason, the designer hardwood flooring should be one of the last items installed. All work involving water or moisture (plumbing, plaster /drywall ceilings or wall finishes, painting, etc.) should be finished with sufficient time for complete drying before the designer hardwood flooring installation.
The environment must have undergone this process before the delivery of the designer hardwood flooring.
- SUBFLOOR PREPARATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR INSTALLATIONS
New concrete slabs require a minimum of 60 days of drying time before covering them with a designer hardwood floor.
Wood subfloors need to be well nailed or secured with screws. Nails should be ring shanks and screws need to countersink. The wood subfloor needs to be structurally sound and dry. They should not exceed 13% moisture before installation. If the subfloor is a single layer, less than 3/4” thick, add a single cross layer for strength and stability.
- MOISTURE CHECK
Wood Substrates must have a moisture reading of less than 13% when using an equivalent moisture meter and the moisture content of the wood should be within 4% of the subfloor moisture content.
- INSTALLATION METHODS
Your designer hardwood flooring can be installed either with the glue or staple-down installation method.
The glue method can be installed in two ways; the wet lay method or the dry lay method
Finally, in installing your designer hardwood flooring, the following should be noted:
- Particleboard is not an acceptable subfloor for staple-down or glue-down installations but can be used as a subfloor in floating installations. When installing over-existing wood flooring, install it at right angles to the existing floor.
- To correct any subfloor problems concerning moisture, either wait until the subfloor dries to meet specifications or use an appropriate moisture barrier.
- When installing a prefinished wood floor be sure to blend the wood from several cartons to ensure a good grain and shading mixture throughout the installation.
- Never work on top of the flooring when installing with the wet lay method.
