Floorboard (ship deck) installation
FLOORBOARD INSTALLATION (Installation of the ship's deck)
It is recommended to use the services of a professional installer when installing floorboards. These instructions outline the basic requirements, following which will ensure a beautiful and durable floor.
GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Bring the floorboard to the installation site a few days in advance. This is necessary so that the material can adapt to the room conditions. Store the floorboards in their unopened packaging on a horizontal and flat surface. During installation and afterwards, the temperature of the subfloor, floor material and room must be between 18-22°C. The relative humidity must remain between 35-50%. In private houses, apartments and office spaces with modern ventilation and heating systems, the air is very dry during dry times (during the winter heating period), and the humidity can even drop below 35%RH. Excessive dryness also has a detrimental effect on human health. Therefore, we recommend artificially increasing the humidity in the rooms during dry times, for example with a humidifier. In summer cottages or rarely used rooms, it is advisable to use a heating system controlled by a humidity regulator. If the humidity exceeds a critical limit, it automatically turns on the heating system.
SUBFLOOR
Concrete floor (When installing the deck in a damp room) In the case of a concrete subfloor, it must be ensured that the unevenness of the floor remains within the normal limits of ±2 mm over a 2m section. Covering the unevenness of the concrete with a leveling layer is not recommended because the leveling layer (certainly not less than a 5 mm layer) is not strong enough and the adhesive can pull the leveling layer off the concrete. After pouring the concrete, it must definitely dry for 1 month or more (depending on the thickness of the concrete layer). When starting the installation, the relative humidity must remain within ~60% RH. The humidity of the concrete must definitely be measured before installation. Old concrete floor If the old concrete floor is smooth, the unevenness must not exceed ±2 mm over a 2m section, clean and dry (max 65% RH) the floorboard can be glued directly to the subfloor. If the subfloor is not sufficiently flat, see the section “Uneven concrete floor.” If there is any doubt about the moisture content of the concrete floor, take the same measures as for a damp concrete floor. See the section “Damp concrete floor.” Damp concrete floor If, despite ventilation, the moisture content of the subfloor does not fall within the permissible limits, you must start looking for and repairing possible defects.
To determine the cause of the moisture, the following must be done:
*check whether the external moisture insulation of the building is in order;
*check that the floor insulation is not wet;
*check whether the floor moisture insulation is intact and correctly installed;
*check whether moisture is not getting in, for example, from the balcony doors;
*if there is a swimming pool in the lower room, check whether the floor has lower moisture insulation and whether it is in order;
*check whether there are thermal and cold bridges in the floor. Any defects found as a result of the checks carried out based on the previous list must be corrected before installing the floor covering. If the cause of the moisture content is capillary moisture, the situation can be improved slightly by making moisture insulation for the floor covering, but even then the moisture content of the concrete floor must not exceed 6...8%.
NB! When considering this option, it is important to remember that excess moisture in the subfloor will try to escape anyway. If the moisture cannot escape upwards from the floor, it will be absorbed into the wall structure, causing moisture and mould damage there.
Moisture insulation options:
*Epoxy primer - used for moisture insulation of concrete floors
*Roofing felt (polymer bitumen roll material) or specially adhesive materials that are glued to the entire subfloor.
*It is possible to use a film on which a layer of waterproof plywood is placed. The moisture-proof adhesive must be completely dry before gluing the parquet strips.
Uneven concrete floor
If the concrete surface is uneven, it must be leveled or, if possible, sanded. Leveling is done with suitable compounds according to the manufacturer's instructions. General advice—use as little leveling compound as possible and only the highest quality products.
PLYWOOD OR OSB (Not recommended for installing a ship deck in a damp room)
If the floor is on wooden beams or an intermediate layer in the form of plywood or OSB board is placed on top of the concrete, the boards must be attached to the beams with wood screws and, in the case of concrete, glued, and can also be attached with dowels. It is not recommended to use chipboard (PLP) because its moisture resistance is lower and its linear expansion differs from that of wood. When installing the boards, gaps are left between the boards, i.e. expansion joints of 3…5mm.
Wooden subfloor
First, check whether the subfloor made of boards is suitable for use as a base layer, the unevenness must not exceed ±2 mm over a 2m section. If this condition is not met, the floor must be leveled by filling in or sanding the holes, and in case of large unevenness, cover with an additional layer of boards. Check that the subfloor is stable. Before gluing, the floor must be cleaned using a slightly damp cloth and cleaning agent.
Floor joists
The subfloor joists and beams must be rigid and their spacing must be in accordance with the thickness of the material. The floor joists must be min. 45 x 45 mm, max. moisture content 12%. The optimal spacing of the joists is 40-60cm (45cm recommended) for 20mm thick floorboards.
FLOORBOARD INSTALLATION (Ship deck installation)
Distance from walls and other fixed objects
The expansion gap between the plank floor and the walls and attached objects depends on the size of the room and the indoor climate, preferably 10-20 mm. The expansion gaps are covered with floor skirting boards or filled with an elastic joint compound in a suitable shade (in this case, a 5 mm wider expansion gap must be left). When installing the deck, the expansion joints are filled with special mastic or with planks of the same type of wood, the grooved side of which is left against the floor and filled with mastic. Reducing footfall and shock There is no particular need to reduce footfall and shock absorption (rubber/cork or cork board roll material), since walking on a solid wooden floor does not create noise, as is the case with laminate flooring and parquet flooring. Gluing the floorboard (Gluing the deck) When gluing the board, it is recommended to use a special glue that ensures an elastic bond with the substrate. If the subfloor is very absorbent, it is recommended to prime the floor with a primer specifically designed for this purpose (depending on the adhesive used, we recommend Uzin MK73 for gluing and PE317 for primer). The installation of the floorboard begins with an accurate measurement and planning of the room. Use a marking line to make sure that the first row is indeed straight. This is very important for achieving the final result. The adhesive is applied to the floor with an adhesive comb suitable for the type of board. The adhesive is applied in 20-30cm increments - the adhesive strip must extend to join the boards together. The extent of the adhesive application depends on the type of adhesive (drying speed), the absorbency of the substrate, the temperature and humidity. Start the installation from the farthest wall edge, with the first board with the groove facing the wall. Place suitable spacers between the walls and other fixed obstacles and the floorboards. Leave an expansion joint around the entire perimeter of the floor (10-20mm). Remove the spacers the next day. Use a heavy hammer to knock the boards together. To avoid damaging the planking, use a hammer or a 30cm piece of board. It is generally not necessary to use a hammer when installing a ship's deck. Stand on the already installed floor during installation.
In the case of a concrete subfloor, the floorboards are only glued to the subfloor. In the case of a plywood and OSB subfloor, use screws in addition to glue. Fasten the floorboards to the base (plywood, OSB) with screws from the top of the tongue at a 45° angle to the floor. All floorboards must be carefully pressed onto the adhesive pad to achieve a strong bond. If the subfloor is uneven, the adhesive strength of the adhesive may be significantly reduced. Install the last two boards simultaneously. The last board must be sawn to the correct size according to the width of the room. When gluing the floorboards directly to the subfloor, it is not recommended to glue the tongue-and-groove joint.
After gluing, it is recommended to place a weight (e.g. sandbags or unused board stacks) on the floor (in the case of a concrete subfloor). If glue gets on the surface of the board, it must be removed immediately with a damp cloth to prevent the wood from changing color. After gluing the board, the floor must be allowed to dry for 1-7 days, depending on the glue used. Only then can the final sanding and finishing begin.
Installation on bearings
When attaching boards to joists, it is recommended to use screws measuring 3x45 to 4.2x55mm instead of nails. The boards are attached to the joists with screws at a 45° angle to the floor from the top of the joist. By attaching the boards with screws, the potential for the floor to stick together is reduced and the floorboards can be easily lifted if necessary. The screw holes can be pre-drilled, but this is not absolutely necessary. When installing the boards with screws, longitudinal joints must not be glued. The ends of the boards can be glued together, which will create tighter end joints. In a floor installed with screws, each board dries/expands separately. As a result, small cracks may form in the floor during the heating season. These disappear in the summer, when there is no need for heating and the humidity in the room rises.
Heated concrete floor
If additional mechanical fastening is not possible for the first rows, 1...3 rows are glued down the night before. Then, by morning, the first rows will be firmly attached and the main part can be installed: each new parquet strip laid down must be firmly attached to the previous one.
Underfloor heating
In the case of underfloor heating, it is recommended to use a 1mm thick parquet underlay glued to a polyethylene substrate. Stabilizes the stresses caused by moisture and temperature. In the case of underfloor heating, 20mm thick floorboards must be used. This is because a 20mm thick floorboard is less sensitive to drying out than a 15mm thick one. Ship deck flooring is generally 10mm thick and made of teak, which is not as sensitive as other types of wood and is ideal for heated floors. Underfloor heating must distribute heat over the entire surface, the surface temperature (including under carpets and furniture) must never exceed 27 °C.
It is essential to use a primer if you have underfloor heating, otherwise the floorboards will stick together if you varnish them with a strong varnish.
In the future, you must also ensure that the underfloor heating is not adjusted too abruptly - it should not be faster than 3–4° C per day.
NB! It is not recommended to install beech and maple floorboards on underfloor heating. Protecting the floorboard Immediately after installing the floorboard, the floor must be completely covered with construction cardboard. This is necessary to prevent the surface from getting dirty before finishing.
DECK JOINTS AND FINISHING (Wet areas)
Deck joints and sanding (wet areas)
After the deck is installed, the joints are finished with a special mastic. If unsuitable mastics are used, the mastic may not adhere to the wooden surface and after a while water can penetrate through the floor. Before applying the mastic, the edges of the joint are taped with tape, which is removed after the joint is filled. The drying time of the mastic also depends on the width and depth of the joint. Generally 2-4 days. After the joint mastic has completely dried, the floor is sanded until it is ready for finishing.
Ship deck finishing (wet rooms)
Since it is necessary to add moisture resistance to the wood in damp rooms, we recommend finishing the deck floor with oil wax. Oil wax leaves the surface of the wood breathable, moisture comes out of the wood and at the same time does not allow moisture to enter the wood from the surface. Wood finished with oil wax protects the wood from water, various liquids and dirt. However, it is also necessary to maintain wood already finished with oil wax, ask the product representative for maintenance instructions.