Installation of industrial and mosaic parquet

It is recommended to use the services of a professional installer during installation. These instructions outline the basic requirements, the observance of which ensures a beautiful and durable parquet floor. The warranty requirements apply if the buyer has complied with the quality requirements of VIIMISTLUS RYL 2013. The warranty is 2 years in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Estonia. The warranty does not cover wear and tear caused by incorrect use and improper maintenance or failure to perform maintenance. To obtain a perfect result, you must follow the installation tips given by us.

GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Bring the flooring material to the installation site a few days in advance. This is necessary so that the material can adapt to the room conditions. Check the relative humidity of the room beforehand (it should be between 35-60%) as the humidity can be very high after painting. Store the parquet planks in their unopened packaging on a horizontal and flat surface. During installation and afterwards, the temperature of the subfloor, flooring material and room must be between 18-22°C. The relative humidity must be between 35-60%.

In private houses, apartments and office premises with modern ventilation and heating systems, the air is very dry during dry times (winter heating season), and the humidity can even drop below 35%RH. Excessive dryness also has a detrimental effect on human health. Defects caused by excessive dryness or excessive humidity are not covered by warranty work. 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

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 per 2 m. After pouring the concrete, it must definitely dry for 1-2 months or more (depending on the thickness of the concrete layer and drying conditions). When starting the installation, the moisture content of the concrete must remain within the RYL Viimistlus 2013 standards. The moisture content of the concrete must definitely be measured before installation. Before starting the installation work, it is recommended to lightly sand the concrete to remove the "concrete milk". This method significantly improves the adhesion of the adhesive to the concrete. In addition to the above, it is recommended to use Renove PU 200 adhesion primer on heated concrete to ensure better adhesion of the floor covering to the subfloor.

Old concrete floor

If the old concrete floor is smooth, the unevenness must not exceed ±2 mm over a 2m section, clean and dry 1.8-2CM (max 65% RH) parquet strips can be glued directly to the subfloor. If the subfloor is not sufficiently smooth, see the section “Uneven concrete floor.” If there are doubts 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 permitted 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 the floor covering is installed. If the moisture content is caused by capillary moisture, the situation can be improved slightly by insulating 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 rough, it must be leveled or, if possible, sanded. In the case of small irregularities, it is recommended to grind them out of the concrete with a diamond disc. Leveling is carried out with mixtures intended for this purpose in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. General recommendation—use leveling mixture as little as possible and only the highest quality products. When leveling concrete irregularities with a leveling layer, care must be taken because if the leveling layer is not strong enough, the adhesive may pull the leveling layer away from the concrete. Only high-quality mixtures with a strength index of 50N/mm2 are suitable for leveling.

PLYWOOD OR OSB

If the floor is on wooden joists or concrete, an intermediate layer in the form of plywood or OSB board is placed on top. The boards must be attached to the joists with wood screws and, in the case of concrete, glued, and can also be attached with dowels. Dowels must not be used on concrete with underfloor heating unless the exact location of the heating pipes is known or the thickness of the concrete layer does not exceed the length of the dowel. Using chipboard (PLP) is not the best solution because its moisture resistance is lower and linear expansion differs from that of wood. When installing the boards, gaps are left between the boards, i.e. expansion joints of 3…5mm. When gluing to concrete, plywood boards (1525x1525mm) should be cut into four smaller pieces before installation.

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 in a 2m section. If this condition is not met, the floor must be leveled by filling in the holes or grinding, and in case of large unevenness, cover it 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 a cleaning agent. To prevent moisture from building up on excessively damp concrete, we recommend using Renove adhesion primer PU 200

PARQUET INSTALLATION

Distance from walls and other fixed objects

The expansion gap between the parquet 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).

Footstep and shock reduction

There is no particular need to reduce footfall sound and cushion shocks (rubber/cork or cork board roll material), as walking on a solid wood floor does not produce noise like with laminate and parquet flooring.

Parquet gluing

When gluing parquet, it is recommended to use a special parquet adhesive that ensures an elastic bond with the substrate, such as Renove 400 elastic adhesive. If the subfloor is very absorbent, it is recommended to prime the floor with the PU 200 Renove adhesion primer specially designed for this purpose (according to the adhesive used). The adhesive is applied to the floor with an adhesive comb suitable for the type of parquet. The adhesive is applied in 20-30 cm increments; the adhesive strip must extend to the parquet. The extent of the adhesive application depends on the type of adhesive (drying speed), the absorbency of the substrate, the temperature and humidity. If the subfloor is uneven, the adhesive strength may be significantly reduced. All parquet strips must be carefully pressed onto the adhesive pad to achieve strong adhesion. After gluing, a weight must be placed on the floor (e.g. sandbags or unused parquet packages). If glue gets on the parquet surface, it must be removed immediately with a damp cloth to prevent the wood from discoloring. After gluing the parquet, 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.

Heated concrete floor

If additional mechanical fastening is not possible for the first rows, then 1...3 rows are glued down the night before, depending on the type of parquet. Then, by morning, the first rows are 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 must distribute heat over the entire surface, and the surface temperature (including under carpets and furniture) must never exceed 27 °C. It is essential to use a primer when using underfloor heating, otherwise the parquet strips will stick together when varnished with a strong varnish. In the future, you must also ensure that the underfloor heating is not adjusted too abruptly - it should not be adjusted faster than 3–4 °C per day. For heated concrete, we recommend coating the concrete with PU 200 adhesion primer before gluing the floor covering to ensure good adhesion between the floor covering and the subfloor.

WOOD FLOOR SANDING

Sanding a wooden floor

A wooden floor is mechanically sanded with a sanding machine designed for this purpose. Sanding serves several purposes. It removes the old finish. Sanding can sometimes make a worn floor even again. In the case of a new floor, the goal is to straighten the floor and remove any dirt before surface treatment.

Grinding machines and accessories

Heavy floor sanders, both drum and long belt machines, are used for sanding floors. Drum sanders use sanding paper sold in rolls. The paper is attached to the drum with eccentric clamps. Belt sanders use a so-called sanding belt. Floor sanders come with a vacuum cleaner that collects most of the sanding dust in a bag. These machines can sand most of the floor, but special machines are needed for sanding along walls, radiator bases and corners.

Edge sanding

The edges of the floor, radiator bases and the base of permanent furniture are sanded with an angle grinder. The machine uses grinding wheels that are attached to the support flange with a screw. The grinding wheels leave circular marks on the floor that must be sanded over by hand or with a flat sander.

Grinding corners

The corners are sanded with a special sanding machine, the sole of which resembles an iron. The machine uses adhesive and stick-on sanding materials.

Smoothing sanding

Today, parquet boards from high-quality manufacturers have very precise dimensions and there is practically no need for leveling. When leveling, fairly rough sandpaper 36...50 is used. Leveling is started from the edges of the floor with an edge sander. Next, the corner of the room is sanded with an angle sander. Leveling must be done in at least two stages and in a transverse direction. The sander is pushed at a 45-degree angle to the floorboards. The second time, sanding is done at a 90-degree angle to the first. Care must be taken when leveling, because very rough sandpaper is used. The drum or belt shaft of the sander must not be allowed to hit the floor when the machine is stationary. The sanding pad must always be raised when changing the direction of the sander. If another covering material is to be applied to the leveled floor that covers the sanding mark, there is no need to sand the board lengthwise. If the floor surface is to be treated, the leveling sanding should be stopped as soon as the floor is level and the previous surface treatment material has been removed. If the floor is sanded with rough sandpaper for too long, smoothing out the cross-shaped sanding marks will become unnecessarily laborious. When working with a floor sander, you must watch the machine's electrical cord so that it does not get under the sanding pad, where there is a risk of electric shock if the cord breaks. After leveling sanding, the surface can be filled. Two layers of filling are usually applied.

Fine grinding

The purpose of this sanding is to eliminate the cross marks of the leveling sanding and to obtain an even surface. If filler was applied after the leveling sanding, this sanding also removes excess filler. Sanding begins with sanding the edges of the walls with an edge sander. Then the corners of the room are sanded with an angle sander. The sander is pushed towards the floorboards, or in the case of mosaic or flag parquet, towards the main light source in the room. The sander is pushed as close to the wall as possible so that the mark of the edge sander is also removed. Sanding paper with a roughness of 60...100 is used for sanding. After sanding, the condition of the floor must be checked again and if there are any holes or cracks left, they must be filled.

Finishing sanding

The purpose of this sanding is to remove all the bumps and sanding marks left on the floor from previous sanding sessions. First, the edges of the walls and corners of the room are sanded. The floor sander is moved along the floorboards. Mosaic and flag parquet is sanded in the direction of the main light source in the room. Sandpaper with a grit of 100...150 is used. There are often places on the floor that cannot be reached by the machine. These must be sanded by hand at this stage. After sanding, the floor is carefully cleaned with a vacuum cleaner. The most common combination of sandpaper use. Sandpaper with a grit of 60 is used for the first sanding, sandpaper with a grit of 80 for the second sanding, and sandpaper with a grit of 120 for the third sanding. The best surface is achieved by finishing the rough sanding of the floor with a sanding net. The goal is to open the pores of the wood. For oiling, a sanding mesh with a roughness of 120 is used, and for varnishing, a mesh with a roughness of 180 is used.

Floor protection

If the floor is not finished immediately after sanding, it must be carefully covered. When covering, care must be taken to ensure that there are no holes in the covering, as sunlight from these areas can discolor the unprotected wood.

FINISHING

As a final finish, the entire floor surface is covered with a layer of oil or varnish. Since oil or varnish is the last layer on the floor that must withstand constant load, the durability and wear resistance of the products used should be examined. In most cases, colored oils and varnishes are also available. Sometimes waxing or soaping is also used. A varnished or oiled floor should definitely be maintained constantly: first, a special protective layer should be created on both the oil and varnish, which will absorb the initial load and which should be constantly renewed according to the load. Using such products extends the life of the floor by about 30% and keeps the floor looking new. The Floor Center recommends using Glimtrex oil waxes, for more information, please ask by e-mail or phone.

NB! NB! It is not recommended to install parquet made of beech, maple, jatoba, acacia and Siberian larch on underfloor heating because these wood species are not stable enough. Also, parquet made of spruce and pine is not the best solution because these wood species are relatively poor heat conductors.

Parquet protection

Immediately after installing the floorboard, the floor must be completely covered with construction paper to prevent the surface from getting dirty before finishing.

NB: As the installation of parquet floors varies depending on the specific conditions, no legal liability under the warranty arises from the instructions and recommendations given here. Before installation, it is recommended to carry out on-site tests or contact the relevant service providers. Before installing the floor covering, check the floor covering for defects. Complaints regarding defects in the installed floor will not be accepted.

After installation, the homeowner must:

avoid sudden fluctuations in room climate.

Keep the room temperature constantly at 20-22º and the relative humidity at 40-60%.

We recommend using a humidifier during the heating season.

Avoid unnecessary sources of moisture during the summer months.

The temperature of a heated hardwood floor surface must not exceed 27º C on the surface of the wood.