STORAGE
Bespoke Timber Flooring Ltd supplied floors should always be stored in a horizontal position and on a flat surface, you should never lean them against a wall. The floors have been acclimatised to an average moisture content of 8% within the designated area at our mill. Therefore it is unnecessary to acclimatise the floorboards for excessive periods of time. If the room where the flooring is to be installed is the same as normal living conditions 24 – 48 hours acclimatisation prior to commencement of installation is sufficient, you must never store flooring in a room with a high humidity level, excess condensation or dampness. You must never store your flooring outside. You must never install flooring in an unheated room in the winter months.

INSTALLING ONTO CONCRETE
BS No.8201 suggests that the slab should be maximum 75% relative humidity or 5% moisture content. Our flooring is dry at 8% moisture content. If the slab is at 75% relative humidity, our flooring once in direct contact with the slab will achieve equilibrium moisture content of 16%. The means that it would expand at 12mm per meter width of the floor and installation would fail. It is therefore our view that no screed is ever dry enough for flooring to be glued directly onto it.

Fully Bonding
We recommend that a damp proof membrane is applied to the floor before fully bonding, our preferred supplier is Sika and we recommend Sika Primer MB which is one coat solvent free moisture barrier primer. It has excellent adhesion over mastic asphalt and old adhesive residues. This product takes 12 hours to dry at 20ºC. The recommend glue to use in conjunction with Sika MB is Sikabond T54. This glue is also recommended for floors with under-floor heating.

If time is of the essence we recommend Stopgap F76 by F-BALL & Company. This is two part resin which chemically cures as a water proof surface membrane. If used in conjunction with Stopgap Accelerator the drying time will reduce to 3 hours at temperature at 20ºC. You may then fully bond the flooring using Styccobond B95 glue by F-BALL & Company.

Sika Silent Layer Mat
If installing onto screed, apply the appropriate damp proof membrane as already outlined above. If installing onto chipboard or ply you need to roll-out Sika Silent Layer Mat. One of the benefits of this product is sound reduction it is therefore ideal for use in bedrooms and apartments. This product is used in conjunction with Sika T52 sausage 600cc.

All of the above is suitable for installation of our 14mm and 21mm thick floors.

Elastilon
Again, use an appropriate damp proof membrane as above. Elastilon is a strong elastic underlay with an adhesive layer on one side. For professional installers the manufacturer has produced statistics which prove that time saving on installation is between 50% and 70%.

Secret Nailing over Screed
Both our overlay and structural boards can be secret nailed, it is possible to use this method if installing over screed. We recommend that the following procedure is implemented. You should use Toughsheet 250 micron blue polythene, this should be rolled out onto the screed, you may then install 12 – 18mm plywood on top, then use Sisalkraft 728 moistop, this is black polythene coated water proof building paper meeting the requirements of BS1521AIF and when used black side face down it acts as a moisture barrier. You may then install 14 or 21mm flooring by secret nailing to the ply.

Secret Nailing to Battens / Joists
It is only possible to secret nail 21mm thick flooring using this system. All our floorboards are ends matched which means they are tongue and grooved on all four sides. When secret nailing onto battens it is unnecessary to support the end of each board onto a joist / batten.

FINISHING
All Bespoke Timber Flooring Ltd supplied floors have been pre-sanded to 120 grit. Once installed a light sanding is recommended. To finish the floor we recommend Osmo Polyx Oil. This product is micro porous but water, coffee, tea, wine etc. repellent. It will allow the flooring to breathe. Alternatively you may use a lacquer of your choice depending on the desired finish. We recommend Dr Schutz range of lacquers.

GENERAL COMMENTS
You must always allow a minimum of 15mm expansion gap around the perimeter of the room. Never assume that sub-bases are sufficiently dry, if in doubt carry out a damp proof test to sub-base and walls and if in doubt always install a damp proof membrane. Always ensure that concrete slabs are level, if this is not the case prior to putting down a DPM we recommend that you use a self levelling compound for example Stopgap Green Bag and 114 Latex liquid.