Are You Ready For Oak Flooring?
8th Sep 2017
The excitement builds as you order your chosen oak flooring and cannot wait to bring it into your home. But are you really ready for it? This stage of the oak floor fitting process is incredibly important and should not be rushed. Not checking a few key variables could cause problems to your oak flooring in the future. So what should you be checking?
On-Site Work
Oak flooring should not be in your home if construction work is still being carried out on the property. If your house is a "building site" this will only have a detrimental effect on your new beautiful oak floor. Excessive Grit and dirt from building work will only damage the flooring. The house should be sealed - meaning all windows should most definitely be installed!
Subfloor
Regardless of what type of subfloor you are laying onto, the base should be prepared and ready before oak flooring is delivered to your home.
For new screeds, these should be poured long before an oak floor can be laid on top. If the screed is still yet to be poured, then oak flooring is not required for quite a while. Once poured, the screed needs to be dry. We recommend that flooring is not laid over a screed with a moisture content higher than 4%. Laying over a wet screed will result in the wet moisture rising as the screed dries, and causing issues to your wooden floor.
The subfloor should also be checked to ensure that it is reasonably level and therefore suitable for laying an oak floor over. This can be done by placing a spirit level at various intervals around the room. These levels should not vary more than +/- 2mm per metre. The edges of the room should also be check for rises and dips.
Plastering/Wall Work
All plastering work should be completed and dry prior to bringing oak flooring into your home. Wet plastering could result in wet moisture in the air which can be absorbed by the oak flooring boards. Any painting, wallpapering and tiling work should also be completed prior to delivery.
Natural Living Conditions
With the above points followed, the final way to ensure that your room is ready for oak flooring is simple. Is the room in a natural living condition (excluding the floor)? Meaning is the room how you would ordinarily live day to day with a normal living temperature and humidity. Sources of heating should be running normally prior to your oak flooring being delivered.
Final Job
Ideally the delivery and resulting installation of your oak flooring should be the "final job" in your renovation work. Prior to fitting, remember to leave sufficient space inside the room for the boards to sit and acclimatise to the surroundings.
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