All of our timber and laminate products are designed to be installed as "floating Floors". As such certain criteria need to be met to ensure a successful installation and guarantee the long-term performance of these products. The information below gives a snap-shot of what are considered the minimum requirements for successful installation. For further information go to the "tech" page on this website for the comprehensive installation instructions for each particular product.  

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• Floating - By definition this means that the flooring once installed can behave like a raft, and move independently of the subfloor that it is installed upon. This means that room for expansion around the entire perimeter of the flooring must be provided for. As timber and laminate floors respond to environmental conditions (temperature and importantly humidity) they will expand and contract and therefore must have room to do so. This also means that there are limitations to the size of installations before expansion breaks must be considered.

  • Timber - Our engineered timber floors require an initial expansion allowance of 14mm around all perimeters and fixed objects. This includes such things as island benches, doorway thresholds and fixed cabinetry. Maximum installation area before expansion breaks need to be considered are 12m in the length and 8m in the width. Note that timber flooring expands more in the width than in the length and this need to be factored into any installation planning.

  • Laminate - Our laminate floors require an initial expansion allowance of 10mm around all perimeters and fixed objects. This includes such things as island benches, doorway thresholds and fixed cabinetry. Maximum installation area before expansion breaks need to be considered are 10m in the length and 10m in the width. Note that laminate flooring expands the same in the width and length and this need to be factored into any installation planning.

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• Subfloor - All subfloors need to be dry, flat, stable and clean. This is the single most critical element to long term floor performance.​

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• Dry: When in-stalled over a concrete subfloor a suitable underlay with a moisture membrane must be used. Although not necessary, an underlay with suitable membrane can also be used on a timber subfloor as added peace of mind against rising damp/moisture. Flooring should ideally be delivered to site and stored in the installation area for a minimum of 24 hours prior to installation so that the installation area and flooring can acclimatise.

• Flat: This is where many floors go bad. If the subfloor is not smooth and level (maximum tolerance 3mm per 1000mm - be aware this is still technically NOT level, merely the maximum tolerance which a floating floor can be “reasonably” expected to perform.) then the floor can squeak, creak, pop, bounce, gap, crack and may ultimately fail. If it is not smooth and level there may be issues that potentially can be complex and expensive to rectify.

• Stable: Ensure that the subfloor is sound. Remember the flooring will only be as good as the subfloor it is laid on. Concrete slabs are usually OK however large cracks could point to something more sinister. With timber subfloors make sure there is no “bounce” in the floor, and that it is correctly fixed/fastened, as your new floor will suffer if not fully resolved.

• Clean: while important in a floating installation, this is critical if a timber floor is being glued down. Glue must be able to bond with the subfloor; anything preventing this is going to pose an issue to the long-term integrity of your floor. Any and all contaminants must be removed prior to installation.

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Ensuring that the floor is being installed to the highest standards is ensuring peace of mind. These floors cannot think, and cannot make decisions on their own. A successful flooring installation is entirely reliant upon:

• the environment into which it is installed,

• the subfloor over which it is laid and,

• the competency of the contractor doing the installation.

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Our floors come with comprehensive warranties however we can only offer these on our products installed within the correct guidelines. We cannot warranty existing subfloor, environment or installation quality as these are beyond our control.