Browse Forums Flooring & Floor Covering 1 Oct 19, 2010 5:42 pm Do you need to "acclimatise" your floor after it's been laid? Some instructions say that it's best to leave it for 1-2 weeks so that the timber "can get used to its nail form" Has anyone waited after installation? My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Acclimatise after laying and before sanding? 2Oct 19, 2010 6:35 pm I think the idea is to acclimatise the timber before it is installed for a couple of weeks - generally there is a 24 hour turnaround after the floor is installed to allow the glue to go off. Re: Acclimatise after laying and before sanding? 4Oct 20, 2010 6:23 am Not that I have heard of - may be some issues if the floor is installed during rainy times in the Northern states, but you would probably have to talk with someone from up there to get a solid answer Cheers Re: Acclimatise after laying and before sanding? 8Oct 20, 2010 9:43 pm Sorry, I was rushing out the door earlier. I have no idea why, they just said they leave it for a week before coming back and sanding and sealing. It did acclimatise for 2 weeks before getting laid, so not sure it's about acclimatisation. It's direct stuck onto a concrete slab, ground floor only Re: Acclimatise after laying and before sanding? 11Oct 21, 2010 6:46 pm Thx, R. Yeah, I'm finding that almost all manuals say that this is a good idea. Seems much more important with wide boards and overlay (like yours, Rizzo). My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Acclimatise after laying and before sanding? 12Oct 25, 2010 5:12 pm Hey Lex, just spoke to our supplier/layers as they weren't going to come in till next week to sand them which would have been 2 weeks from them being laid, but they said they had kept a sample and have tested it and may be able to start this wednesday as it seems to handle it o.k. Don't know if this helps you or not, but they were saying it was something to do with the moisture content still in them??? They were acclimatised for 2-1/2 weeks before hand, so I guess they just have to adjust to being laid too? Re: Acclimatise after laying and before sanding? 13Oct 27, 2010 5:30 am Thanks, Rizzo So, they stacked the timber in each room and then waited for 2.5 weeks?? 2.5 weeks sounds super long (ie. not-gonna-happen long) for all the installers I talked to!! From what you're saying, it seems that your timber was not quite at the expected moisture range, which I thought does not really happen since my understanding is that all timber needs to be within a certain range as it leaves the mill . Or maybe they wanted it to be at a specific range. Ours was tested and it's supposedly within the range. Yeah, post-installation acclimatisation ... this is the one where most of the guys are happy to wait . One guy told me that timber moves after installation, that even I could see how much it moves after a week of being laid!! Something to do with forces in the timber once they nail it - the timber resists straightening (since lots of it is bowed at installation time) and eventually it gives up resisting ... So that's why they wait, plus it gives a better chance to the glue to cure. It probably helps further with adjusting the moisture contents in the timber at the same time. My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Acclimatise after laying and before sanding? 14Jul 23, 2011 10:29 pm Lex, are there any gaps width wise between your boards at all? Re: Acclimatise after laying and before sanding? 15Jul 23, 2011 10:41 pm Not really. Maybe one or two boards (out of 100 m2) where they actually laid it with a tiny bow (less than 1mm) and it jsut stayed like that and is totally fine. (Plus, this gap is only going for some 10-20 cm). However! Almost immediately after polishing, we had a very severe and long and super hot super dry spell (oh, don't you love the timing sometimes) and because it was all so fresh (the coating), you could see that the coating suffered some stretching or some kind of force so you could see super tiny whitish lines (not gaps) along some boards and when looking at certain angles. That's stretched coating that the boards pulled. But it's not a drama and only happened on the northern / western side of the house (even though I had windows covered!). My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Acclimatise after laying and before sanding? 16Jul 24, 2011 9:42 pm We acclimatised for three weeks before laying, and they've been installed for almost two months now and we have some cupping. Custom European Cabinets - Melbourne Kitchen Specialist PM for business details as website currently being updated! Our Crazy Owner Builder Journey! Re: Acclimatise after laying and before sanding? 18Jul 25, 2011 1:02 pm Cupping? How come? Did they press the boards too hard against each other? Re: Acclimatise after laying and before sanding? 19Jul 25, 2011 1:43 pm Its apparently pretty standard for our timber so Im not stressed Was sanded today ready to be polished and it looks great! Custom European Cabinets - Melbourne Kitchen Specialist PM for business details as website currently being updated! Our Crazy Owner Builder Journey! Re: Acclimatise after laying and before sanding? 20Jul 29, 2011 9:24 am I think the next year or so is going to be a tough time for timber floors. We came off a long drought, which dried trees/timber/flooring right out. Went into our wettest year in forever, which will expand lots of floors. A lot will be put down on wet subfloors, with high moisture content and will absorb moisture. And we will shortly head back to our regular summer. My advice to people who are worried about cupping, shrinkage etc. Is to sit tight and wait until we are back into a more regular weather pattern All of this is the reason I don't touch any sort of prefinished or floating floor. Cheers I'm about to put down some Merbau. Is it necessary to oil underneath the boards before laying? 0 1937 Hey There. No problems re jumping in. My original question was "should I have waterproofed" the concrete slab before putting batons down. We have been told we should… 7 4328 I am in the same situation, would you be able to give some insights in to this? I am in SA 8 17058 |