After-Installation Care
All oiled floors should be thoroughly cleaned right after installation and this should be a continuous part of your cleaning regime. The surface will then be more hard-wearing and easier to clean and maintain in the future.
The recommended soap used to clean oiled floors, coats the surface with an invisible film, providing additional protection whilst making the floor more resistant to dirt.
To clean your floor, use a brush or vacuum cleaner to remove surface debris. In order to achieve the best results possible, use only specific oiled-flooring soap cleaner, as these have heavy duty soap concentrate designed for cleaning and maintaining oiled wooden surfaces, such as flooring, furniture, kitchen surfaces, and all indoor wood.
Cleaning Extremely Grubby Floors
If the floor has been neglected and/or becomes filthy, it should be thoroughly cleaned with Loba Soap Cleaner (follow instructions on the bottle). Oil Soap cleaners have been developed to penetrate deep into the wood fibre.
How to Apply Oiled Floor Cleaners:
Loba: Wax Cleaner
Bona: Natural Oil Floor Cleaner
- Shake thoroughly prior to use
- We suggest using the Addis floor cleaning mop for optimal use
- The mop has a water canister mounted to the arm for easy cleaning
- Follow the instructions on the bottle when mixing the solution with water
- Spray and clean using the mop
- The clean area will take approximately 25min to dry
- Once finished rinse the pad in water
- Important to note that you should not wipe the floor with clean water after using the soap, as the protective oils will be removed
Rejuvenating Your Oiled Floor
Use a flooring refresher once or twice a year, depending on the amount of dirt. When your floors start to get that tired look or become dull, a flooring refresher will restore and protect your floor. This will also assist in everyday care, it will reinforce the floor’s resistance to dirt, and will give your floor a new lease of life. Be sure to consult your local flooring specialist for more information.
Source: www.ecooakflooring.co.za
Please note:
The information provided is only a guide. You should always refer to the manufacturer’s guidelines before applying any cleaning product to your floors.
If you have any further questions or you need any advice, please do not hesitate to contact us
Basic Installation Guide
Engineered floors can be floated, glued down or nailed down to a sub-frame. Floors can be installed over underfloor heating systems (please consult your flooring professional regarding underfloor heating).
Below is a basic guide to installing engineered floors.
Substrate Must Be Flat
Due to the nature of a floating floor, the floor that the the substrate is covering, must be flat. Once a floating floor is installed it acts like one giant entity. Any parts of the subfloor that are not level will contribute to uneven floorboards which will result in a “hollow” sound when walked on.
Moisture Content Must Still Be Recorded
Floating floors aren’t necessarily 100% moisture-proof. It is important to take moisture content readings before and during installation. (Consult your local flooring professional)
Foam Underlay Floor Installation
When installing a floating floor, there is traditionally a foam layer installed between the subfloor and the engineered hardwood. There are a few reasons why:
- It acts as a moisture membrane (but will not block out moisture 100%)
- It acts as a sound-dampener
- As mentioned above, floating floors can sometimes sound hollow when walked on, so by using a good quality foam underlay, it will reduce noise
Glue-Down Floor Installation
Engineered flooring might sound hollow and feel rather spongy underfoot so by using glue for installation, an engineered floor will sound like a solid wood floor, especially if you glue your floor to a concrete subfloor. Are you thinking about installing an engineered hardwood floor? Browse our products here.
The adhesives used to glue wood down to a subfloor are extremely strong. More recent adhesives are elastomeric which allows the wood board to expand and contract but will not expand or contract nearly as much as they would do with a floating or nail-down installation. Please note however that glue-down floor installations do not eliminate wood movement 100% but will reduce movement considerably. Also, a great quality adhesive will act as a vapour barrier too.
Source: www.flooritgr.com
Glue-Down Hardwood are great for parquet flooring. Whether you are using fingerboards, herringbone, or any other type of parquet flooring, glue-down is a great option for installation. It’s the only tried, tested and trusted method for parquet floor installations.
If any glue gets onto your floorboards or in-between the boards it must be cleaned up immediately and to the specifications of the manufacturer. The adhesive used to install hardwood floors is extremely difficult to remove once it is has dried.
Depending on the type of adhesive you use, it may have a strong odour. So be sure to wear an organic vapour cartridge mask during installation.