Dream home laminate flooring

In many inspections on floor failures installed
on underfloor heating, I find it’s often key how
long before the installation that the UFH is
switched off. Typically it should be turned off 48
hours prior to the installation and not turned on
again for at least 48 hours afterwards.
This is mainly to avoid movement in the
material to allow the adhesive to reach its full
cure strength. And even then do not expose the
materials to instant heat (i.e. don’t turn the
heating back on at full temperature).
Hopefully all installers know that the heating
should be switched back on at a low heat
increasing by 2-3degC each 24 hours.What is
low? Start at around 12degC.
Always use commonsense and information
from the manufacturer. Adhesive producers
state the cure time on their tubs or in the
literature. These times can vary between 48
hours and 72 hours, but some adhesives may
require different criteria, so always check.
Adhesives grab fairly quickly, but don’t reach full
strength in less than the times given.
I always ask installers: ‘Did you switch off the
heating and if so, did you use alternative forms
of heating to keep the roomat the
recommended temperature at which
floorcoverings should be installed – 18degC?
Most people don’t properly consider the
implication of turning underfloor heating off and
not introducing other forms of heat.
There are many manufacturers who state that
the subfloor should be 15degC during the
installation. This means you should leave the
underfloor heating on at around 15degC to
comply with the adhesive manufacturer’s
instructions. But also keep the roomat an
acceptable temperature to install in.
The advantage of leaving the heating on at
this level,means when the customers come to
reuse the area, they can achieve normal room
temperatures in a shorter time; this will reduce
the risk of shock variations in temperature to
the floorcovering (I call this the sauna
syndrome). Some customers expect to turn the
heating back up instantly.
Some installers who have left the heating on
at this level tellme they don’t get the problems
they once did with underfloor heating.
When usingmoisture curing adhesives, you
should also consider whether the subfloor is too
dry. Underfloor heating can sometime reduce
the moisture level in the subfloor sufficiently to
affect the curing of these types of adhesives, so
always ask for themanufacturer’s advice.
Always remember Don’t expose floorcoverings
to changes in atmosphere until the adhesive
has reached full cure strength and for those
floorcoverings not adhered to the subfloor, don’t
don’tmake big changes.