I would definitely NOT assume that the underfloor is flat. All the symptoms mentioned are the result of an undulating floor, with hollows. I doubt there is anything wrong with the Engineered flooring; it’s installation; or the underlay (Although the underlay could be improperly laid, with gaps & overlays). This is a complete rebuild job. But how much of the area has this problem? Seems (from the $11k) that it was a big area. Does it all creak, & cause rattles in the bookshelf?
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Why? I suppose it is recommended to allow the moisture content to match that of the environment. There is a big problem with that.
The temperature and humidity at my place varies enormously through the year. If I did this in February and the planks acclimatised they would be wrong for July and vice versa. This is why they are laid on polymer underlay and with room to expand or to contract at the edges, to allow the expansion and shrinkage to happen smoothly and avoid buckling or gaps. The whole point of the material composition, the formed connections, the precision shaping and the laying method is to allow this to happen.
If you believe this rule you are saying the product cannot cope with normal variations in atmospheric conditions; so why are you using it? I know this is manufacturers’ instructions but it makes no sense. It is like giving imperishable food products use-by dates or warning that PB may contain peanuts, instructions not to mow at night when they supply headlights or instructions not to sharpen mower blades followed by the step by step procedure: pointless bum cover for the maker.
Why not do it just in case? Well you have taken up old floor covering, cleaned and possibly levelled your floor and the bundles of planks have been delivered. The room has been out of commission and other rooms in the house are full of excess furniture for several weeks now. Do you really want to take the plastic wrap off the packs and leave them around for a few more weeks before you even start to lay? I bet this rule is honoured more in the breech than adherence.
The fact that the floor was raising in places, indicates to me it was laid too tight on the edges along walls. The fact that you have had them back many times suggests that the floor wasn’t installed correctly.
I would be asking for a full refund and taking action if it is not forthcoming. Then get a qualified installer (one recommended by the Timber Flooring Association) You may be able to get the TFA to organize an inspection. You wanted a glued down floor and you will never get that solid feel from a floating floor; in my opinion
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I would not if it is the ElkFalls product mentioned in the OP.
Why?
Because the packs are not to be opened until the day the day of installation.
Note:
I’m aware of other types of composite products including MDF timber mouldings such as skirting boards, wall paneling etc where the recommendations require indoor storage and time to acclimatise to the room. None have suggested 3 weeks, 2-4 days for panelling.
It may be useful to know which products are recommended to be glued down. As there is a moisture repellant layer required as an underlay for the types of flooring being discussed - how can the boards be glued down?
Would this also void the warranty?
It was not me that suggested this. I have seen that as part of the instructions, Manufacturers vary in their instructions considerably.
Apology offered.
It was the question being asked the response was intended to address, if that was not apparent.
Which is why I reproduced the relevant portion of the ElkFalls product installation guide. While there are other products that do as you suggest have different advice, it would be most pertinent to focus on the product that the OP’s problem relates to.
P.S.
Recent experience with MDF (MR) paneling the manufacturer advised a 48 hr wait between delivery and install. The proviso is that the material is stacked inside off the floor and the room or house is water tight.
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Solid timber floors can be glued but as far as I am aware floating floors can’t.
What people need to be aware of is most floating floors cannot be sanded and re-finished as the top layer is very thin. Hence once the top layer is worn through, I imagine that is the end of the product. A solid timber T and G (tongue & groove) floor can be re-sanded and recoated many times. Just remember what is important is the amount of wood above the groove which will determine how many times a floor can be redone.
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I’ve been reading this thread with interest. Just want to share my experience.
We had a house with a garage which was converted by the previous owners to a rumpus room with carpet tiles. As cost was a consideration, I pulled up the carpet and laid down laminate floating floor with builders plastic and underlay purchased from the laminate supplier. Then finished off the edges with timber mouldings attached to the walls but on top of the laminate thus allow the floor to expand/contract etc. I did virtually no preparation to the floor. Being an older product, the boards are tongue and groove glued to each other. When finished, the whole thing is like one big sheet basically “floating”. But it never moved or creaked as you experienced. However, it does has a hollow sound (as opposed to a solid wood sound) when you walk on it with shoes on, which I believe is the nature of the product. We expected that as it was like that in the shop.
We had another house where we pulled up the carpet ourselves in an open plan upstairs living area. The kitchen part was tiles which we also pulled up ourselves and scraped off the glue. This time we wanted hardwood engineered boards (First Step?), (much more expensive $30 vs $120 /m2, materials) This time, we had it professionally installed ($10,100 for 50 m2 plus stairs. I wasn’t there, but I dont think they had to level the yellow tongue floor (or they would have charged extra!). Again, no problems with it. This time, it does not have the hollow sound. But this product of course was much thicker, made up of backing and top layer. The floor feels just as solid as timber floors. But we did opt to pay more for a better quality underlay.
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We were told that this product has sufficient thickness on the top layer to be sanded back twice if required.
Just to clarify. The timber floors were laid on a large open plan living room, kitchen, hall/entry way and a staircase. According to the invoice it was 81.5 square metres. The underlay was a foam type and their highest quality underlay.
The boards were glued down on the staircase, and other than one board lifting, which has been re-glued, no problems. While the stairs creak when walked on, they did that before and I doubt it can be prevented given it is a timber framed staircase.
I’ve just sent off a letter of complaint (ACCC template) and I’ll see how they respond, but it will be pretty annoying to go through the whole process of selecting a floor material and getting another install.
I’m asking them for a full refund, plus any costs of removing/reinstalling the skirtings and kitchen cabinet kickers and moving all the furniture to get something else installed - does this seem reasonable?
thanks
