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Archive for the ‘Glue down wood flooring’ Category

Grand Designs: Source Wood Floors and Sikabond Adhesives

Sikabond adhesives: Elastic Adhesives for Wood Floors

Source Wood Flooring has been approached by Grand Designs to supply their Sikabond products in last month’s episode.

Wooden floors are subjected to dynamic and static loads that have to be absorbed by all of the construction materials involved. Dynamic loads result from walking and movement on the floor or from sound induced vibrations. Static stress is caused by increase or decrease of the moisture level of the wood due to climatic conditions, an inevitable phenomenon that in combination with rigid adhesives is often the cause for damages.

Sikabond adhesives provide enable wooden floors to be bonded to solid and engineered timber flooring directly to the sub-floor; SikaBond eliminates the need for fixing battens and rising of thresholds. Once cured, SikaBond is fully elastic. This allows the differential movement between the bonded surfaces without the risk of delamination. When fixing timber with SikaBond adhesives, adjustments can be made up to 1 hour after application.

Liquid Batten System

The Sika Bond adhesive Liquid Batten System makes it possible to install all types of wooden flooring on any substrate. This includes screeds, concrete, tiles, stone, metal, thermoplastic flooring and timber. Due to the versatility of SikaBond adhesives, it has the advantage of compensating for variations in floor levels by taking our surface irregularities.

Sound Insulating System

Sika® AcouBond® system comprises of SikaBond® single component gun grade elastic adhesive and the Sika® Silent Layer Mat. Together these Sika products provide a unique combination of elastic bonding technology and excellent sound reducing properties. Sika® AcouBond® system provides the ideal solution to both impact and reflective noise whenever timber floor finishes are installed.

Sikabond elastic bonding technology

For a long time, timber floors have not been nailed anymore, but bonded or laid as a floating floor by utilising a wood flooring underlay. Timber floors can therefore be laid in a time-saving manner direct to concrete without the need for a sub-floor by choosing one of the Sikabond adhesive products.

Please feel free to contact us with any queries regards Sikabond products on 01379 652613 0r 08456 021781

Posted in Glue down wood flooring Sikabond Adhesives on Tuesday, 11 October 2011 | Comments (0)

Source Online has the best wooden flooring

Source Online has the best wooden flooring

Available online and at the best prices on the market, Source Online offer the very best in hardwood flooring. High quality oak flooring is absolutely vital if you are thinking of putting wood flooring into your home. There are all kinds of wooden flooring available, as you can see from our site. However, you can be sure that once you see our range, you will always find what you are looking for.

Quality hardwood flooring at unbeatable prices

Wooden flooring can be an expensive luxury, but we appreciate that our customers want quality at affordable prices. There are many companies out there who will sell you wood flooring, but here at Source Online, we know that our prices will provide you with huge savings. We are committed to providing the highest of quality in hardwood flooring – and this will only continue to improve.

Oak flooring like no other

Solid wood flooring needs to be of quality manufacture, as well as being made from the highest standards of materials. We can guarantee that all of our flooring is nothing but the best. Our reputation – as one of the leading hardwood flooring companies – is in place because we are passionate about what we do. We know that our customers need premier wooden flooring that is built to last.

Advice and information for all your wooden flooring needs

As you can see from our site, we don’t just sell hardwood flooring. If there is anything you need to know about oak wood floors or any other kind of wooden flooring, you will find the information within our pages wood floor info centre. It’s sometimes confusing to know which kind of wooden flooring would be more suitable in your home, which thickness you would need, or whether the wooden flooring you prefer would be suitable for your house in the first place. If there is anything you need to know, we have the answer.

Hardwood flooring delivered directly to your door

As soon as you have decided which kind of wood flooring you would like, you can then have this dispatched directly to your door. Oak wood floors, adhesives, underlay and anything else you need are available directly through this site, and will be with you the very next day.

An impressive range of hardwood flooring

We have an extensive range of oak flooring, as well as many other wood flooring choices. In the comfort of your own home, you can browse through our selection of oak wood floors, underlays and much more, instead of trawling through the high street shops. Sit back, relax, browse at your own leisure and just request a sample to view in the comfort of your own home.

Bringing you the latest news in hardwood flooring

Would you know which adhesive is the best for your oak flooring?  These are some of the facts that are available in the news centre within this site. Source Online bring you the very latest in flooring news; this enables you to be more aware of what we provide, and what is best for your needs. For example, if you need to provide a damp proof membrane beneath your oak flooring, you would need a specific liquid DPM for the job – this is where our news centre would be helpful.

Without leaving home, you can sit down at your leisure and avoid the hustle and bustle of high street shopping. There are so many high street shops out there for you to choose from, and you will often find yourself wasting time by visiting all of them. Shopping online means you gather all the information you need whilst at home, and once you have decided which product you would like, the ordering process is just as simple. So contact us for any queries on 01379 688667 or 08456 021781

WHAT’S ON YOUR OFFICE FLOOR?

Wood flooring for your office:

If you’re one of the many who is lucky enough to be able to work from home, whether it’s for the duration of the working week or on a more infrequent basis, it’s really important to ensure that you have a home office which is fit for purpose.  If you don’t feel satisfied with the look of your office, you could find yourself feeling a little unsettled- and this isn’t the best way to feel when you have mountains of paperwork and emails to get through. Engineered Hardwood Floors is a favourite and top pick for any room in your home, and especially the home office.

It’s composed of entirely real wood but is layered, and the top layer can be done in virtually any colour or style. One way of ensuring that your home office looks amazing and which will contribute to the perfect working environment is investing in wooden flooring. As well as looking fantastic and helping you to create a contemporary looking office, wooden flooring is also a great investment as it’s so durable and long lasting- so you can rest assured that you’ll be working in a beautiful and productive office for a very long time.

Always save pieces or parts of any floor you lay down so that a portion can be replaced in the future if necessary. The top pick is engineered hardwood as a home office which is fit for purpose not only means an office which is equipped with everything which you need to work efficiently and effectively and which is roomy, but also an office which looks good. Depending on your subfloor, these planks of engineered hardwood can be click and place, with the help of nails or glue. Always save pieces or parts of any floor you lay down so that a portion can be replaced in the future if necessary and think that our floors are one of the most misunderstood renovation items in homes generally and in the home office particularly. We walk on them and put our furniture on them, and of course they are vital to a home’s function, but what more do they need to be, in order to function well for your home office?

Please feel to contact us if you would like help with your office flooring:  01379 652613 | 08456021781

Solid Wood Meets the Subfloor

Solid wood floors are as popular as ever due to their durability, their natural beauty and potential to be an everlasting feature. However correct installation of your wooden floor is vital otherwise that gorgeous new wood floor could turn into every home-owners worst nightmare.

Solid wood flooring provides many benefits in the home and when used on commercial projects. The natural warmth and beauty of real hardwood flooring sits well in traditional older & period properties and modern contemporary spaces. A quality hardwood floor provides a luxury but sturdy feel underfoot and a can provide a durable floor with the right surface finish. However the correct method of installation is important because wood flooring expands and contracts naturally due to moisture in the wood, air and subfloor.

Wood flooring installation method

Solid wood floors have for many years been fixed rigidly using wooden battens and nails secured by the “secret nailing ” technique. Installing the battens is time consuming and expensive and the increased floor height can cause problems for skirting boards, architrave and existing doors. Wooden flooring boards fixed by nails to wooden battens provides rigid fixing. This doesn’t allow for the wood’s natural movement. This often results in separation between the floorboards as shrinkage occurs with the changing climatic conditions. The end result is often “gapy floorboards” and “squeaky floorboards” as the the timber planks move up and down on the nails.

If the flooring really has got to be secret nailed then always at least consider the “belt & braces” approach and opt for an extra bond to the subfloor/battens by using a product such as Sikabond T2 adhesive. Better still use Sika T2 liquid battens instead of wooden battens orany other Sika elastic wood flooring adhesive for an installation method that will accommodate the wood’s natural movement.

Excessive Subfloor Moisture

Excess moisture within the subfloor can occur, particularly with cement based substrates. Wood is naturally hygroscopic and if installed over a subfloor with excess moisture then the water or water vapour will typically be absorbed by the wood flooring. The board is likely to expand and result in cupping of the floorboard which is where the outer edges of the board rise up higher than the centre, giving a subtle concave look.

This is where the bottom of the wooden board expands at a greater rate than the top due to moisture uptake from beneath it. Crowning is the opposite where the edges of the board are lower the centre and is usually the result of high in-room humdity or water spills on to the top surface of the wooden floor.

If the moisture is excessive and the wood expands significantly but has no where to go, then crushing of the edges of the boards can deform the floorboards at the edges. With increased pressure over time, the stress can move into the subfloor which often results in failure of the subfloor and ultimately risks the floor being “written off”.

Nowadays it is common for wood floors to be installed over concrete subfloors and ideally the moisture content of the screed should be 0% or 1 to 2% maximum. Anymore than this and it is likely that the wood flooring will absorb this excess moisture because often it has no where else to go. Old concrete screeds with or without a damp proof membrane beneath can still hold excessive moisture or have the ability to develop it.

Fresh concrete screeds will have moisture that is released slowly over time and typically a 3″ to 4″ screed will take approx 3 to 4 months to get down to an acceptable level of moisture. So it is important to consider moisture content levels first before installation commences. Beware also that adding a self levelling compound will in itself add moisture to the subfloor and readings should be taken before and after it’s application.

Elastic adhesive systems

Sikabond elastic adhesive systems provide a modern alternative solution to bond a solid wood floor to the subfloor with many advantages. Some adhesive systems of the past were used to install wood flooring with a rigid bond between the flooring and the subfloor. Movement in the wood floor would frequently cause the rigid adhesives to crack and to tear loose from either the flooring planks or the subfloor, thus breaking the bond.

However technological advancements mean that this is a thing of the past. Sikabond elastic adhesives keep the timber planks tightly in place and ‘bonded’ securely to the subfloor, but by remaining permanently elastic, they also allow for subtle natural movement of the wood. They offer a very high ‘tructural bond’ to virtually any substrate and are especially suitable for problematic woods such as beech or maple.

Although a beautiful wooden floor looks attractive there can be some drawbacks as airborne and footfall noise can be an important consideration. If noise is a key concern, then the Sika Acoubond system, a footfall sound dampening mat combined with Sikabond T52FC adhesive sausages offers the ideal solution.

Solid wood flooring can really enhance and compliment an interior design scheme and last the test of time. Sikabond elastic adhesive systems offer numerous benefits when installing solid wood floors. Having made a significant investment in a beautiful solid wooden floor, it would be wise to take time to consider the best and most appropriate installtion method, not necessarily the cheapest option.

Posted in Glue down wood flooring on Monday, 5 July 2010 | Comments (0)

Wood Floor Installation – Subfloor Preparation

Flooring contractors are always under pressure to reduce time on site, particularly in the case of retail refurbishment projects where downtime means a loss of profit for the company. Here, Georgina Fraser, Product Manager at Sika looks at the latest products that can help contractors prepare a substrate efficiently and effectively in the minimum amount of time.

Professional flooring contractors need to achieve high standards of finish, however, with tight build deadlines – there is enormous pressure to cut corners and install a floor as quickly as possible. For retail environments in particular, completion of the project on time is crucial as the sooner work can be completed – the sooner business can resume.

The good news is that there are now numerous systems available on the market today that can help flooring  contractors to prepare a substrate and install a floor in just one day.

The most important part of any wood flooring installation is the correct preparation of the subfloor. The first step is to ensure the substrate is flat, dry and in a good condition to receive floor finishes. If levelling is required, the latest hybrid floor levelling compounds from Sika offer very high performance benefits over conventional materials. Sika Level Ultra is a state of the art high flow levelling compound which possesses improved flowability, is easy to mix and can be walked on in approximately 2 hours. This added flexibility can help reduce time on site and speed up

the overall application. Most standard levelling compounds have limitations as to the maximum thickness that they can be applied at. Typically these range from 0 – 5mm, 6mm – 12mm and 8mm – 20mm.

Contractors using proprietry floor levelling materials should pay careful attention to the maximum thickness that a manufacturers product can be used.  Some compounds such as Sika Latex Ultra can eliminate the need for more than one grade on site and can be applied at thicknesses from 0 – 20mm in a single application, this helps reduce costs, provides an improved finish and speeds up application time.

On time sensitive projects, once a floor levelling compound has adequately cured, a liquid damp proof membrane can be installed. A damp proof membrane will protect any floor finishes from residual moisture emanating from levelling works or the sub-floor itself.  In terms of cutting down time on site, single part resin membranes can provide contractors with many advantages as there is no need to mix first and the product can be applied quickly and easily with a roller or brush.

SikaBond Rapid DPM has been specifically developed to cut down time on site. A high performance single component liquid, it is a reaction curing resin, which provides an ideal solution for projects where time is limited on site. This solvent and VOC free damp proof membrane is applied by roller or brush and dries in just 45 minutes.

After a substrate has been correctly prepared using the products above the floor covering can be installed. Wood flooring has become an increasingly popular choice for retail environments for its luxurious qu thealities, durability and warm aesthetics. There are a wide range of adhesives available on the market today but when it comes to installing solid wood flooring there are two basic types.

The most trusted and more commonly used polyurethane adhesives were originally developed by Sika and introduced into the UK wood flooring market some 15 years ago, since then modified silicones (MS) adhesives have become popular with contractors due to their cleanability. However, MS adhesives have one major drawback, they do not bond as well to porous substrates which can dramatically increase the risk of a floor failure. To overcome this problem, Sika has developed SikaBond AT-80, which is a unique elastic hybrid adhesive that out performs polyurethanes and MS’s in almost every way.

SikaBond AT-80 uses an advanced hybrid technology.  A one component product, It possesses a bond strength that is equal to a polyurethane (unlike anMS) but is also very easy to spread, has excellent trowel profile retention and will clean off of a pre-finished wood floor and tools even weeks after it has fully cured, allowing any residual adhesive to be removed ensuring a high standard of finish is achieved.  Ready to use, it provides the technical performance that Sika is well known for.

Using a flooring system that includes a rapid setting self levelling compound, a damp proof membrane and an easy to use, easy to clean adhesive can ensure that a substrate can be prepared, protected and a new floor covering installed all in just one day.

For further installation advice or product information visit: www.sika.com or call the Sika Technical Team on Tel: 01707 363810.

Sikabond Rapid DPM – Cut down time on site

The new Sikabond Rapid DPM is a single part resin primer and damp proof membrane for cement based substrates developed specifically to cut down time on site. Sikabond Rapid DPM dries in just 45 minutes allowing work to continue on the same day.

The main use of Sikabond Rapid DPM damp proof membrane is to protect floor finishes from residual moisture emananting from cement based sub-floors. In addition, it can be used for consolidating weak cement screed and for the isolation of old adhesive residues.

A high performance liquid – Sikabond Rapid DPM has been developed without using any solvents or VOCs. Quick and easy to use, the single component DPM requires no mixing and can be applied by roller or brush.

A reaction curing resin, it provides an ideal solution for projects where time is limited on site. This product is ideal where it is necessary to visit the job site, prime all the sub floors and begin installing with Sikabond adhesives straight away.

This innovative new product from Sika is in stock now and available for immediate delivery, please contact us for further details. Watch this space, new Sikabond AT-80 adhesive is arriving next week!

Posted in Glue down wood flooring on Sunday, 20 June 2010 | Comments (0)
Member: National Wood Flooring Association