Essential Flooring Information

Check that your chosen floor is suitable for its intended location and identify a suitable method of installation. Use our Flooring Selector or ask our staff for guidance.

Make sure that at least the recommended wastage allowance has been added to the required area of wood flooring (detailed in our Flooring Selector) to allow for cuts at the edges of the room.

Make our staff are aware of how your wood flooring will be fixed so that they can advise on suitable fixing and finishing products.

Make sure that any room into which you are planning to install our wood flooring is free from damp. Beware of seasonal damp (which might be apparent all year round) and make sure that a damp proof membrane or other method of preventing rising damp is present in ground floor rooms. If in doubt, consult a professional before having your wood floor installed.

Make sure that any new concrete or plaster is, or will be, fully dry as defined in our Installation Guide and that the heating has been run as instructed in our Installation Guide prior to delivery of the floor.

Make sure that unless you are using a Broadleaf recommended fitter, whoever is installing your floor has read our Installation Guide and that they contact us with any queries as we cannot take responsibility for products installed outside to our recommendations.

Discuss the installation of your wood flooring with your fitter and make sure that you understand how this will work and are happy with this.

Make sure that your fitter is aware of any preferences you have about the way the floor is laid – direction, arrangement of mixed width boards, colour variation etc – before they start.

Check that your fitter is happy that your subfloor meets the requirements of our Installation Guide and is suitable for the fixing method required for the wood flooring you have chosen. If not, preparation work may be necessary to resolve this prior to installation or you may need to adapt your product choice.

If you are intending to install Broadleaf wood flooring over underfloor heating, please make sure that you have read the underfloor heating section of our Installation Guide and that you make our team aware of this when you order so that they can advise you accordingly.

Please also make sure that you have notified your underfloor heating supplier that you are planning to fit wood flooring over their system so that they can design it appropriately and make you aware of any requirements your wood flooring might need to comply with. Most importantly your underfloor heating system will need to be designed so that the surface temperature under your wood flooring never exceeds 27°C. The best way to ensure this is to have a floor thermostat fitted.

Make sure that your wood flooring is delivered into a room with normal living conditions – that is sealed, dry and heated, with a room temperature of between 15-24°C and relative humidity of between 40-65%.

Check your order carefully on delivery and advise us immediately of any query. Acclimatise all Broadleaf wood flooring for 7-14 days before installation.

This requires them to be kept in the room where they will be fitted, or a nearby room with similar environmental conditions, unwrapped and lattice stacked (criss cross) so that the air can circulate.

Make sure that the room to be fitted is completely clear of furniture when the fitter arrives, unless you have made alternative arrangements with them directly.

If you have underfloor heating, ensure that this is set as per our Installation guide – Section 6.

If you have underfloor heating, follow the instructions in the installation guide to return this to normal running temperature after fitting and make sure that any future changes in temperature are gradual.

Maintain temperature and humidity in the house within the following normal ranges:

Temperature: 15-24°C

Ensure that any finish applied in situ is left to cure completely as per manufacturers’ guidelines before reinstating furniture and using the room. Follow our aftercare guide to keep your wood flooring and its finish in good condition.

Ideally we would recommend that any other works – such as decorating – are completed before your wood flooring is fitted to  minimise any risk of damage as a result of these.

If this is not possible, your wood flooring should be covered with a suitable protective material. These are normally supplied in sheets / rolls to be taped together. In this case, make sure that the tape is only stuck to the protective covering itself and not to the floor, as it will be solvent based and will damage the floor finish.

Similarly, if skirtings are decorated after your wood flooring is fitted, masking tape must not be used and protective covering must not be taped to the floor. All adhesive tapes, even those marked as low tack, contain solvents which will damage your floor finish.