Wood floors manufactured to British Standards of the highest quality. We are continually working with new treatments and oils to allow designers an open book when creating new and stunning interior designs. We consider ourselves the leading company in being able to create sustainable flooring to meet any designers and client’s requirements. Seeing is believing so please give us a call to arrange a meeting so you can experience first hand how wood products ca be made not only to meet budget requirements but also surface finish and designs.

Over a period of years we have developed and extended our range of wooden flooring, many at the bequest of our Architect and Interior Designer clients. We place the most emphasis on quality and functionality and with no middlemen so you receive a top quality product at a reasonable price. We are proud to offer you one of the largest ranges of solid and engineered wooden flooring in the UK market today.

Expert Advice

We are here to help and offer free friendly advice on all aspects of wooden flooring. We offer a survey service and help to enable you to choose the appropriate flooring for your environment. There are hundreds of documents and links on the web site to allow you to investigate every aspect of wooden flooring including help on any problems you may have with an existing floor.

We only manufacture our own wooden flooring and can therefore control the sources of our raw material unlike a large number of our competitors who buy from traders, or where traders sell direct. We hold large stocks for immediate delivery.

We are certified members of The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) with a chain of custody certificate which means that all our FSC certified flooring can be traced back to the forest where it was harvested which ensures that it is properly managed. Further details can be found on the web site http://ic.fsc.org/

We are also very ecological in our manufacturing using off-cuts of Oak and walnut to manufacture our Sandwich Engineered Oak and fine line flooring. This means less wastage from the timber harvested.

As part of our services to help Architects & Designers we will produce a full NBS specification for you.

This service is available if you decide to use one of our existing engineered wood floors or work with us to design and produce a unique floor for your project. The specification will include all fitting instructions and other relevant technical information to ensure a trouble free installation including covering and maintenance after installation. 

We can start work with you at the conceptual stage where you have basic plans and the need to design interiors that are unique and imaginative. All we need to do this is the following:

1. Product code of floor (if it is an existing product i.e. E222)
2. Sub Floor construction
3. Type of under floor heating system (if any)

We do not just “sell” engineered wood flooring we help to design textures, colours and hues to create unique interiors that help the designers and clients. We have done this on a large number of prestigious developments and are now considered one of the leading companies developing new wood floor products to match a client’s expectations and requirements. We manufacture all our own flooring and have some cutting-edge, secret treatments that are unsurpassed in the current market place. Sustainability is always at the forefront of our thinking and procurement and our dedication to the supply chain and timely deliveries is paramount.

If you’d like to discuss your requirements so we can produce what you require both in terms of product and documentation please call us on +44 (0)1666 504015 or email us at: info@thesolidwoodflooringcompany.com

We are dedicated to providing you with the highest quality FSC certified sustainable products, as well as unbeatable service.

We are dedicated to providing you with the highest quality FSC certified sustainable products, as well as unbeatable service.

• We can help you: By making sure YOU get the product that you have specified.
• You can help us: By enabling us to plan our production to minimise waste and transportation.

If you’d like to register your interest in specifying one of our products, please help us by completing the following information in an email to us:  

1. Board Specified product code
2. Quantity
3. When required on site
4. Current stage of project
5. Name of project
6. Name of Specifier
7. Telephone Number
8. Email
9. Would you like a full NBS specification
10. Would you like a O&M manual

Email: info@thesoildwoodflooringcompany.com

We are supporters of BIM national database and are in the process of providing all the information on our 100 plus products on to the database more details will follow once the entry is completed.

More information on BIM can be found by following the links below.

• http://www.bimtaskgroup.org/product-specifiers-and-suppliers/
• http://www.bimtaskgroup.org/cobie/
• http://www.nationalbimlibrary.com/
• http://www.bimtaskgroup.org/index.php?s=templates

We also follow the British Standard BS1192 for all our products.

More information can be found on the external links

• BS 1192:2007 Collaborative production of architectural, engineering and construction information. Code of practice

All our products are CE certified. This is the European Standard which defines and specifies wood and parquet flooring products including the relevant characteristics, requirements and appropriate test methods to determine these characteristics, when used as internal flooring, including enclosed public transport premises”. It also applies to wood veneer floor coverings. This document covers flooring defined in EN 13226, EN 13227, EN 13228, EN 13488, EN 13489, EN 13990, EN 13629, !EN 14761″ and EN 14354. It does not specify dimensional limits or tolerances, which are given by these same standards.

The CE marking as it has been legally called since 1993 (per directive 93/68/EEC)(Decision 93/465/EEC), or formerly EC mark,[1] is a mandatory conformity marking for products placed on the market in the European Economic Area (EEA). With the CE marking on a product, the manufacturer declares that the product conforms with the essential requirements of the applicable EC directives.[2]

Different methods of wood veneer manufacture

Different cutting and slicing methods to process raw timber are used to produce different visual effects. Logs of a given species, cut by different methods will produce a variety of appearances.

Engineered floors from The Solid Wood Flooring Company are either Quarter Sawn or Cross Sawn using band saws so that we cut from clean kiln dried untreated timber unlike processes using a knife where the timber has to be steamed or boiled and treated as explained below in the Rotary cut section to “soften” the timber.

When the timber is treated in this way it affects the grain and colour of the natural wood. This is why coloured oils never work the same on sliced veneers as they do on cut veneers where the wood has not been pre-treated to soften it.

Imagine your skin left in a hot bath under water for a while it becomes soft and changes texture and colour, wood is the same but it never goes back to exactly what it was before.

Rotary cut: “Sliced Veneer” We do not supply these CHEAP versions of engineered floors

In rotary cutting, the log is mounted centrally in the lathe and turned against a knife, as if unwinding a roll of paper. A multi-patterned grain marking is produced with this method. Rotary cut veneer can be sufficiently wide to provide full sheet (one piece) faces.

In the quarter sawn and plain sawn picture above we use a band saw not a knife so we do NOT have to soften the timber. Beware of cheap imitation products.

The sliced veneer method described as “Rotary Cut” above means less waste BUT the log has to go through a process of chemical and heat treatment to make it soft enough to slice the log in this way. The log is soaked in boiling water with added chemicals and then processed as above.

The top layers are then dried and made into engineered boards. The problems with these engineered floors is that the surface grain will gradually split open and if used with underfloor heating the boards will deteriorate over time with any finish on the boards suffering. This is why these types of board are the cheapest on the market and commonly found at the lower end of the market.

Conversion of timber

As soon as possible after felling the tree should be converted into usable timber.

The Quarter sawn is far more expensive because of the need to double (or more) handle the log. There is also more wastage. It is however more decorative and less prone to cup or distort. Note also there are two ways of sawing the quarter.

Through and through or cross sawn produces mostly tangentially sawn timber and some quarter sawn stuff. (see diagram) Tangential timber is the most economical to produce because of the relatively less repetitive production methods. It is used extensively in the building industry.

There are other ways but they are all variations of tangential and radial cuts to obtain the best or most economical boards for the use it is to be put. These basic cuts are not always able or need to be, on the exact tangent or radius of the trunk. The cuts, that fall between, crown and quarter are called ‘rift’ and between ‘rift’ and ‘quarter’ are identified as ‘figured’ – see below for explanation. Boxing the heart refers to eliminating the heartwood from the boards that would otherwise produce shakes, juvenile wood or may even be rotten.

Tangential boards (crown, plain or flat sawn) are used extensively for beams and joists. They are stronger when placed correctly edge up with the load in the tangential axis. These type of boards suffer from ‘cupping’ if not carefully converted, seasoned, and stored properly. Annual growth rings form an angle less than 45 degrees.

The Owners and Directors of The Solid Wood Flooring Company has made it a policy to only source from well managed legal sustainable forests and be responsible not only to the environment but also our clients, staff and contractors. We unreservedly condemn illegal logging and will not manufacture some exotic species as we believe that a lot are from questionable sources. With modern oiled finishes there are so many options that it seems a shame for companies to still sell flooring that comes from our ever reducing rain forest. 

We only manufacture our own wooden flooring and can therefore control the sources of our raw material unlike a large number of our competitors who buy from traders. 

We are FSC certified with a chain of custody certificate which means that all our FSC certified flooring can be traced back to the forest where it was harvested which ensures that it is responsibly managed. Further details can be found on the web site http://www.fsc.org/.

Our FSC Certificate is near to the bottom of this page: http://info.fsc.org/details.php?id=a0240000005sSKGAA2&type=certificate#result

We are also committed members of the Timber Trade Federation (TTF) and implement their Environmental Code of Practice and responsible purchasing policy (RPP). The RPP is a key issue in the timber industry today as it will ensure that all forests will eventually become totally sustainable, and over time the rain forest will get replanted. Further information can be obtained directly from the TTF web site at www.ttf.co.uk. 

By following this policy we can ensure that for every tree harvested there will be more than one replanted. Never buy cheap wood flooring as it will invariably come from illegal logging operations where there is no management and locals cutting down trees and selling the raw material cheaply, in well managed forests only the best timber is selected. 

The USA for example has always had a sustainable Forest Initiative as it has used timber in its house building and flooring in the early days of its evolution. The US has a regulatory framework enforces its good forestry practise throughout the US and Canada which is where our American White Oak, Walnut and Maple are sourced 
form. 

We are also very ecological in our manufacturing using off-cuts of Oak and walnut to manufacture our Sandwich Engineered Oak and fine line flooring. This means less wastage from the timber harvested.

FSC stands for Forest Stewardship Council® which is international non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting responsible forestry.

FSC stands for Forest Stewardship Council® which is international non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting responsible forestry.  When you buy FSC Certified wood floors you can be sure you are buying ethically sourced wood and thusly helping the environment.

All our engineered wood flooring products are responsibly sourced.

We are fully committed to supplying only responsibly sourced timber flooring. 
 
We are audited each year by the Timber Trade Federation on their Responsible Purchasing Policy and also by the FSC and PEFC auditors. You can see our percentage of FSC and PEFC certified material since 2013 and the very small percentage of material that was not FSC or PEFC certified still had the relevant EUTR certificate so we can guarantee that all our wood flooring comes from sustainable sources.
 
FSC supplies of Oak for 2013 were 90%, the balance was Canadian Maple sourced from The North west of Canada and for our American Walnut we had an EUTR report compiled by Bureau Veritas Certification, you can see a copy here.
 
In 2014 95% of all our wood flooring supplied was FSC as we only recently starting sourcing Oak form Central Europe where it will be PEFC certified. The balance of 5% has a EUTR certificate from the supplier. 

You can see frequently asked questions on FSC timber here. 

 Wood Flooring costs less.  Wooden & Bamboo Flooring are the most environmentally friendly  products in the construction industry.  The Timber Trade Federation issued a very interesting  document on the use of timber in construction.  Some of the contents have been reproduced here,  see our environmental policy.

Other useful sustainability links:

The Solid Wood Flooring Company’s FSC Certificate    

FSC Web Site (scroll to near the bottom to see us)

Responsible Purchasing PDF

TTF Responsible Purchasing Policy PDF

The Latest News on the UTR Framework

The European Commission published an updated guidance document on the EUTR.

The Commission have also launched a new EC Website on the EUTR.

Fumed, or smoked oak is oak wood flooring which has been treated to change its colour.

Like many things, it is reputed that fuming was discovered by accident.  Dating back to the turn of the twentieth century, it is thought that the original discovery was made in horse stables.  At that time, it was noticed that the beams above the horses were considerably darkened compared to the beams in other parts of the stable and this darkening process was connected to the ammonia in the horses’ urine.  Fuming or smoking as a wood treatment process became common place with arts and crafts furniture makers and to this day, is extremely popular.  Although not difficult, fuming isn’t something which would normally be done on a DIY basis for floors, although it is commonly used on this basis for colouring small pieces of furniture

Fuming or smoking involves putting the oak into an enclosed environment in which ammonia is introduced into the atmosphere.  This enclosed environment might be a closed tank or a sealed tent or some form of container into which only a relatively small amount of ammonia is introduced.  The effect of the ammonia in the air is that the colour of the wood is changed.

It is a common mistake that fuming or smoking oak involves the application of the ammonia to the oak, but this is not the case.  The change in colour comes about from the wood’s reaction to the presence of ammonia in the atmosphere.  Effectively what happens is that the ammonia causes the tannins in the wood to be brought to the surface.  The closer the tannins are to the surface, the darker the wood will appear.  The longer the wood is exposed to the ammonia, the darker it becomes.  The results obtained from fuming or smoking will range from a rich brown colour to almost black.

Essentially, the intensity of the colour and the tone of the colour will depend upon the length of time the wood stays in contact with the ammonia fumes.  Periods of as little as twelve hours will provide a lightly fumed effect and 72 hours a darker end result.  Furthermore, the higher the temperature in the chamber, as you would imagine, the quicker colour change results will appear, but not only that, the tone will be affected.  Hotter temperatures typically introduce red tones and cooler temperatures green tones allowing for creativity when it comes to the fuming or smoking process.

Above: The fuming chamber here at the Solid Wood Flooring Company

Fumed Engineered Oak flooring is made in our factory where we manufacture wood flooring by placing the raw material top layer veneerwhich can be between 5mm to 8 mm thick in a sealed enclosed chamber.

We place spacers between each layer to allow the circulated air where ammonia is introduced into the air to penetrate the cell structure of the wood. This is completed over several days depending on the final colour of oak required so that the complete top layer of the engineered wood flooring is saturated with ammonia to guarantee that the colour is consistent throughout the thickness of the wood.

The fuming of Oak is carried out to bring out the natural tannins in the Oak, ammonia brings the tannins to the surface and the colour variation you will get naturally is because each piece of wood is unique and some will have tannins near the surface and some deeper down. The nearer the tannins are to the surface the darker the finished board. You can get a rich brown to a virtual black colour. The longer the boards are left in the chamber the darker they become.

Our Fumed oak will have large colour variations and you need to see our smooth finished wood flooring as well as our Brushed and double brushed. The more oil you put on the fumed oak the better it will look. As the colour is right through the board it means that any scratches will not show “white” as it is not a stain.

Smoked Oak is treated in the same way but with a different mix of ammonia and in some cases to get the warm golden colour without the extremity of colour variation we introduce wood smoke into the chamber

Fuming Oak is not staining or applying ammonia direct to the wood, the ammonia would not penetrate the total thickness of the wood. Fuming Oak means that the oak wood is subjected to ammonia in the atmosphere. If you look in old horse stables you will see that where the horses urinate the ammonia in this has risen to the oak beams or other timber above when it gets warm and is considerably darker than timber that has not been subject to the fumes. This is why we call it fuming.  

We process the timber in the chamber for 48 hours for light fuming and up to seven days for our fully fumed boards. The chambers we use are also heated and for our really dark boards we increase the heat considerably which also has the effect of hardening the oak. Hot temperatures will create reddish tones and cooler temperatures green hues to the tone. 

You can see the different effect here by checking each of these products:  E210, E151, E149, E956, E212

You will find we are one of the most creative wood floor manufacturers giving our clients the best possible solutions to interior design concepts that are rarely beaten.

You will be able to see our double brushed fumed oak fitted as the wood floor in Le Bistro Pierre in Plymouth. 

You must be aware that when you buy fumed oak there will be a large colour variation and it should be fitted by an experienced professional to ensure that the mix of colours works for the room it is in. You can see some examples of our fumed oak fitted in different locations by clicking on the product.  

Fumed Oak is perfect for any high traffic area and retail outlets including night clubs and restaurants, pubs and clubs are the perfect location. You can use and abuse fumed oak floors but as the colour is all the way through the wood it will not really get damaged and the colour will remain unless you have stained it.

But why we ask would you want to stain something as beautiful as a natural fumed oak floor.  You can lacquer fumed oak but we always recommend Timberex natural oils as these are always the best finish and are easily refinished without sanding – you should not sand our double-brushed fumed oak. 

Please be aware of cheap imitations of fumed oak where ammonia has just been wiped on the surface. To check to see if an oak floor has been properly fumed you need to look at the edge of the board to see if it is the same colour throughout the thickness of the top layer.

It is possible to fume solid oak but it takes a lot longer and engineered wood flooring is more sustainable. 

Speak to one of our experts about Fuming or anything else to do with Wood Flooring – Please call 01666 504015 

Helping You Meet Budgetary Requirements

As manufacturers, we are more able to help you meet the requirements of your projects budget than most other wood flooring suppliers.  With over ten years in the industry we’ve worked closely with many Architects, Designers and Contractors on hundreds of projects around the world.  The knowledge and expertise we’ve acquired throughout this time has enabled us to work smarter, not harder and through careful planning and intelligent manufacturing processes we can significantly cut costs which helps you save money.

Large Volumes of Stock:

We warehouse large amounts of stock of our most popular wood floors.  Items in stock can generally be delivered within three working days to most of mainland U.K helping you work within time constraints.  Another benefit is that in cases where additional flooring is required you can rest assured we can deliver to site quickly saving you money on delaying progress and work on site.

Pre-Finished Wood Flooring:

We have a vast range of pre-finished hard wood floors available in stock that can be delivered to site quickly, or if you’re specifiying for a large area (500m2+) we can specially manufacture a pre-finished floor for you (please read on for more details).  The benefit with pre-finished flooring is that the wood is delivered ready to lay on site (excluding sites where under floor heating is being used – please see our Under Floor Heating Advice under section “Acclaimatisation of Wooden Flooring”).  These boards will already of been finished with a high quality oil or industrial strength lacquer depending on your requirements, saving you time and money on site by not needed professional floor finishers and finishing products.  A further benefit is that by not having to wait for curing times, the floor can be put into use almost immediately (please allow at least 24hrs for fully bonded floors).  Allowing other trades or cleaning teams access to the area more quickly.

Range of Top Layer Thickesses:

We offer hard wood top layers on our engineered boards of 3mm, 4mm or 6mm.  This allows you the freedom to work within budget as in short the thinner the top layer the lower your cost.  Choosing a thinner top layer does not mean a reduction in quality, we still work to our exacting standards.  This a subtle and once fitted completely undectable method of reducing the cost of your flooring.

Range of Base Layer Construction Types:

There are three main types of construction with engineered flooring.  The first is a Cross Ply construction (pictured to the right).  Cross Ply gives you the most stable base for your top layer, suitable for use with under floor heating, a good quality backing will last a lifetime.  The second is sandwich construction with opposite grain.  This method generally uses oak as a top, middle and bottom layer, the grains will run opposite each other to minimise movement, this is a cost effective method compared to the cross ply and still gives a hardwearing base.  The third method is another form of sandwich contruction, this time using poplar as the middle layer.  Poplar is a low cost material that still delivers a more than suitable base layer.  Because of the reduced costs in the materials used, the end cost to yourself is reduced.  Each of the construction types discussed here are suitable with under floor heating.  Please see the images below for examples of these construction types and take a look at our info page that discusses Solid vs Engineered Flooring.

Choice of Board Thicknesses:

To further help you select the perfect solution for your wood flooring we offer engineered flooring in 15 or 20mm thicknesses.  20mm thick boards are classed as structural boards and can therefore be fitted over joists spaced up to 400 centers. 15mm thick boards are ideal for keeping costs down, though they must be fitted over a solid subfloor such as screed, ply etc… (for more information please see our info page: Suitable Subfloors); again following the rule that less material costs less, a 15mm board from us will give you a secure floor with a high quality hard wood top layer at a lower price than a 20mm board.  

Top Wood Flooring:

Considering the points discussed on this page, we’ve introduced a range of stocked flooring that utilises all the smart manufacturing process mentioned and maintains our high quality and ethically sourced standards.  We call this range Top Wood, to view the products please follow: Top Wood Flooring.

Laminate Flooring:

Furthering our resources we’ve launched a range of laminate floors.  These boast an AC4 wear layer making them extremely hardwearing and suitable for use in commercial properties.  The pattern on the laminates is taken directly from our real oak flooring, this means to get a the effect of a real wood with a pattern that doesn’t repeat as often as other products at the same price range.  See our laminate flooring range here.  

Bespoke Flooring:

As manufacturers we can produce high quality wood flooring according to your specification.  We can deal with extremely high volumes of orders (see Supply Chain Management).  Using the manufacturing techniques discussed in this article we can help you to work within your budget requirements.

We’re here to help, we pride ourselves on our expert knowledge and experience. If you need to specifiy a product or are looking to save costs on a currently specified product (even if it isn’t one of ours) please call us to discuss the options on 01666 504 015 or email: info@thesolidwoodflooringcompany.com.

K21 Wood Strip / Board / Board Fine Flooring / Linings.

This template can be used for any or our wood floors and we will be happy to complete one for you and add the relevant information once the wood flooring product has been chosen.

Under Floor Heating: If there is underfloor heating then strict procedures must be adhered to and we always recommend that you have sensors in the screed to prevent overheating and hot spots. The Solid Wood Flooring Company recommends the use of a Fidbox on all wood flooring projects undertaken.

Types of wood flooring

110B wood flooring to:

• Substrate: Cement and sand screed
• Preparation: Clean, dry substrate with a moisture content of less than 2%. The cement and sand substrate needs to be firmly secured, Smooth, even, and free from abrupt changes in level. The surface regularity when checked with a 3 m straightedge with 3 mm feet at each end, placed anywhere on the surface, will have no gap greater than 6 mm, and straightedge not obstructed by the substrate.
• Relative Humidity: The relative humidity above the substrate when tested with a hygrometer to BS 8201:2011, Appendix A must be a maximum of 65% if fitting over underfloor heating and 75% if fitting over an unheated screed.
• DPM: As designed into the floor
• Wood boards: Free from decay, through splits and insect attack (including ambrosia beetle damage, unless permitted in the class/ grade specified).
• Manufacturer: The Solid Wood Flooring Company – Tel: 01666 504015 / mobile: 07831680 206
• Reference: E130
• Species: Antique Natural Oak FSC Mix 70%
• Appearance: Class/ Grade: To BS EN 942, EF grade with sound knots up to 50mm permitted
• Board size: 220mm wide x 20mm thick x 2200mm long with 4mm solid Oak top layer
• Edges: Long edges tongued & grooved, Ends tongued & grooved.
• Bottom of long edges:
• Finish: Factory finished with 9 coats of Bona Naturale Industrial Mat Lacquer 10 g/m2 of UV Primer, 25 g/m2 UV Light filler, 3 coats of 20 g/m2 of UV Base Coat, 1 coat of 15 g/m2 Natural Base coat, 2 coats of 8 g/m2 Natural Top Coat – Factory applied
• Method of finishing: Prefinished boards with builders clean
• Load bearing: Conform to BS 6399-1: 1966 table 1 section 3
• Reaction to fire: Perform to EN 13501-1 Dn s1
• Slip Resistance: Tested to BS 7967-2: 2002 (Pendulum Test) and achieve LOW Slip risk in the DRY and MODERATE risk in the WET
• Thermal Conductivity: EN ISO 10456 and EN ISO 12664 Result 0.15 W/(mk)
• Storage: Boards to be stored in conditions where no moisture can attack them i.e. Relative Humidity less than 75% and all wet trades to have been completed before boards are received on site. The storage area floor should have a moisture content of less than 2%.
• Materials: When materials are received on site they should be checked for quality and only accepted if they meet with the clients/specifiers/contractors requirements. Any materials that do not meet with those requirements should be rejected before fitting because once fitted they will have been re-manufactured into a fitted floor.
• Laying the wood floor:
• Moisture: The moisture content of the boards at time of laying should be 6-8%. The wood flooring is to be laid in accordance with BS 8201:2011 Code of Practice for Flooring of Timber, Timber Products and wood based panel products.
• Pattern: As laid.
• Adhesive: SW 890 – The SW890 Wood Floor Adhesive is elastic; according to EN 14293
• (soft); 1-component Silane based adhesive for parquet.
• Underlay: None
• Expansion: A 10mm expansion gap is required around the perimeter of the floor and/or where the wood flooring meets differing materials. 8mm expansion gaps should be designed into the floor at a minimum of 6 – 8 Lm in any one direction and construction joints should not be bridged.

Responsibility

• Aesthetics: It is the art of the fitter to ensure that fitting is conducted to achieve an acceptable blend of shade variation, colour and knotting which are all inherent characteristics of any natural wood product
• Specifier: The specifier should ensure that the wood floor specified is suitable for use.
• Manufacturer: The manufacturer will take responsibility for the performance of the boards provided that they were received on site in good condition, stored in the correct manner and have been fitted in accordance with BS8201:2011
• Contractor: The contractor will be responsible for the ensuring that the wood boards are not received on site until all conditions are correct within the guidelines of BS8201:2011.
• The contractor will be responsible for making sure the boards are kept safe on site.
• The contractor is responsible for the correct laying of the boards.
• The contractor is responsible for ensuring that the finished floor is correctly protected in between the completion of the fitting and the handover to the client.
• Fitter: The wood flooring fitter will be responsible for ensuring that the site conditions comply with BS8201:2011.
• The wood flooring fitter is responsible for using the wood boards to create a finished floor that complies fully with the architects/contractors instructions in accordance with BS8201:2011.

The wood flooring fitter must ensure that the contractor understands what the finished floor will look like before starting fitting.
The wood flooring fitter is responsible for checking that every board is of the desired quality and suitable for use before, during and after fitting and if there is any doubt, boards should not be fitted.

Cleaning

• NEVER clean wood flooring with water
• ALWAYS use the cleaning products recommended by the manufacturer The Solid Wood Flooring Company
• Fitters/Builders clean On completion of fitting the surface of the boards should be vacuumed to remove any particles of wood or sawdust.
• The fitter should ensure that no residues from any of the fitting remains attached to the surface of the boards.
• The fitter should clean the boards with the recommended cleaner and ensure that the contractor and client (if appropriate) understand how the wood flooring should be cleaned and maintained.
• The contractor should request an Operations and Maintenance manual from The Solid Wood Flooring Company to give to the client to ensure that they know how to clean and maintain the wood floor.

Covering the floor NEVER cover the floor with any impervious materials which could cause the boards to sweat and affect the structure of the boards. This includes dense rugs, rubber backed mats and bean bags which can produce hot spots on the floor.

590 Protection

• Protective covering: Submit proposals – Remove at completion
• NEVER cover the finished wood floor with any impervious material and if a protective covering is placed over the finished floor.