Just taken delivery of some V4 Engineered wood. This is 189 MM X 21 MM X 1830 MM with a 6mm top layer. We searched for AGES to get the wood we wanted and this really looks lovely stuff. Being 21mm thick too it oozes quality.
However I split a couple of the packs (just to check) and have noticed a very pronounced bowing in the boards. Putting it up against a known straight edge I get a 10mm gap between the board and edge in the middle. If I put pressure on the middle of the board I can push it flat but it’s a fair force I have to apply. I phoned the manufacturer and after being told not to split the packs (Hmm) until the lay I was told that this is normal and the board will pull together during a staggered fit.
Is this normal for an engineered board of 21mm? After much research I was intending to lay these boards on T2 liquid battens but with boards this bowed it going to be a complete nightmare getting the board straight enough for the glue to meet the board - I'm imagining laying the boards and using lots of sand bags to keep the floor down whilst the glue dries!?? Even worse I can imaging the mess trying to slot in bowed boards requiring Herculean force to get flat into pre-laid strips of glue - yuk! If I float the boards then I’m for sure going to get raised boards that will drive me nuts - exactly why I wanted to glue in the first place.
What should I do? Is this a normal effect I should accept from these boards or should I send them straight back? What fitting method would you advise? Will the passage of a few weeks level the boards out a bit?
However I split a couple of the packs (just to check) and have noticed a very pronounced bowing in the boards. Putting it up against a known straight edge I get a 10mm gap between the board and edge in the middle. If I put pressure on the middle of the board I can push it flat but it’s a fair force I have to apply. I phoned the manufacturer and after being told not to split the packs (Hmm) until the lay I was told that this is normal and the board will pull together during a staggered fit.
Is this normal for an engineered board of 21mm? After much research I was intending to lay these boards on T2 liquid battens but with boards this bowed it going to be a complete nightmare getting the board straight enough for the glue to meet the board - I'm imagining laying the boards and using lots of sand bags to keep the floor down whilst the glue dries!?? Even worse I can imaging the mess trying to slot in bowed boards requiring Herculean force to get flat into pre-laid strips of glue - yuk! If I float the boards then I’m for sure going to get raised boards that will drive me nuts - exactly why I wanted to glue in the first place.
What should I do? Is this a normal effect I should accept from these boards or should I send them straight back? What fitting method would you advise? Will the passage of a few weeks level the boards out a bit?