How to recognise if an engineered-floor is suitable for UFH

[mointainwalker]

Good Morning

Some time ago - before I began reading this site - I bought about 90 m2 of engineered oak parquet as a special (WIGIG) offer at a local DIY store


At the time i know I enquired if this was suitable for UFH and was told yes. Should add that I am a regular customer there, staff stay for years and so I would expect that what they told me was true as they knew it.

As will soon be laying the flooring, I was examining the packets which have sparse info, ( reason for my concern as products normally list all positive selling-points) and am hoping to re-assure myself with this question.

Labelling:

"Europarquet Clic, oak parquet. Produced under license of the Unilin Group. "

All boards are 1200 x 200 x 10. Wear layer is 2 mm backed with two crossed layers of wood.

From memory i think it was labelled as E European ( Polish ? ) production at point-of -sale. There is the name of an import/export company , but I wouldn't want to bet on the accuracy of any reply, so haven't asked.

I intend to glue it to a self-levelling screed of 50/60 mm and usage will be light. Just two adults, no outdoor shoes and very, very little direct sunlight

As a related question, if there is no prob with the UFH, would you say this is completely suitable within the kitchen araea ?

Thank you.

 

[mac391]

Generally an engineered floor is preferred to solid when fitted over underfloor heating and your floor being only 10mm thick is ideal.

Unilin patented their "uniclic" system which in my opinion is the best clic system out there and very good quality.
The flooring you have is designed to be installed as a floating floor, i.e on underlay with no adhesive and suitable for ufh.

Whether you can fully bond with adhesive i'm not sure, someone on here will have an answer though.

It would help to know if your ufh is piped water or elecric

 

[mointainwalker]

Thank you for your answer Mac.

The UFH is water and I did take the "thickness" of the board into account as an advantage.

As regards underlay and floating, I have always read that this is very undesirable with UFH because you are introducing underlay (insulation), air ( insulation) and thus significantly worsening the heat transfer. Any comment ?

What do you feel about the kitchen ?

 

[woodfloordesigns]

UHF should be no problem. Whether to glue down or float??? We have sold plenty of 10mm which has been glued down but it depends on how level the subfloor is. I would reccomend a flexible adhesive such as Rewmar polymer or Sikkens T 5 something which can give some leveling help although this is not its purpose. If your floor is just a little uneven then use a trowel with slightly larger notches than the reccomended. Do not go for the liquid batten type of glue system as your floor is not strong enough.
Kithen; this would depend on the finish on your floor. If it is a cheap chinese sprayed laquer then it will scratch easily and soon become dull. If it is an oiled finish, apply a coat of hardwax oil after installation ( we favour Floor Service but it is not common in UK or Treatex is good). Try to get a 1A classification hard wax oil if possible as this will have added ingredients such as silicic acid which will resist moisture for longer than some of the more common brands.

 

[mointainwalker]

WFD

As far as I can tell (this is my first venture with engineered wood ) the floor is lacquered. How well I can't say.

Given it is what it is, is there any treatment I can/should undertake ?

The floor will be professionally installed and the contract specifies max 5 mm deviation over 2 m. The area it is to be laid in is two floors, each of approx 8.5 m x 6.3 m, one of which is open-plan so the flooring will be continuous over the whole 50 odd m2.

The glue I would like to use is Laybond L16 because of cost. I find the price of glue is jaw-droppingly high and the cost difference between using this solvent glue compared to a non-solvent one is 400 - 500 pnds !

Comments on this glue appreciated. As far as i am aware I do not need to prime the screed for this/any glue,

Look forward to any replies/comments