Reclaimed Oak Parquet Flooring

[connor2304]

Hello,

I have about 40sq meters of reclaimed oak parquet flooring. I have just had the floor freshly screeded. I am told it will be at least 3 weeks before it is fully dry. I have underfloor heating built into the screed The reclaimed flooring has been under cover in the garden since summer, so I know I have to dry it out.

The oak pieces pieces have black bitumem on the bottom, with some having seeped into some of the joints .

I would be grateful for any advice on how to lay this flooring, what glue to use, what precautions to take, etc.

ALSO, I have another 40 meters of denailed oak strip flooring that I am hoping to nail down to waterproof (green) chipboard on my first floor, which is also underfloor heated. Any views/advice on this as well?

All help appreciated.

Larry

 

[WoodYouLike]

Hello Connor

You're in for a hell of a tricky, sticky, stinky job.
First of all: how thick is your screed layer? It normally takes 30 days for 1 inch of screed to dry normally (not forced with under floor heating on! This can cause cracks in the screed).

Secondly: your wood needs to be in the house NOW! So it can acclimatize at a normal 'speed'. Do you have a moist measurer? Moist in Oak flooring shoud be between 8 - 12% (Screed not higher then 2,1%).

Your biggest challenge is the bitumen. We don't even touch those reclaimed blocks anymore, to much hassle, dirt, trouble, aggrivation. Your not even allowed to use bitumen inside anymore (as in bitumen adhesive). Bitumen is an oil product which hardens over time and losses it's adhesive quality (hence loose blocks in older floors).

The new adhesives are water-based (due to the VOC regulations) and any residue of bitumen wil prevent the adhesive to do it's job properly. Normally we can cut the border, sand etc a new floor stuck down with modern adhesive a day after installation. When there is bitumen residue, it can take up to 3 - 4 days before it's 'safe' to do that (because of the bitumen effecting the modern adhesive).

Best advise: get rid of the bitumen (very hard work, no saw-mil will take on this job for you, when the bitumen gets warmer due to the energy of the saw, it becomes sticky and will stick to the saw). Not only for the adhesive, but imagine your under floor heating warming up the bitumen when it's installed. You could end up with a 'floating floor', where the bitumen looses it's 'grip' on the modern adhesive.

Normally we advice Sika for installing on UFH, that can handle the temperature.

Good luck anyway.

 

[masona]

Bitumen will come off easy with Odourless Kerosene. The hardest bitumen for the temperature range will start to softening at between 48-56 C.