Amtico flooring is just about the most hardwearing and practical alternative to real wood.
There is a huge choice available in the latest natural wood designs. These range from the softest grains such as white maple, to the mid toned classic oaks, and on to the darkest colour in the range called Wenge Wood.
All Amtico woods are genuine British made commercial grade (not the Asian made Spacia or Karndean) and are available in 'tick' finish in the optimum 114mm x 915mm standard size.
Choosing an Amtico floor means you will not have to worry about long term maintenance- your floor will never need sanding or re-finishing. The tough hardwearing surface will repel stains and moisture making it an ideal choice for wet areas such as bathrooms and shower rooms, and heavy wear areas even hallways and entrance lobbies.
Amtico wood authentically replicates the natural product and it's true characteristics. The Stripwood is highly variable in grain and decoration. Please consider this in your product choice as online images only display a small section of the material.
Installing Amtico wood flooring can be undertaken by any reasonably competent DIYer with little in the way of equipment. If you are laying onto an existing wood floorboard, chipboard, or MDF sub-floor, it is always good practice to install a new plywood base first. Not only will this ensures long term wear, it will also prevent undulations showing through your new flooring.
If your sub-floor is reasonably flat, 6mm exterior grade moisture resistant plywood is adequate. This should be fixed at 15-20cm centers with screw nails. If your sub-floor is old and extremely uneven, a heavier grade plywood 9mm or 12mm should be used. However before installing this, level off any hollows with a latex screed compound. Otherwise the plywood will never be completely flat.
After fixing down the plywood, spend as much time as possible filling any gaps in the joints, and knocking down nails flat. Then take down any high spots with a medium grade sand paper. More Time taken on preparing the sub-floor will produce huge dividends when you have installed you new Amtico, so do not be tempted to cut any corners.
Depending on how flat and smooth you have managed to make the plywood base, it may be necessary to apply a further leveler such as Ardex "Feather Finish" which can be applied thinly without the risk of de-bonding
When you are installing over a solid floor eg concrete, asphalt, quarry tiles, stone flags etc. it is imperative that your do a thorough check of the moisture content of the sub-floor. Even a small amount of moisture in a sub-floor will cause Amtico flooring to start lifting within a very short period of time. Your investment will then be wasted, as the floor will be beyond repair.
Check first for the presence of a dpm, which should be visible on your outside, walls maybe the first or second line of brick or stone. If there is none evident, and your house was built before 1960, then it is wise to assume that there is no damp proof membrane in the sub-floor.
Your only option then is to apply a surface dpm to the sub-floor. These are a 2-part epoxy resin coating. These are easy to apply, but can take up to 48 hours to cure. The most widely used product is ES3000 made by Treetabond.
Once you have a dry clean solid sub-floor, a leveling screed should be applied Always follow the screed manufacturers instructions with regard to the use of priming or bonding agents. Remember that if the screed de-bonds from the sub-floor, your new Amtico floor will also fail.
The screed should be rubbed down as smooth as possible before installing your Amtico flooring. Visible trowel marks, high or low spots will soon become evident once you have a new shiny floor fitted over the screed. Therefore more time and effort spent on the preparations will be rewarded with a superior final floor finish.
The Amtico flooring should always be installed using the approved Amtico adhesive. For wet areas the Amtico 'Universal' adhesive should always be used. Amtico flooring can be laid onto underfloor heating, provided that Amtico HT (high temperature) adhesive is used. For all other areas, the standard Amtico SF (solvent free) adhesive can be used without problems.
As withany, Amtico flooring will benefit from regular maintenance. The Amtico floor dressing will give enhanced protection fromwet and abrasion. The Amtico Cleaner will effectively clean your floor without removing the Dressing. However, when the time comes to renew the dressing,
Amtico Dressing Remover is a powerful and aggressive stripper, which makes light work of removing heavy build-ups of old layers of floor dressing. Guidance on maintenance is available from the Amtico flooring website.