Warranty
Maintenance & Prevention Tips
1. Regularly sweep or vacuum the floor to prevent abrasive dirt from accumulating and scratching the finish.
2. Sand and water are very harmful to your wood floors. Place area rugs inside the entrance of the house. Also protect your floor from kitchen water and detergents by using rugs in front of the sink, work stations and dishwasher.
3. Use felt pads under all furniture and chair legs in order to ease their movements and to prevent scratches. Periodically check and replace the felt pads when dirty or worn.
4. Damaged or worn high heel shoes may expose a metal tip which is certain to damage the surface finish. Keep high heel shoes in good condition.
5. Protect your floor against direct sunlight or any intense source of artificial lighting. Over time, intense natural and artificial light will discolour hardwood floors.
6. Never use wax, oil-based detergent or any other household cleaners on the floors. These may dull or damage the finish, leaving a greasy film and making the floor slippery and more difficult to clean.
Owner / Installer Responsibilities
Prior to installation, the owner/installer must determine that the job site and all sub surfaces meet all requirements specified in the installation instructions. In addition the owner/installer has the responsibility to make the final inspection as to grade, manufacture and finish of any Austwood Prefinished Hardwood Floor.
Once a board has been nailed, it is deemed accepted by the owner/installer and he/she expressly waives any claims pertaining to the grade, manufacture or finish of the products.
Knowing that hardwood floors have natural variations, and that industry standards allow for 5% defect, the installer must be responsible for relocating in hidden places, cutting out or not installing pieces with unacceptable defects whatever the cause. The use of stain, touch-up pen or filler sticks for correction during installation should be accepted as normal procedure.
When you order your Prefinished Hardwood Floor, not less than 5% must be added to the actual square footage needed as allowance for cutting waste. Should an individual piece be in question as to grade, manufacture or finish, and if the installer is not able to relocate it unseen or cut off its glaring defect, the installer should not use that piece. If he/she does, Austwood’s liability is limited to replacement of defective material only in excess of 5%, (excluding the cutting allowance). Austwood denies any responsibility for judgment errors and/or for poor installation quality of its product. Austwood will not pay any installation or labour costs.
Important Features Of Australian Cypress
Australian Cypress is a brittle wood by nature and during the processing and Kiln drying of the lumber minor surface checking and some star cracks around the knots may occur. This is a natural part of the Australian Cypress floor. If you think any piece has too much checking simply crosscut out the defect in question when installing the floor and use the remaining good section.
Cracks/Splits
Australian Cypress is a brittle wood by nature and during the processing and Kiln drying of the lumber minor surface checking and some star cracks around the knots may occur. This is a natural part of the Australian Cypress floor. If you think any piece has too much checking simply crosscut out the defect in question when installing the floor and use the remaining good section.
Dust/Smell
Australian Cypress has a distinct smell when the flooring is cut, if any reactions such as coughing and redness of the skin to the dust occur increase ventilation and masks should be worn.
Finish
Australian Cypress contains resins which may come through the wood and this can be more prevalent on top of the knots.
Nailing
Australian Cypress is a brittle wood and the tongue can be prone to splitting sometimes when nailing, use correct sized nail/cleat and adjust the pressure of the pneumatic nailer as required where splitting is eliminated. Adjusting the angle of the height and entry of the nail as well as adding some tape to the nailers faceplate help to reduce splitting that may occur.
Please do the testing separate from your flooring job so it can be changed and adjusted before laying the floor in the required rooms.
½” x 3 ¼” to get the best from your floor when laying
Experience has shown that when paying ½” (12mm) flooring it is best to use the Pneumatic Nailer Model 50 P or a Model 50M Manual nailer from Power Nail Co seem to be the best machines for laying Australian Cypress Flooring.
It is advised to use at 70—80 pounds and best sized cleats to use are 1 ¼” with an 18 gauge. This is what we have found to work best however if you have problems with splitting adjust pressure and or cleat sizes.
10 Year Residential Warranty
Austwood Hardwood Floors are warrants to the original purchaser that the surface finish UV coated Polyurethane on its Austwood Prefinished Floors will not wear through for a full 10 years from the date of purchase, when used under normal residential traffic conditions and use, and as long as you follow all the preventative and regular maintenance instructions provided with your Austwood purchase. Please note that this warranty does not cover indentations, scratches and naturally occurring wood fibre discoloration. This warranty does not cover damages caused by spills, accidents, negligence, misuse, abuse, water, sand or other extreme environmental conditions.
Failure to follow all manufacturers’s written installation instructions, poor workmanship by installer, improper maintenance, insufficient protection, misuse or improper alterations of the original products, or use of floor care products other than those specifically authorized for use on Austwood Prefinished Floors, may damage your floor and may void this warranty.
To the extent that this limited warranty applies, Austwood agrees to repair or replace at its sole option, products sold to and still owned by the original purchaser. This is the only remedy available under this limited warranty. Austwood will not be responsible for any incidental or consequential damages resulting from the purchase, use or improper installation of its prefinished Hardwood Floor products.
* Quality variation or error that does not exceed 5%, industry standard, is not considered a factory defect.
Acclimation Basics / Your Floor Care Responsibility
A required pre-installation process that allows the flooring material to adjust itself to the actual indoor environment of its installation.
Store the flooring in the room where it will be installed for 3-7 days. NOT IN THE GARAGE! The HVAC/ heating or air conditioning ventilation system must have been running for at least one week before your installation date, with the temperature 65-75ºF, and the indoor humidity 35-55%. This pre-installation procedure will acclimate your new wood floor and pull out any excess subfloor moisture. Organizations such as the N.W.F.A. (National Wood Flooring Association) and N.O.F.M.A. (Wood Floor Manufacturers Association) recommend a three step process for wood floor acclimation.
1. Maintaining the room where the wood flooring is to be installed at 35-55% humidity levels and temperatures at 65-75º farenheight, 5-7 days before installation. Meter testing: Builder or Customer’s Responsibility.
2. Proper moisture levels of wood subflooring, not to exceed 12%, before installation meter testing: Installer’s or Customer’s Responsibility.
3. New wood flooring, ensure a moisture balance, not to exceed 3% between new flooring and subfloor, before installation. Meter testing: Installer’s or Customer’s Responsibility.
The Installer or Customer is responsible for ensuring a professional installation is up to date with current intellectual and procedural techniques and that proper installation environmental conditions are met before installation.
NOTE: MAINTAIN A 35-55% HUMIDITY LEVEL AFTER INSTALLATION.
If these conditions are not satisfactory, the job must be rescheduled until corrected.
