GF Click SPC installation guide

1. Tools and materials

• Tape measure, pencil, combination square, straight edge and chalk line
• Sharp utility knife, and a fine-tooth saw for awkward cuts
• Spacers, a tapping block, a pull bar and a rubber mallet
• Moisture-testing equipment suited to your subfloor
• Polythene damp-proof membrane and tape, for concrete and screed subfloors
• Knee pads and safety glasses

2. Delivery and acclimatisation

• Check the design, quantity and batch number, and that nothing is damaged. Do not fit planks with visible faults.
• Lay the boxes flat, unopened, in the room where the floor will be fitted for at least 48 hours, at a steady 20–21°C. Keep the room at that temperature while you fit.
• Order at least 10% extra to allow for cutting and future repairs.
• Mix planks from four or five boxes as you go to spread natural shade variation.

3. Subfloor preparation

Condition	Clean, dry, solid and smooth. Remove old floor coverings, adhesive residue and debris, then vacuum.
Flatness	Plank: within 3mm over 2m. Herringbone: within 2.7mm over 3m, with no more than 1.1mm deflection. Sand down high spots and fill hollows with a levelling compound. Humps stop the joints locking.
Moisture	Test the subfloor with a suitable moisture meter before fitting. Lay a polythene damp-proof membrane, with overlapped and taped joins, over concrete, screed and ground-floor subfloors. New concrete must cure for at least 60 days and be tested dry.
Room humidity	35–60% relative humidity. Correct any damp problem before fitting.
Timber	Over joists, fix tongue and groove plywood or OSB: 19mm for joist spacings of 406–486mm, 19–22mm for 487–608mm and 22–28mm for 609mm and over. Keep screw and nail heads below the surface.

• Do not fit over expansion joints in the building.
• Fit kitchen units, islands and other fixed furniture before the floor, never on top of it. A floating floor must be free to move.
• Not suitable for outdoor areas, saunas, solariums, unheated spaces or anywhere exposed to excessive heat or cold.

4. Underfloor heating

• GF Click SPC is suitable for underfloor heating. The floor surface must never exceed 27°C.
• Raise the temperature gradually during acclimatisation and after fitting, following your heating supplier’s guidance. Never turn the heating on or off suddenly.

5. Expansion gaps

A floating floor moves with the seasons, by up to 0.5mm per metre, so it needs room around every edge.

• Leave a gap of 6–8mm at every wall, and around pipes, door frames, thresholds and fixed objects. Use spacers.
• Rooms longer than 12m or wider than 7.5m need an extra expansion joint. So do doorways and the join between rooms or other floors. Cover these with a T-profile or threshold.
• Drill pipe holes at least 8mm larger than the pipe.
• Never fix skirting, beading or trims through the floor. Fix them to the wall, leaving a small clearance above the floor.

6. Fitting planks

1. Measure the room and work out the width of the last row. Trim the first row if needed so the last row is at least 60mm wide.
2. Start in a corner of the longest wall, with spacers against the wall. Lay the first row dead straight: it sets the line for the whole floor. The pictures in the box show which edge faces the wall.
3. Join the short ends by angling the tongue into the groove at 15–20° and lowering it flat. You should hear and feel the joint lock, with no gap and no height difference.
4. Start each new row with the offcut from the row before, as long as it is at least 300mm long. Keep end joints at least 300mm apart from row to row.
5. Lock the long side at an angle of about 20–30°, press down, then close the short end. Close joints with a tapping block or an offcut and light taps. Never hit the edge of a plank directly with a mallet.
6. After two or three rows, check the floor is running straight with a string line.
7. For the last row, mark each plank against the wall, allowing for the expansion gap, cut it and ease it in with the pull bar.

To cut, score the face firmly several times along a straight edge, then snap the plank downwards along the line.

7. Fitting herringbone

1. Herringbone boxes contain equal numbers of ‘A’ and ‘B’ planks, which are mirror images of each other. Sort them into two piles. One strip is an A and a B clicked together into a V.
2. Snap a chalk centre line down the length of the room, with a line at 90° to it. Add parallel guide lines if it helps.
3. Build the first strip so its point sits on the centre line. The pattern can look slightly off-centre at first. That is normal.
4. Work outwards from the centre, alternating A and B planks. Every few strips, check the points still run straight along the line, the spacers have not moved and every joint is closed. Run your hand over each joint: nothing should stand proud.
5. Keep end joints at least 180mm apart, and avoid pieces shorter than 300mm at the start and end of rows where possible. The edge pieces should be at least 50mm wide.
6. Cut the perimeter pieces last. A small dab of glue in the groove can hold the tiniest pieces in place.

8. After fitting

• Remove the spacers and fit skirting or beading to the wall, not to the floor.
• The floor can be walked on straight away.
• Look after it as described in the GF LVT and SPC care guide.
• To lift a row, raise it gently at an angle. To separate two planks, keep them flat and slide them apart along the joint.