The conservation of our natural environment has become ever more important to developers, consultants and contractors, whose clients want to see more sustainable products being used in homes and business premises. As a result, West Fraser’s particleboard products – including CaberFloor P5 – are specified in preference to more traditional flooring for eco-conscious projects.
90% of the wood used in West Fraser’s particleboard is recycled while, being a fully engineered product, CaberFloor helps to minimise waste through accurate usage and pinpoint specification. Meanwhile, specifying CaberFloor saves time on site as fewer intermediate supports or noggins are required during installation.
As well as laying floors across conventional timber joists, CaberFloor is ideal for use on engineered timber and metal web joists, as well as fixing across wooden battens laid over concrete or other substrates. The product can also be fixed directly across existing wood floors, though care needs to be taken regarding the level and soundness of the retained boarding. As well as ground and upper storey applications, CaberFloor is often used in loft conversions, garden rooms and other modular type buildings.
West Fraser recommends securing the panels to joists, battens or across existing timber floors by fixing them at 200 – 300mm centres along the edges and 300mm elsewhere along the supports. Fixings should be at least 9mm from the edge of the panel, while nails should be 10 gauge. In practice, this equates to three fixings on short ends and two fixings at intermediate joist positions. Where tongue and groove (T&G) boards are chosen, it is common to employ hidden nails or screws fixed through the profiled edge.
When gluing boards with CaberFix Joint&Joist, only five fixings per board are required, one at each joist position – so again saving labour costs. This adhesive should be applied to the edges to virtually guarantee the risk of squeaks and creaks truly become a problem of the past. In fact, it is five times stronger than nails while, alternatively, West Fraser’s one-bottle solution, CaberFix D4, can be used for all panel fixing and sealing jobs.
The boards are available in standard thicknesses of 18 or 22mm, in both square-edged or T&G options – the latter being profiled on all four edges to offer greater stability and flexibility of use. All CaberFloor panels measure 2400 x 600mm, their precision-engineered edges ensuring accurate and speedy installation, as well as tight-fitting joints to eliminate unsightly ridges. It should, though, be remembered to leave a 2mm gap per metre run, at the perimeter, to allow for expansion/contraction. This will not affect their high load-carrying capacity.
It is not recommended to use CaberFloor outside, although it is moisture resistant and can stand limited exposure to rain and moisture during the build process and will retain a high percentage of its original strength.
CaberFloor P5 carries BBA Agrement certification while FSC approval underlines its environmental credentials and, being a RIBA-approved BIM Object, it can be specified for use on projects involving the latest CAD programmes and computer aided machining. The boards are also suitable for use with underfloor heating (UFH) systems and beneath all types of carpet, vinyl and tiles.
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