It would take too many pages to detail all the differences between an average installation and an Mafi USA installation. We will cover just a few of the more obvious points to give you a clear insight. 

Sub-floors in areas that our wood floors are to be fitted, need to be correctly prepared by the main contractor, then tested to ensure that they are within acceptable tolerances. Many installers do not allocate the necessary time to liase with the main contractor and ensure that this work is done correctly. Screed moisture levels, relative humidity, sub-floor levels, the use of accelerants, staggered ply or chipboard joints, must all be checked and recorded.  If under-floor heating is to be used, our wood floor should not be installed until the heating system has been properly cycled, this needs to be done correctly. Sub-floors are our wood floor’s foundation and should not be compromised. Overseeing all sub-floor preparation is included in our quote.

The planks at the sides of a room, if correctly installed, should be the same width. The extra time taken to do this is included in our quote. Often installers don’t bother to plan and mark out a room in order to achieve this. Starting at one side of a room with a wide plank instead of working from a central grid line, they end up at the other side of the room with whatever width they are left with. The room becomes imbalanced. 

Wide plank wood floors should be inserted beneath door-frames, as would have been the case originally, the extra time taken to do this is included in our quote. Less fastidious installers simply cut the floor around your door-frames, leaving a visible gap.

When the floor runs from one room to another, there should be no visible breaks in it.

It should run seamlessly throughout where practical. Many installers will not have the skills or the time to achieve a seamless floor. Instead you will end up with breaks in the floor at doorways, covered by unsightly door thresholds. Our quote allows for seamless floors.

If skirting boards cannot be removed, for example if they are too frail to remove or listed, the correct way to finish the floor, is to perfectly scribe it to the skirting and then insert a floor colour matched cork fillet. An inferior yet commonly used finish would be a rough edge to the skirting, with the expansion gap covered by a wooden bead. Our quote includes the superior scribing and cork fillet finish.

Floors to be installed above under-floor heating should be bonded (without an air gap) to the sub-floor to ensure the best possible heat transfer wherever practical. Often floors that could have been bonded are instead floated (with an air gap).

The supposed saving made by floating the floor is not as great as the loss in the resulting compromised heat transfer. Under-floor heating adhesives are a lot more expensive than standard wood floor adhesives, any attempted savings here are once again a false economy, the standard adhesive will lose its integrity due to the heat and fail. Our quote includes bonding to the under-floor heating using the correct adhesive. 

Floors, when finished, need to be protected from damage if other building trades are to be on site (almost always the case) after completion of the floor installation. Floor protection is included in our quote. The initial saving of not using protection will be far outweighed by the cost of repairing and re-finishing the floor after it has been damaged. 

Our quote also includes the 3 day on-site oil finishing of the floor. Average installers, who have not previously oiled floors, will without doubt go through a learning curve at your expense, both aesthetically and financially.

Both our wide plank wood floors and our installations come with 25 year guarantees. Firstly, what guarantees will you get from other installers and secondly where will they be in the event of your having to claim?  (Failed installations typically take 2 seasons to manifest)

Mafi USA do not advise or consult on the installation of wood floors when installed by non-Mafi USA personnel; Mafi USA installation guarantees are also null and void. Due to past experiences, when we have advised on the installation of projects to which Mafi USA have only supplied the flooring and installation materials, incorrect installation procedures have taken place without our knowledge and against our advice. For the avoidance of both legal liability and insurance claims it is our policy not to consult with non-Mafi USA installation.

N.B. The above points are just a typical few of many that you should be fully satisfied with, prior to appointing an installation team.