When you have received your new mFLOR or Solcora floor, you naturally want to start enjoying it as soon as possible. Nevertheless it is important to first take the time to acclimatise it. But what is acclimatisation?  What is it needed for, how should you acclimatise a PVC floor and how much time does it take?

What is acclimatisation?

In order to feel ‘at home’ your new floor will have to ‘get used’ to the climate in your home, this is called ‘acclimatising’. In order to be installed correctly your floor must, among other things, be given the ideal installation temperature. This is necessary when for any reason the flooring product is too cold, but certainly also when it is too hot, for example when it has been transported during a hot summer day.

Why is acclimatisation necessary?

During acclimatisation the floor will de-stress any tension in the material incurred during transportation or storage. For example if the packages have not had sufficient support during storage it may be that the panels come out of the packaging slightly bent. During acclimatisation you give the boards time to get back into their proper shape.

If the floor has not been able to de-stress sufficiently this will have a noticeable effect both during and after installation, and this of course would be a shame.

How to acclimatise my PVC floor?

mFLOR and Solcora flooring must get used to the temperature of the room where it is installed. This takes at least 24 hours*1 prior to installation. It is best to place the unopened packages in small piles distributed about the room in places free from extreme sources of heat or cold. The ambient temperature in the room should be between 18 °C and 28 °C during this 24 hour acclimatisation so that the flooring achieves its optimum installation temperature. If underfloor heating is installed check that the sub-floor temperature does not exceed 28 °C.

After 24 hours you can start installing. If the floor is not laid immediately make sure that the temperature in the room remains between 18 °C and 28 °C so that the ideal installation temperature is maintained. Also during the installation and for 72 hours thereafter the temperature should remain as constant as possible between 18 °C and 28 °C. During this period try not to let the room temperature fluctuate by more than 5 °C and the floor temperature should not be allowed to fall below 15 °C.

Acclimatisation is not seasonally dependent, always follow the acclimatisation advice. The result of correct acclimatisation is a beautiful floor with tight joints which will not shrink or expand after laying*2.

View the acclimatisation information and further installation instructions at:

1  In extreme cases of prolonged tropical or winter temperature, 48 hours of acclimatisation will be required.
2 PVC floors can expand and shrink under the influence of temperature and other climatic conditions. When PVC is not acclimatised correctly, or when there are temperature fluctuations greater than 10 °C per 12 hours, gaps between panels or lipping can occur in the PVC floor which can cause irreparable damage.