Product Description
This product should be conditioned before use so that the moisture content is adjusted to suit the service environment.
How should panels be conditioned?
There are two accepted methods: Wet and Atmospheric
WET conditioning requires water to be spread out on one side of the panel being conditioned, about 1 litre per 2440 x 1220 board, simply poured on and worked in with a broom or mop. The boards are then stacked wet face to wet face, dry face to dry face and so on and left to stand for 24 hours prior to fixing, longer if the boards are over 6mm thick.
The WET method is suitable for hardboard and pinboard only and then provided they have NOT been treated with flame retardant chemicals, because these will leach away and the fire performance will be impaired.
ATMOSPHERIC conditioning requires the boards to be stacked vertically or horizontally, separated if necessary with timber strips, so that both sides of all the boards are exposed to air. The boards should be allowed to stand for at least three days before fixing; longer if the boards are over 6mm thick.
The ATMOSPHERIC method is the ONLY method suitable for conditioning flame retardant treated boards. Chipboard and MDF should also only be conditioned in this way, whether or not they contain flame retardant chemicals, because water will raise the surface, impair the finishing, and could degrade the integrity of the panel.
ATMOSPHERIC conditioning also provides the benefit of bringing panels to the same temperature as their surroundings. This is particularly important for composites of wood panels bonded to plastic or metal sheets because different layers expand and contract with temperature at different rates to wood. Composite panels, such as laminated worktops and laminate flooring can distort very rapidly when exposed to strong heat sources such as sunlight, especially under glass
