Stayed up till 4:00am, Slept till 4:00pm. It's called retirement retreat. We put the puter on the internet so the phone won't ring and sack out. I know it's lazy, and I know it's not normal, but when you retire, you're susposed to enjoy life and that's the way we enjoy it.
I haven't got the energy to work on the laminated flooring i'm putting in the camp, maybe tomorrow. It's not going anywhere anyway. It's pouring down rain, think i'll take a nappy, And how was your day? MVB ES

Wet here in Sylacauga. Been under the weather a bit myself. Passing up some good basketball. Area games being played in C'burg & 'Dega. Better not get wet.

Hope everyone is having a good evening. Stayed outside all day. The wind blew just about constantly making it seem colder,the Lake was white capping.Hope this front moves out quick,cause I done got to be a softy.
DD

I didn't work on my laminated flooring, either, E.S. Sure need to do that, though. We've got bare plywood almost throughout the house after ripping out that OLD stinky carpet to try to help out with allergies. So when you finish with your flooring, c'mon to Texas and show me how to do it. To tell the truth, I'm just scared I'm royally screw it up.

Take care!

Raining here in Anniston. Ed is taking a nap watching TV. I took Dale back to the doctor today. He said that he was extremely lucky because he almost lost that arm. I thank the Good Lord with every breath for being there for him. We are claiming a complete healing for him. We will follow all of the doctor's orders but know that God has the last say on everything. Ed is doing better with his Vertigo illness. He had it about 3 years ago and spent 5 days in B'ham in the stroke center at UAB. It is 5 days today since this last one. I can see a big improvement each day. ES, today was a good day to get some sleep. I went to bed after we got back from the doctor with Dale. I made sure everybody was feed and taken care of then I took about a 2 hour nap. Sure did help these tired legs. Hope everyone has a blessed week-end...........Trish

Aunt Glaad to hear good news. Dale could get on here some. He can type with his other hand using the Bible method of typing as I do. Seek and ye shall find.Be glad to hear from him.
DD

DD, Dale is using his left hand a lot. He is practicing writing with it, looks like a first grader but he has determination and a good attitude. He has always been one of those that when life throws him a lemon, he makes a lemonade. He is a lot like his Grandpa Odell, you never know that something is wrong or bothering him from his outside appearance. His true feeling are kept real deep inside. He keeps his Dad and me smiling and that is a blessing to us..........Aunt Trish

Jimmy, If I can do it, I know you can. You don't have to use nails or glue. It snaps together. All you need is the kit to put it together with. I did buy a jigsaw to cut the ends tho. It really makes a difference in the looks, and comfort of walking on it. Go for it!! MVB ES

Thing that worries me is getting the floor absolutely, perfectly level. You do have to do that, right, to keep the flooring from springing up and down? There's one particular place where I've rolled back and forth in my chair where the plywood is pretty torn up. And don't you have to put down something first? I was thinking about using tar paper.
Guess I should just go down to Home Depot and see if I can get somebody's attention for a few minutes, huh? Sure hard to do, though; those people see you looking at them and they scuttle off like roaches.

Mine is not level by any means, but it looks o.k. to me and Oner and that's all I have to please. MVB ES



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Installation, Maintenance and Warranty

Columbia Clic™ Installation Instructions

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GENERAL
Columbia Clic™ is a revolutionary system for installing laminated flooring without using the glue. Columbia Clic uses an ingenious form of tongue and groove to "click" the panels together. The Columbia Clic system enables you to work 50% faster than with traditional, glued laminated flooring, and because there is no glue, Columbia Clic is much easier and cleaner to work with.
1. You can join together the panels of the Columbia Clic system in 2 different ways:
A. The panels can be rotated to fit into one another, with either the tongue into the groove, or the groove onto the tongue. The easiest way, though, is to fit the Columbia Clic tongue into the groove. (The installation instructions are based on using as much as possible this last installation technique. Fitting the groove onto the tongue is only required in a few specific situations.) Position the panel to be installed at an angle of 20 - 30% to the panel already installed. Move the panel to be fitted slightly up and down at the same as exerting forward pressure. The panels will then click into place together.
B. In some cases, the panels cannot be rotated into one another, for example along the short edge of a panel that has already been clicked into place along the long side, or under a door frame, etc.
In this case, the panels can also be fitted lying flat. IMPORTANT! To do this, you need a hammer and the SPECIAL COLUMBIA CLIC TAPPING BLOCK. DO NOT USE ANY OTHER TAPPING BLOCK - otherwise you may damage the panels to be fitted. You should not attempt to knock the Columbia Clic joint into place with one hit. For the short edge, use a number of smaller taps until the panels click together completely. For the long edge you should tap them together gradually; begin tapping lightly at the corner of a panel until the joint is made, then repeat the process some 12 inches along until the entire long edge of the panel has clicked in with the other.

For the best results, it is absolutely vital to follow the installation instructions to the letter and TO USE THE FOLLOWING COLUMBIA CLIC ACCESSORIES ONLY:

COLUMBIA CLIC INSTALLATION SET (spacer blocks, Columbia Clic buffer block and crowbar)
COLUMBIA 3 & 1 FOAM UNDERLAYMENT OR COLUMBIA SOUND CHOICE™ UNDERLAYMENT
THE COLUMBIA CLEANER

Columbia Clic is not suitable for use in damp areas such as bathrooms or saunas.
Check the panels from all packs before and during installation. Defective panels should not be installed.









2. Tools for installing the floor
In addition to the traditional tools for installing laminated flooring, such as hammer, saw, crowbar or pinchbar with protruding edge (to be tapped on with a hammer), and spacer blocks (1/32 to 5/16 inch), it is absolutely vital to use the COLUMBIA CLIC TAPPING BLOCK when installing the floor. With any other type of tapping block, you are certain to damage the panels. When sawing pieces off the panels, use a fine-toothed hand saw, jigsaw or cross-cut saw. To achieve a clean cut, saw with the pattern side down with a jigsaw and up with a hand saw or cross-cut saw.


3. The best preparation
The floor should preferably be installed parallel to the way the light falls. The ideal environment is a temperature of 59-68° F and relative humidity of 50-60%. Allow the laminated flooring to acclimatize for 48 hours, in its original packing, in the area where it is to be installed. Put the packs in the middle of the room. NEVER against a wall or place in a corner.
CHECK THAT:
The doors can still open and close after installing the floor with sub-floor (minimum + 3/8 inch).
The door frames may need to be adapted to install the floor under them.
The old plinths can be removed.


4. The base floor
The base floor must be thoroughly clean and flat before COLUMBIA CLIC is installed on it. Flatten any unevenness of more than 0.1 inch/yard. Depending on the situation, the following cases may present themselves:
CONCRETE
New construction:
The moisture content of the concrete may not exceed 2.5% (CM method). A freshly poured coating must dry out for at least 1 week per 13/32-inch thickness up to 1 5/8 inch, and 2 weeks per 13/32-inch thickness above 1 5/8 inch, with sufficient ventilation. (2 13/32 inch concrete must therefore dry out for a minimum of 8 weeks).
In case of floor heating, the moisture content may not exceed 1.5% (CM method). In this case, some specific installing instructions are applicable. Please consult your dealer for more information.
Renovated construction:
In the case of damp-proof flooring (PVC, linoleum, etc.), Columbia Clic may be installed on the existing floor covering.
In the case of damp-open flooring (carpet, needle felt floor, etc.), first remove the existing floor covering.
WOODEN FLOOR
First remove any existing floor covering.
The wooden floor must be sufficiently stable. Any loose parts must be nailed down and, if necessary, a levelling underfloor must be installed.
The moisture content of the wood may not exceed 10%.
It is essential that the creeping space under the wooden floor be sufficiently ventilated: remove any obstacles and provide sufficient ventilation (minimum 5/8 sq. inch total ventilation opening per yard of floor).
Install the new panels across the planks.















5. The Columbia Clic Underlayment System
It is absolutely vital to use a leveling compound in order to level out any unevenness in the base floor.
USE Columbia 3 & 1 Foam Underlayment or Columbia Sound Choice underlayment.
Roll out two rows of the underlayment following the instructions on the roll. Tape the edges together.



CORRECT INSTALLATION
Wood is the primary constituent of Columbia Clic. Because the humidity of the room can vary, due to differences between the seasons for example, the floor must be able to expand in all directions. This expansion can amount to 3/32 inch per yard, so the greater the surface area, the greater the room for expansion required. The floor must be able to expand or contract on ALL sides. To facilitate this, an expansion gap is provided at walls of 5/16" - 13/32". A gap must also be provided around pipes or at thresholds. With large surface areas, a wider gap must be provided, for example under a double wall. Take into account the fact that the floor may move in one direction. Where possible, provide expansion gaps, for example under doors. These gaps are covered by a profile that is not fixed to the laminated flooring but to the base floor. Install the panels preferably in the same direction as the longest wall and the way the light falls (visually more attractive). Start installing the floor on one corner or in the middle of the area. You can also work from left to right, or right to left.
Always remember that the easiest way of installing the floor is using the tongue into the groove.
In these installation instructions, we will begin with installing the floor in the left-hand corner. This means that we are installing the floor from left to right and will be clicking the panel together using the tongue into the groove.





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A. Take four panels and place them ready in the corner where you want to begin installation. For the time being, do not place them too close to the wall so that you can easily get between the wall and the panels. First saw through panel 2 so that you have a piece 80 cm long that you can use with a groove along the long and short edge (the sawn-off part against the wall). To ensure a perfect expansion joint, the tongues along the long edge of panels 1 and 3, which go against the wall, need to be sawn off.

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B. We can now begin installation. Place your knees on panel 1 and push the tongue of panel 2 into the groove of panel 1. Rotate panel 2 up and down (while you hold panel 2 hard against panel 1) until both panels click together. If panel 2 does not stay flat or if the joint is not perfectly tight, this is a sign that the joint has not been fully made. If this is the case, rotate and press both panels again, using more force until they click in together.

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C. Now install the second panel of the first row. Take panel 5 and hold it in your left hand. Hold the panel slanted, so that the tongue (on the short edge) can be fitted easily into the groove (on the short edge) of panel 1. If the tongue sticks in the groove, rotate panel 3 up and down and at the same time push against panel 1. Make sure that panels 1 and 3 are perfectly aligned to one another. This is very important for installing the next rows! Before you go any further, first place a weight (e.g. a full pack of panels) on top of panels 1 and 2.

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D. Place both knees on panels 1 and 3. The weight (pack of panels) that is lying on panels 1 and 2, will ensure that the joints you made previously will not come apart. Now take panel 4 in both hands, and fit it on the slant into the groove on the short edge of panel 2. Ensure that - on the long edge - there is a space of +/- 1 cm between panel 4 and the panels in the first row. Rotate panel 4 gently downward and press it against panel 2 until you feel the tongue and groove click firmly together. Now the panels lie flat on the ground. Slightly lift up panel 2 and 4 and use your left hand to tap panel 4 on the long edge side so that it moves in the direction of the first row so that the tongue of the long side of panel 4 comes into direct contact with the groove of the first row.

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E. Rotate panels 2 and 4 together up and down in order to make a joint between tongue and groove. Always make sure when rotating that you press the tongue and groove together with sufficient force. After a few rotations, the tongue-and-groove joint should have been made and you can now let the panels lie flat on the ground. If there is no visible space left in the joint, then you have joined the panels together correctly. If not, repeat the rotation movement (and press harder) or you must check that the panels in the first row are in perfect alignment. Now you have joined the first four panels and have got used to the technique. Then use the same technique as with panels 3 and 4 so that the first two rows are fully installed. Now push the whole unit against the wall and fill in the expansion joint (+/- 1 cm), using spacer blocks, so that you have a sturdy whole.




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F. From the third row on, finish off each row at a time, each time joining the panel along its short edge, then along its long edge. You can use the left-over pieces that you have at the end of each row as the beginning panels of the next row. That way you make the best possible use of each panel. Always place a weight (a pack of panels) on the joints that you have just made in order to stabilize them.

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G. Finish
After installing your floor, you can immediately walk on it and begin the finishing process. This is one of the major benefits of the Columbia Clic system.
Remove all spacer blocks.
Fix the skirting boards to the plastic membrane sticking up from the floor. Never fix the skirting boards to the floor itself, but allow the floor to expand and contract underneath the skirting board.
Finish the pipes with rosettes or elastic paste.
In place where no profiles or skirting boards can be placed, the expansion gap must be filled with elastic paste.


PRECAUTIONS
Protect furniture and chair feet by means of felt or plastic gaps.
Avoid bringing dirt, water and sand from outside by using a doormat.
Use wheel chairs with soft rollers suitable for laminated flooring.
Make sure there is a minimum humidity of 50% in the room. If necessary, use a humidifier.


MAINTENANCE
With its smooth surface, Columbia Clic cannot retain dust or dirt.
NEVER use a wax or varnish coating on the floor.
For dry maintenance, use a duster or vacuum cleaner.
For damp maintenance: wipe over with clean water or with COLUMBIA CLEANER diluted in water. (Never use other cleaning product or detergents!) This product cleans the floor very well and leaves a satin shine. Only use a WELL WRUNG OUT CLOTH. ALWAYS WIPE DRY IMMEDIATELY AFTER until no moisture is visible on the floor. If you do not wipe it dry, the Columbia Clic cleaning product has virtually no effect.
WET MAINTENANCE IS ENTIRELY FORBIDDEN.
Remove stubborn stains carefully with a little acetone. Never use any scouring products!
Columbia Clic is based on pre-treated, watertight glued HDF board. Despite Columbia Clic's relative moisture-resistance, remove any excess water immediately.







Copyright © 2002 Columbia Flooring. All Rights Reserved.

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