Why 280 days of wood drying instead of the standard 30-60 days?

280 days of chamber drying isn't marketing—it's a technological necessity. In the first stage, timber sawn into 'frize' strips and air-stacked in piles with spacers is conditioned in ventilated workshops. That way we reduce moisture by 25–30% from the initial value as gently as possible. The second stage takes place in a vacuum-convective chamber with thermo-humidity treatment developed by our in-house engineering team. It is essentially the same natural process, scaled to an industrial workflow. Frize strips on trolleys with spacers enter the drying chamber. Hot air is the drying medium. Wood temperature is raised to +55 °C, then vacuum is applied with internal pressure reduced to 0.8 atm. Together, these conditions bring sap to a boil for 10–15 minutes per cycle. The cycle runs 48 times per day and continues until the wood reaches 9±1% moisture.

How do you work with clients and confidentiality?

100% of projects under NDA—this isn't optional, it's standard. We don't publish addresses, client names, or floor plan details without written permission. Photography only with client consent, often prohibited entirely. Our team signs personal non-disclosure agreements. For clients from public spheres (politics, business, culture), we can operate through structured legal entities without revealing the ultimate beneficiary. Payment possible via escrow accounts with bank guarantees from top-10 institutions.

Is the 25-year warranty real or just marketing?

Real, but conditional. The warranty covers structural integrity when the temperature-humidity regime (18-24°C, 40-60% humidity) and operating conditions are met.

What's the point of a comprehensive solution: floor + walls + furniture from the same wood?

First, aesthetics: unified grain pattern, tone, and transition from floor to panels, panels to kitchen facades creates a sense of cohesive space, as if the interior is 'carved' from a single block. Second, technology: using one timber batch, we guarantee identical reaction to humidity and temperature—floor and panels 'breathe' synchronously, no deformations at joints. Third, logistics: one supplier, one installation cycle, unified warranty. For clients: one call, design project with all technical nodes, one contract, one responsibility.

Can you restore 19th-century parquet in cultural heritage sites?

Yes, it's one of our core competencies. We've worked in the Kremlin (Red Square), Vaganova Ballet Academy, dozens of estates and mansions. Process: complete documentation (photos, measurements, species analysis, identification of historical installation techniques), then dismantling damaged areas while preserving 80-90% of the original, restoring lost planks by matching timber species, grain, and grade. Finishing layer restoration with application of protective coating (lacquer or oil) to extend service life.

Parquet subfloor: survey protocol before ordering material

Parquet rarely fails because of the species — more often because of a substrate nobody checked before ordering material.

The real question is whether to glue on schedule or first measure moisture, flatness and pull-off strength.

Here is parquet subfloor prep as a project gate: what we measure, when we stop, and why the survey comes before the batch goes into production.

Subfloor quality governs floor life more than the oak you pick in a catalogue.

At Cardinal Hall the site is surveyed before the batch enters production — so boards are not delivered to an unready screed and schedules are not argued on site.

This is a gate article: diagnosis and a pass / remediate call. The full installation tech card is the next track — not this one.

Why survey before ordering material?

The laying method (plywood + polyurethane or silane on screed), build-up height and junction tolerances depend on what actually sits under the future floor.

Ordering a batch “to a pretty sample” and then changing the card because of moisture or cracks means losing the calendar — and sometimes the batch itself.

The survey protocol locks facts: moisture, flatness, pull-off, defect map. Without it, production and install are a lottery.

What is the logic of CM vs a hygrometer?

The carbide method (CM) shows moisture through the screed depth — adhesive schedules and concrete / anhydrite tolerances often require it.

A surface hygrometer is useful for screening and mapping “hot” zones, but it does not replace CM where the adhesive maker asks for a documented method of its own.

We take both tracks per the adhesive tech card and screed type. “Dry to the touch” and “the screed is three weeks old” are not a protocol.

A dry feel is not a measurement.

Note

Moisture thresholds come from the chosen adhesive and screed type — not a “market average”.

Tool	Job
CM (carbide)	in-depth moisture — adhesive tolerance
Hygrometer	zone map, screening, trend check
Straightedge / laser	flatness: guide ≤ 2 mm per 2 m
Pull-off	surface strength under the system

What does pull-off strength tell you?

Sample pull-off shows whether the screed surface can hold a “primer + adhesive + parquet” system — or whether laitance and a weak layer will fail.

Low pull-off is a stop: grind / mill the weak layer, strengthen, sometimes a new screed. You cannot “glue harder” over a weak field.

The result sits in the protocol next to moisture and flatness — three numbers decide whether a laying date is even discussable.

Cracks and moisture bridges — when is it a stop?

Crack map: hairline shrinkage, through cracks, live movement. A live crack and a moisture bridge from wet zones (bath, external wall, ground) are not cosmetic filler “for the photo”.

Moisture bridges are found by measurement and build logic: where water enters, where vapour exits, whether waterproofing is at risk.

Until the cause is fixed, the batch does not come to site. Otherwise the floor becomes an expensive, useless leak sensor.

How do timber joists differ from a concrete screed?

Concrete / anhydrite: CM and hygrometer moisture, flatness, pull-off, cracks, waterproofing. Then the install card follows the tolerance.

Timber floors: joist stiffness, squeak, subfloor ventilation, rot and beetle, compatibility of thickness and method with a “live” base.

On joists a plywood card and reinforcement are more common than dreaming of thin silane “like the neighbour’s screed flat”. Substrate type dictates method — not the reverse.

When do we stop and remediate?

Stop if moisture exceeds the adhesive limit, flatness is worse than the guide (≤ 2 mm per 2 m), pull-off is weak, cracks are live, moisture bridges remain, joists move or the void is unventilated.

Then we write a technical fix: levelling, strengthening, waterproofing, joist reinforcement, method change — and only after a readiness certificate do we call the batch.

Priming for the adhesive type, local levelling and a perimeter damper are prep for install — not a substitute for diagnosis.

A stop at survey is cheaper than a stop mid-lay.

Signal	Action
Moisture above limit	dry / isolate / pause the order
Flatness out of guide	level before a new protocol
Weak pull-off	remove weak layer / strengthen
Moisture bridge / live crack	cause → repair → re-measure

Can you lay parquet over old flooring?

Only after adhesion, moisture, junction-height and old-layer diagnostics. Sometimes old parquet or tile holds; more often it hides a wet or weak base.

In practice, on premium jobs it is often cheaper to remove and prep the base anew than to open the field a year later under furniture and oil.

A photo of “the old floor looks fine” is not a measurement. The call sits in the protocol — not in chat.

What follows a readiness protocol?

The readiness certificate opens the calendar: acclimatisation of a single batch, laying by the chosen card, finish and handover — see installation as engineering.

Before the protocol, production may reserve species and grading, but physical delivery to an unready site is a risk we do not take by default.

In brief

When to survey the substrate — before or after ordering parquet?

Before the batch is launched and delivered. Laying method and build-up height depend on site facts; otherwise the calendar and sometimes the material are at risk.

How does CM differ from a hygrometer?

CM (carbide) measures in-depth screed moisture by a hard method. A hygrometer screens and maps zones. Adhesive tolerance often needs documented CM or the maker’s equivalent.

What flatness deviation is acceptable?

Guide: up to 2 mm per 2 m, plus adhesive and method-card requirements. Out of tolerance — level and a new protocol, not “more adhesive”.

Can parquet be laid over old flooring?

Only after adhesion, moisture and height diagnostics. On premium projects it is often cheaper to strip and prep anew than to rework a year later.

What matters most on timber joists?

Stiffness, squeak, subfloor ventilation and biological damage — then thickness and method compatibility. Silane “as on screed” does not transfer automatically.

When must install not start?

Moisture above limit, flatness out of guide, weak pull-off, live cracks or unresolved moisture bridges — stop until repair and re-measure.

Need a site diagnosis — describe the floor or joinery.

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