With housebuilders under pressure to deliver the 1.5 million new quality homes promised, and discerning home buyers expecting only the very best from their investment, quality products and materials that you can trust are more important than ever.

With structural flooring boards an integral part of any build, how do you know what to look out for?

Tough and durable laminated surface

Being installed early on in a build, structural flooring boards can serve a secondary function as a working platform for a variety of trades. But this must be balanced against the risk of potential damage to the flooring.

EGGER Protect’s durable laminated surface protects the chipboard core from any damage whilst the site is active, whether from heavy footfall or dropped tools. This is demonstrated through EGGER’s in-house laboratory testing, with a series of tests including Bending Strength Tests and Internal Bond Tests carried out on every batch of structural flooring boards.

The enhanced durability extends throughout the building’s lifespan, providing long-term moisture resistance (such as from humidity and water spills) once homeowners move in to the property.

100-day exposure rating

If you’re installing structural flooring before a building is watertight, it’s essential you use a product that can be left exposed to the weather. Failure to do so could lead to the flooring becoming damaged or swelling and losing its structural integrity, causing costly delays.

EGGER Protect’s laminated surface on both sides of the board protects against moisture penetration, allowing the boards to be left exposed to the elements for up to 100 days – as independently verified by KIWA. This gives site teams more time and flexibility, even when facing less than ideal weather conditions.

Reducing waste on site

Waste is an unavoidable part of construction. However, there are certain products that can help reduce the amount of waste created on site, demonstrating an awareness of sustainability.

Some structural flooring boards achieve site durability and weather resistance through a peelable top layer that must be removed and disposed of before site handover. However, EGGER Protect features a thermally bonded surface on both sides of the board, which can be easily cleaned before handover. This saves on average over 4.8kg of waste per plot going to landfill (based on an average of 44 boards per plot).

Low slip potential

Safety on site is crucial, with slips and trips accounting for the largest cause of injuries within the UK construction industry. Most structural flooring boards on the market achieve a ‘Moderate’ slip rating (Pendulum Test Value of 25-35). Wet surfaces with a moderate potential require caution and potentially additional control measures, such as improved cleaning policies or the use of specialised footwear, to reduce the risk of slips.

EGGER remains the reliable manufacturer of a chipboard-based structural flooring board that is verified as ‘Low Slip Potential even in wet conditions, in accordance with the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) guidance. A Low Slip Potential (PTV 36+) means the chance of a slip or fall is drastically reduced.

High percentage of recycled content

With a growing emphasis on material circularity, opting for flooring boards with a high volume of recycled wood content is an effective way to reduce the carbon footprint of your site. On average, EGGER Protect boards are manufactured from 55% recycled wood, 27% sawmill by-products (such as hackchips and sawdust) and 18% virgin industrial waste wood, facilitating material circularity.

What’s more, once the board’s service life has come to an end, it can be recycled using EGGER’s waste-wood recycling service, Timberpak.

Responsibly sourced raw timber

When virgin timber is used, it’s essential that it is sourced from responsibly managed forests. This means supporting a balance of environmental, social and economic benefits, conserving biodiversity and ensuring that all harvested trees are replaced for future generations – it’s a sustaining cycle.

At EGGER, raw wood is sourced from certified, well-managed forests within 150km of EGGER’s UK plants.

Reliable ‘tongue and groove’ joints

A quality product also requires a quality install. When it comes to ensuring a water-tight finish, tongue and groove systems can be ideal. EGGER Protect features a diamond tip machined, tongue and groove profile on all four sides, ensuring tight and consistent joints on site.

Easy to install

With potentially hundreds of units on a new housing development, housebuilders need products that are quick and easy to install. EGGER structural flooring boards should be installed using a recommended installation method from the EGGER Advanced Fitting Guide and EGGER Joint & Joist Adhesive. This unique expanding adhesive is designed to foam out of board joints to further protect against moisture ingress.

Produced in the UK

Managing multiple material supply chains can be complex. Opting for products manufactured here in the UK can be one way of alleviating this stress, ensuring a quicker and more reliable delivery, as well as reducing your site’s carbon footprint.

Manufactured in the UK, EGGER Protect is readily available and stocked across the country.

Lifetime Guarantee

In a competitive housing market, quality is everything, with homebuyers understandably wanting peace of mind. Reduce the likelihood of snags or call-backs by specifying building products that come with lifetime guarantees from the manufacturer.

All EGGER structural flooring boards are offered with the EGGER Advanced Lifetime Guarantee, which covers the structural integrity of the flooring boards when correctly installed using EGGER Joint and Joist Adhesive and EGGER’s recommended installation methods.

Learn more about EGGER Protect, here: to.egger.link/protect