CARETTA

The material

The material, in principle and in section.

What it is, how it behaves in a home, and what it asks of the building. The drawings on this page are ours. The measured detail behind them exists in full — and is issued to architects, specifiers and contractors on request.

01

A mineral core, and three things laid over it.

A CARETTA floor is an engineered surface built around a rigid mineral core. The core is what gives the plank its stillness: it does not swell in damp air, it does not shift after a hot afternoon, and it stays flat over a subfloor that is not perfect.

Over it sits the image of the material — a décor whose colour we hold and verify ourselves rather than accept. Over that, a clear layer that takes the wear instead of the picture. Beneath, a bonded layer that takes the sound.

That is the whole idea. Everything after it is execution.

A section is simply the floor cut through and seen from the side — it is how you see what is inside it. It is the drawing an architect works from, and we draw ours ourselves. Four of them follow, each on a different thing, and each one opens at full size.

Section through a CARETTA plank Vertical section through one plank. From the top: a surface coating, a transparent wear layer, the decor film, a rigid mineral core, and a bonded acoustic pad. Detail A enlarges the surface; detail B enlarges the joint between two planks, where the micro-bevel and the click lock are drawn indicatively and the pad runs on beneath the joint. The sheet carries no dimensions. Section through the plankCARETTA · ENGINEERED SPCCARETTADRAWING LANGUAGE · SHEET 01 · 2026-07-26Surface coatingTransparent wear layerDécor filmRigid mineral coreBonded acoustic padAAThe surfaceSurface coatingWear layerTransparent — drawn as a voidDécor filmBJoint between planks⌀Micro-bevelClick lockPad continuous beneath the joint⌀ profile schematicHow to read this sheetPlane of the cutNot supplied by us · or an unknown boundary⌀Schematic — not a production drawingProportions schematic · width foreshortened · dimensions in the technical dossierSchematic drawing · not a production drawingISO 128
Sheet 01 · One plank, cut through and seen from the side, with the surface and the joint magnified. In drawing terms: a vertical section with details A and B. The dimensions belong to the dossier, not here. Open sheet 01 at full size
02

The joint is milled, not built.

A floating floor is not held down. What holds it is the profile cut into all four edges of every plank, and the accuracy of that cutting. It is the one part of the floor that is machined rather than assembled, and it is where a cheap board gives itself away — in the second year, not in the showroom.

Every board also carries a micro-bevel on all four sides. The eye reads a floor of separate boards; a bare foot never finds a lip. This is a manufactured floor and the joint says so. It is not an imitation of solid-timber joinery, and it is not asked to be.

Detail of the joint between two planks Enlarged detail of the joint. Two planks meet; the milled profile locks one into the other at an angle, a micro-bevel is cut on the top edge of both, and the acoustic pad runs continuously beneath the joint rather than stopping at it. The lock profile is drawn indicatively. The sheet carries no dimensions. Joint between planksMICRO-BEVEL · ANGLE / ANGLE LOCKCARETTADRAWING LANGUAGE · SHEET 02 · 2026-07-26⌀Angle of insertionMicro-bevelClick lockAcoustic pad — continuous beneath the jointOn all four edges⌀ profile schematicThe pad is not interrupted at the jointSchematic detail · not a production drawingISO 128
Sheet 02 · Where two planks meet, magnified: the milled lock, the micro-bevel on both top edges, and the pad carrying on underneath instead of stopping at the joint. In drawing terms: detail B, with the lock drawn as a shape and not as a profile — marked ⌀. Open sheet 02 at full size
03

Two ranges. One thickness.

Navigation and Deep Sea are built on the same principle and finish at the same height. They differ in how the core is built and in the pad beneath it: one is a single rigid mass, the other wraps that same rigid core in two resilient layers; one pad is softer, one denser.

Denser is not lesser. A firmer pad supports the joint under a point load; a softer one absorbs more impact sound. Neither of them is the premium one.

Comparative section, the two ranges Two sections side by side, drawn to the same overall height. The Navigation core, in SPC, is hatched with even parallel lines — one rigid mass — over a softer pad drawn with open hatching. The Deep Sea core, in ESPC, is drawn as three bands: the same rigid core in the middle, carrying the same even hatch, between two resilient layers drawn with a denser counter hatch — over a denser pad. Both carry the same upper build and the same thickness. The sheet carries no dimensions. Two ranges · one thicknessSPC · ESPC — COMPARATIVE SECTIONCARETTADRAWING LANGUAGE · SHEET 04 · 2026-07-26Navigation · SPCDeep Sea · ESPCMonolithic coreThree-layer coreMonolithic coreThree-layer coreSofter padDenser padBoth ranges share the same overall thickness and the same upper build.The difference is in the character of the core and of the pad — not in height.Even hatch = one rigid core · counter hatch = resilient layerIn Deep Sea the same rigid core, wrapped in two resilient layersISO 128
Sheet 04 · The two ranges side by side at the same height. The Navigation core is drawn as one even hatch — a single rigid mass; the Deep Sea core is drawn as three bands — that same rigid core in the middle, carrying the same hatch, between two resilient layers in a denser counter hatch — and its pad is drawn denser. In drawing terms: a comparative section, with the core boundaries drawn. Open sheet 04 at full size
05

Two builds, exploded.

A section tells an architect how thick each layer is. This tells anyone what the plank is made of. Both drawings describe the same two products; they answer different questions.

The plank build — exploded axonometricSeven layers separated one above the other in isometric projection, each on a leader line to its name. Top to bottom: double UV coating, wear layer, décor film, LVT sheet, rigid SPC core, a second LVT sheet and the IXPE pad. The two LVT sheets wrap the rigid core — that is the sandwich. The sheet carries no dimensions.CARETTADRAWING LANGUAGEThe plank, layer by layerESPC · DEEP SEA — EXPLODED AXONOMETRICIXPE padLVT sheetRigid SPC coreLVT sheetHD décor filmWear layerDouble UV coatingThe two LVT sheets wrap the rigid core. That is the sandwich.Schematic · layer thicknesses exaggerated for legibility. No dimensions on this sheet.ISO 128SHEET 07 · 2026-07-27
Sheet 07 · The ESPC build, layer by layer: the same rigid core as Navigation, wrapped in two resilient LVT sheets. That wrap is the whole difference between the two ranges.
The plank build — exploded axonometricSeven layers separated one above the other in isometric projection, each on a leader line to its name. Top to bottom: double UV coating, wear layer, décor film, LVT sheet, rigid SPC core, a second LVT sheet and the IXPE pad. The two LVT sheets wrap the rigid core — that is the sandwich. The sheet carries no dimensions.CARETTADRAWING LANGUAGEThe plank, layer by layerSPC · NAVIGATION — EXPLODED AXONOMETRICIXPE padRigid SPC coreHD décor filmWear layerHardened UV coatingOne rigid core, unwrapped. Same upper build and same thickness as Deep Sea.Schematic · layer thicknesses exaggerated for legibility. No dimensions on this sheet.ISO 128SHEET 08 · 2026-07-27
Sheet 08 · The SPC build for comparison: one rigid core, unwrapped. Same upper build, same pad, same overall thickness.
04

It floats. That is the whole installation.

No adhesive and no fixings. The boards lock to one another and rest as one continuous field, held clear of the walls so the floor can move with the seasons. Skirting fixes to the wall, never to the floor, and nothing is built on top of the floor to pin it.

A flat, dry, sound subfloor is the one thing the system genuinely demands — and it is the thing most often skipped.

Installation section at a wall junction Section through the floor where it meets a wall. The plank and its bonded pad float on a polyethylene moisture barrier over a concrete subfloor, held clear of the wall by an expansion gap that runs around the full perimeter, with the skirting fixed to the wall and never to the floor. Everything drawn in a dashed line is supplied by the building, not by us. The sheet carries no dimensions. Installation sectionFLOATING INSTALLATION · WALL JUNCTIONCARETTADRAWING LANGUAGE · SHEET 03 · 2026-07-26SPC plank · floating, not fixedBonded acoustic padPolyethylene moisture barrierSkirting fixes to the wall — never to the floorExpansion gaparound the full perimeterNot supplied by usConcrete subfloor — not supplied by usDashed line = not supplied by usNever build a wall or a kitchen island on top of the floor.A water-resistant core is not a waterproofing system.Schematic drawing · not a production drawingISO 128
Sheet 03 · The floor meeting a wall: the boards and their pad, the gap left all the way round, and the skirting fixed to the wall rather than to the floor. In drawing terms: an installation section — solid line is what we supply, everything dashed belongs to the building. Open sheet 03 at full size
05

What it is not.

A brand that draws its own sections should be as exact about the boundary as about the build.

Water

It is not a waterproofing system.

The core is water-resistant for everyday use — a damp cloth, a glass that goes over, wet feet at the door. It is not a flood-proof claim, and no floating floor is.

Timber

It is not wood.

It is an image of wood beneath a clear layer. That is a legitimate way to build a floor and not a legitimate thing to blur. It also means the surface cannot be sanded back and refinished.

Fire

It is not non-combustible.

It carries a European reaction-to-fire classification appropriate to a floor covering of this kind. A project that specifies a non-combustible floor is specifying something else — and we would rather say so at the enquiry than at the submittal.

06

Tested to European standards.

WearAC5
Reaction to fireBfl-s1
FormaldehydeE1

The reports themselves, with their scope and their dates, travel with the technical dossier — not with the marketing.

On request

The full technical dossier.

Everything these sheets leave out is in it: the same drawings fully dimensioned, the test reports with their scope, the installation documents, and the measured colour of every model.

It is issued to architects, specifiers and contractors on request — the reports themselves, not a summary of them.

Request the technical dossier Open a model — the plank at 1:1 How we show a floor honestly