Browse Forums Flooring & Floor Covering 1 Aug 17, 2013 9:40 am I'm so confused over all the misinformation and half truths floating out there in the flooring world....er, home builders world in general really! Just spoke with a flooring dealer who has told me that modern day slabs are too moist to lay vinyl on if they have not had at least 6 months to cure properly......even with a feather coat and levelling compound......*sigh* is this even true? Really? I haven't even heard this! Then I've been told that laminate boards are easy to remove and replace if one gets damaged, however a diff flooring dealer told me that that's baloney and in order to get to one plank you must pull up the planks around it, and the cost of labour in removing replacing and reinstalling would quickly add up.... I know these people mean well but its enough to drive a person crazy..... So what are the truths?? HD Re: Flooring misinformation...... 2Aug 17, 2013 10:37 am Well our builder laid our vinyl a few weeks ago and our slab went down in April.... I've never heard about being able to take one laminate board up as I thought they way they are laid, clicked together didn't make that possible... Re: Flooring misinformation...... 3Aug 17, 2013 12:13 pm fmac Well our builder laid our vinyl a few weeks ago and our slab went down in April.... I've never heard about being able to take one laminate board up as I thought they way they are laid, clicked together didn't make that possible... I guess your builder must not have heard about the slab moisture problem??? I'm sure to an extent there's some truth to it but the truth gets stretched in different directions for the sake of sales. Haha well there you go...that's just it.....I was told you can indeed lift individual laminate planks. Finally one salesguy told me it's a sales tactic they were taught to move product and that someone who wanted to replace a damaged board was quoted around $3,000......! HD Re: Flooring misinformation...... 4Aug 18, 2013 2:42 pm You can't just lift a plank out You can CUT a single plank out, and glue a new one in, but its not the best way, but is the most cost effective. The best way is to pull the planks from the closest side wall back to the damaged one, replace it, then relay the planks. Obviously the position of the damage is the biggest variable in the cost. Damage that is a few planks from a side wall is the easiest, if laid with scotia finish. This is easier than pulling skirting and possible/probable damage to walls and skirting removing them, if the planks were laid and skirting fixed after laying. There are so many variables, that it could be couple of hours job, or a couple of days. Re: Flooring misinformation...... 5Aug 23, 2013 9:45 pm Mark S You can't just lift a plank out You can CUT a single plank out, and glue a new one in, but its not the best way, but is the most cost effective. The best way is to pull the planks from the closest side wall back to the damaged one, replace it, then relay the planks. Obviously the position of the damage is the biggest variable in the cost. Damage that is a few planks from a side wall is the easiest, if laid with scotia finish. This is easier than pulling skirting and possible/probable damage to walls and skirting removing them, if the planks were laid and skirting fixed after laying. There are so many variables, that it could be couple of hours job, or a couple of days. Yikes...it's almost not worth the effort unless it's significant damage to justify it all. I'm still mystified about the slab moisture issue o.o HD Re: Flooring misinformation...... 6Aug 26, 2013 8:47 am Not sure about vinyl, but when we install direct stick timber onto a slab we always treat the slab with a Vapour Barrier System (a 2-part epoxy). Personally I do it regardless of how old the slab is. It is quite expensive - around $10 per sqm. Re: Flooring misinformation...... 7Sep 18, 2013 9:50 pm I have heard about the moisture problem as well, the rule is actually months after the slab had last got wet. I have heard the worst case problem is that the planks start to lift due to the moisture....although my vinyl planks were glued down. However, due to build delays I did end up waiting about 5 months or more since the slab last got wet so I haven't had any issues. I'm pretty sure other people on the forum have laid vinyl and not had issues... Re: Flooring misinformation...... 8Sep 19, 2013 3:09 am Rule of thumb is that Concrete cures at a rate of 1" per month from when it was placed . Water curing helps and is still the best way however not when wanting to overlay a flooring system be in wooden floor or vinyl . The problem being that concrete breathes and it is the rate of the pressure coming through the floor that your builder was worried about and it will pop off anything on that floor if it has a higher RH than 85-80 depending what country to you live in . Do put down a moisture barrier simple as that.. Re: Flooring misinformation...... 9Sep 24, 2013 7:39 pm You can't put a moisture barrier if you are laying any form of vinyl. As the vinyl needs to be glued to the sub floor. You can however put the moisture barrier down, then lay hardboard over that and glue the vinyl to the hardboard. BUT....that adds extra $$$$ to your flooring. We lay vinyl all the time on new builds. Here's the thing you need to worry about......what have the tradesman on your build dropped on the concrete??? Paints, oils, food fats, glues.......all of these can make a difference to how the glue will react to the concrete therefore affecting the the flooring being glued down. TIP - If you know you are going to lay any form of vinyl or a glued flooring to a certain part of your home, tell your builder before the slab stage. Keep that surface clean. Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: Flooring misinformation...... 10Oct 14, 2013 9:02 pm Michelle You can't put a moisture barrier if you are laying any form of vinyl. As the vinyl needs to be glued to the sub floor...... We direct stick timber flooring to concrete which has been treated with a Vapour Barrier - I would assume its the same with vinyl? Re: Flooring misinformation...... 11Oct 14, 2013 10:51 pm namtrak Michelle You can't put a moisture barrier if you are laying any form of vinyl. As the vinyl needs to be glued to the sub floor...... We direct stick timber flooring to concrete which has been treated with a Vapour Barrier - I would assume its the same with vinyl? For my curiosity. I installed plastic sheeting, then 12mm ply over the slab. Then secret nailed and glued my 14mm solid timber overlay boards to the ply. What is the advantage of using direct stick (with suitable waterproofing barrier), other than cost? Re: Flooring misinformation...... 12Oct 16, 2013 5:57 pm JB1 What is the advantage of using direct stick (with suitable waterproofing barrier), other than cost? I generally charge more for direct stick - it is very time consuming and labour intensive. The VBS epoxy - Vapour Barrier System is around $10 per sqm. Direct Stick was perfected in WA and NZ - areas where there is a lot of sandy subsoil and hence concrete slabs. It is used in the Eastern States where height is an issue as you can save the thickness of the ply (12-15mm). Your method is probably the preferred method by most floor guys when dealing with slabs. Re: Flooring misinformation...... 13Oct 17, 2013 12:55 am Actually $10 / sqm is cheaper than laying ply. But with direct stick, I wonder how you can get a really good tight bond between a) the timber and the floor and b) the boards themselves. You can't top nail the first row and secret nail all the other boards down while the glue dries. Re: 14Oct 18, 2013 8:26 pm JB1 Actually $10 / sqm is cheaper than laying ply. But with direct stick, I wonder how you can get a really good tight bond between a) the timber and the floor and b) the boards themselves. You can't top nail the first row and secret nail all the other boards down while the glue dries. $10 per sqm then its more labour intensive as well - adds up over time for sure. The glue we use is pretty tried and tested. I generally go with with Selleys VBS coupled with Selleys direct stick glue. The glue is trowelled on with a 5mm notched trowel so floor to timber coverage is 100%. Once each section of say 600mm is glued it is then clamped and weighted down (this is where the costs start to rise). Haven't seen one fail yet, but you can get some 'drummy' areas if the floor/glue/boards dont come into contact perfectly. Re: Flooring misinformation...... 16Oct 19, 2013 11:38 pm I tend to use 20 litre buckets filled with water - I have used railway line offcuts as well - either way it needs to be heavy 1000000% definitely add insulation. I have in my home and it makes a big difference minimising sound transfer. Insulation is pretty cheap and definitely worth it 2 6212 Engineering timber is certainly a less fuss option, times cheaper to supply and install and better withstands humidity. 1 15924 Hi there, I'm a conplete newbie to this, but I'm looking to put a floor down in my 6x9m shed. It's currently sitting on a 100mm thick concrete perimeter (dirt floor… 0 6469 |