mystery bulge solution?

Respect to you guys who do this.
My problem is; It's a kitchen, about 8ft wide by 12ft long. Used a water resitant slate effect lam. There was 8ft of units existing on the left, so no lam went under that, but on the right, I went up to the walls, then put fridge, oven, and one unit on it. there is underfloor heating down the middle, but not under the new unit, cooker or fridge, under the heating is the green 6mm fibrous woody insulation.
The problem is a ridge down the middle. When I started the job, in a rush, i checked the floor for level, and down the length, not bad, maybe half or 1mm dip in the middle. NEVER CHECKED it the other way, even though I know it is cupped in that direction, but where the dip is is where the ridge is now, so I am getting about 8mm of sponginess underfoot
I can take up the lam, with difficulty, but I don't fancy messing with the ufh again. It was touch and go to get it to fit in.
There is a gap all round the floor.
I suspect the weight of the cooker etc is see-sawing on the first line of Ufh, until the weight of the lam pulls it down further away.
Solutions I have come up with
1 forget it and leave it.
2 saw cut around the cooker etc to isolate them
3 isolate them by cutting discs out where the feet land
4 taking up the lam and putting an additional 3mm or so under the cooker etc in order to bring it up to the level of the heating cable ( I did think the cable woud work its way into the underlay)
5 go down the cellar with hardwood wedges, like in stair construction, and try to level the floor up from there.
Other much better suggestions are heartily welcomed.
By the way, I was impressed with this forum, there are others with page after page of unanswered posts.
Not my idea of a forum.
Respect
lionman

 

Any pictures ?

 

I'll try and sort it.
Thanks

 

If the dip wasn't there when you walked on the laminate originally, ie just after you laid it then it will be ok, you say that you have allowed expansition, but can you check that is still there? The boards have expanded and are restricted at one point pushing it up in the middle in my opinion, years ago I laid some quickstep on the green felt on two jobs and had to go back and retrim, before this and since we only lay laminate on timbermate excel and have never had a problem, not saying its related as it good have just been a one off and we cut it in too tight, or it could be that the fiber boards are so dry they absourb any moisture from any source and transfer into the laminate

Firstly find out where it is being restricted and cut a gap to relieve the pressure

 

UVcure... did you put a dpm sheet under the fibreboard first?

 

cooker fridge unit on right.
treading on it puts it pretty flat, but not dead flat.
Checking for tight spots at wall and unit at the moment, but, when I was putting it down, it didn't go dead flat, but I thought, as I add the next few lengths, it will be pulled down, In fact it has got worse.
Lionman

 

yes had a look all round again. Knowing it was going to be hidden, I didn't go anywhere near close on the right, and there is 15 to 25mm spare on the laminate, BUT looking at your post, are you saying the underlay expanded and pushed the laminate up? I was less careful to leave a gap on the underlay, and it is tight up in some areas.
thanks for the replies
lionman

 

underlay all loose now, no change in hillock as yet

 

No sorry I didn't mean that the underlay would be bulging under the laminate, it normally doesn't need a gap, is it concrete or wooden subfloor, after what you said that it wasn't flat after you laid it then it probably is the floor and a little expansion, thinking it would get better when it was all done was probably not a good idea.

 

No we didn't as it was on wooden floorboards , I realise it can't really be a problem with fibrous boards as so much laminate is laid on it,
But as I said, never had a problem before when fitting laminate and then two jobs on the trot had to go back and trim laminate, only common ground was the boarding, just was thinking if the boards have a very low moisture level and we have all seen then disintegrate when they do get wet, like they would act like sponges if any moisture is nearby , then spreading to the laminate, just made sense to me when I was looking for a solution for my own problems.

 

lionman, you have cellar under that kitchen?
are the floorboards just on joists?
how damp is it in that cellar?

 

yes it is a cellar, yes the floorboards are just on joists, it is a tad damp.

 

yep i see that now. it was a mistakke to carry on, i was in a panic because the ufh had taken so long. The biggest mistake was not checking the wooden floor in both directions. There is a small amount of the flooring on concrete, with a small change of level from wood to concrete, and that is all solid. I built up gradually with thin sheet. So I can do it, I just didn't. But what now?

 

now we know this sounds like a moisture problem mate, sorry no quick fix and it'll just get progressively worse the cellarshould be your first point of call sort the damp out, then you need to use the correct underlay best bet get in a pro to check how much to rectify.

 

Damp is something I hadn't considered, since it was not looking good as it went down. I know damp can swell laminate, but not instantly. I am not dismissing it as a cause though.
I notice I have posted in the wrong section, can someone move it for me?
Lionman

 

What area are you in?
Have a look on the Find A Fitter, it's a tab at the top on the left had side

 

Well, no-one in Derbyshire..

 

where abouts in derbyshire are you?

 

Buxton

 

alsoo, it is the moisture resistant green Medea, so I dont think a whiff of damp air would affect it straight away. I suspect the uneven floor.