Evening Guys :thumbs Newbie here looking for some advice regards a Kitchen floor project I intend to sort out very soon. Ok, here goes... I have Quarry tiles down at the moment which we would like to replace with some Laminate flooring. I believe there is no DPM down and I'd obviously have to now put some in with me going with Laminate. I have lifted a tile under the Kitchen units to reveal a thin ish layer of tile adhesive on a concrete base. Piccy I have an area of around 14m² to cover. I originally thought I'd leave the tiles as they are pretty solidly in place although there are one or two slightly raised ones (intended to flatten the offenders somehow!) Would I be better taking the tiles up? I really wanted to avoid the extra hassle of this but I do realise I am trying to cut a corner or two! I intended to use the following products. Sugersoap for cleaning tiles. F Ball Stopgap 1200 Pro Blackjack Liquid DPM or 1000 Gauge sheeting 5mm Underlay Apologies for rambling on, just trying to get my views across correctly Advice please chaps on what to do??? Thanks.
No, can't you tell just thought I'd have a go at this little project myself and was just after some advice seeing as their seems to be a lot of decent people on here who know what they are talking about. I have read quite a few posts on here then got hit with a sign up demand to keep on viewing so I did enjoyed reading the posts.
really you need to know if there is a dpm or not . you might find you do have one as the tiles are bonded to the concrete. This would normally indicate that you do have a dpm. However it does not mean its working. So really you need to do a moisture test. A Hygrometer should be used for this. Once you know this you can plan what system your going to use. I would not be using teh blackjack DPM system you are talking about tho.
Ok, cheers Matt I'll scrub the Blackjack DPM and go with a DPM sheet. I'll look into doing a moisture test, I'll probably tape a plastic sheet to the floor first for 24hrs and see the results THEN do a proper test.
How old is the sub floor? If a old floor before 1965 it won't have a DPM. Sometimes you don't need to do a moisture test if you ask the right questions.
No idea if it's accurate or not but the Mortgage papers say approx year built 1970. We bought it two years ago. Edit* just to add I just found the Homebuyers report that I had done and that says year built 1975!
so you should defo have a dpm then. Hence above i said i think you have one by seeing the type of floor construction. but again, like i say it does not mean its working.
Duly thanked boss Do you think I should put another down then Matt? double 'safety' so to speak?? I'm guessing it wouldn't do any harm.
you can if you like but your wasting your money if you dont need one. Also its not as simple as just putting one down if you dont have a dpm as you have to take into account hydrostatic pressure , additional subfloor prep etc. Hopefully if your dpm is working which i would guess it is, you can simply clean the tiles , prime with 131 neat and then apply 1200 pro. Again this depends on how well the tiles are down. When you come to fitting laminate you will simply need a underlay with vapour barrier.
Cheers Matt. I wouldn't mind doing that as it would be less hassle and yes the tiles seem fairly solid if a little raised in places (3mm or so) however what is slightly stopped me now is the rise in height - 8mm Laminate plus 3-5mm Underlay not to mention a SLC if I went with that too! I may rip the tiles up to solve all the above but really could do without the extra work.
Ok, I have a couple of final questions before I let this go If you don't mind. 1. Could I leave out the 1200 pro and go straight to Underlay with built in Vapour Barrier > Laminate? I do realise this isn't the Pro way but what would happen if I did? would the Laminate suffer in the long term?? 2. Where it meets the door to the carpeted living room the height difference would be 15-20mm if I was to leave the tiles in situ, is there a easy way to fix this? Thanks again. Scoobs.
No you cant if tiles are uneven. You still need a smooth subfloor (SR1 = 3mm in 2 meters run out) Door way you could use a 'z'edge or 'zig zag' that others call it .
how about you think about going on a floorskills subfloor prep course. £175 quid and learn everything you need to know about subfloor prep and what products to use to best suit budget. I have already saved you the cost of surface dpm (which will pay for course) or better still you book a 2 day laminate course which will cover this also. Im not saying this to sell a course. But i can 100% guaranty it will be worth it and possibly save you more than the cost of course on materials etc you might just cock up.
