Prep and equipment advice for engineered floor

Hi guys,

First post, so please bear with me.

I have ca. 10m2 of high quality (21mm) engineered flooring and would like to have it glued down on to an old concrete sub-floor. I won't be doing the laying, but a local chippy who has been recommended has popped round and, as with most tradesmen round my way, appeared to want the easiest job possible which didn't inspire confidence. He simply suggested priming and then gluing with Sika T54 straight onto the concrete. However, my observations are as follows:

1. I have measured damp levels levels using a basic moisture meter and its coming back at <13%. Is this 13% RH, or something else as the manual doesn't actually clarify??
2. There are a number of dips in the room, some 10mm over course of 18". I have highlighted this to the chippy but he didn't view it as a concern, but surely furniture would wobble if he could even get the glue to grab in these areas.

I want the job to be done the correct way as the floor will hopefully stay down for the next 50 years. If the above is viewed as an issue, please could you give some recommendations as to the best way to tackle the issue? My initial thoughts were to fill the dips with filler compound (stopgap 400), prime with P131, F Ball F76 liquid DPM and then B95 adhesive. However, F Ball have said the flooring would need to be laid within 24hrs after installation of the DPM, otherwise a leveling compound would be needed.

I would ideally like to avoid self leveling due to losing what little height we have in the room, but this isn't a deal breaker for us although perhaps 5 bags of self-level would be needed which pushes the costs up further.

I am not adverse to going with brands other than F Ball, but would ideally like to use the same manufacturer throughout.

Lastly, is there anyone in South Oxfordshire that is interested in doing the job?
Many thanks
Graham

 

first off dont use a chippy use a floorlayer, chippys are for cutting doors and doing skirting boards etc, not sticking flooring to a probably wet subfloor that will require the correct prep, at best they do a competent job at floating wood.

Find a local floorlayer that has a good reputation, let the floorlayer do all the prep just mention to him that the floor isnt level and let them do the rest, the products you mention are correct but not how to apply them, so dont attempt that yourself disregard your moisture readings as you wont have the correct meter to get a correct reading just make sure your floorlayer checks with a box or probe method over 3 visits, if your sticking it down and want it to stay down for 10 years+ pay abit more out now and get it done right.

height wise you wont notice an extra 10mm unless your ceilings are 6ft high.

 

400 isn't suitable for use under a DPM.

 

Thanks. So what trades am I looking for - someone that does all flooring, I.e. Carpets, Lino etc? As a guide, what would you estimate the cost for such a job? Thanks

 

They don't appear to exist around here. Everyone advertises themselves as a general flooring fitter. I suppose floor prep for lino/karndeen etc is as equally important as for wood floors, so they should be competent at fitting same.