Hi, I am a new member so forgive my ignorance. I have recently had a moduleo floor put down in our new extension and was initially very please pd with it. However we are now about 4 months down the line and the nail heads are all showing through from the subfloor. It was laid on brand new 20 mm chipboard by the build which was and fastened down with 60 mm galvanised ringed nails. The flooring company claim that the floor has moved, which clearly it has but it appears that the chipboard has shrunk. My question is has anyone else had the same problem and should it have been laid on chipboard or should it have been on ply? Thanks in advance
No-one who knows what they are doing would lay that direct to chipboard NO-ONE So the simple answer is, whoever laid that is thick and shouldnt be allowed to do it anymore Yes it shouldve been laid on plywood
Thanks for the reply, I stand corrected it is actually particle board. It is what is used generally here in New Zealand on timber joist subframe. Could you lay it on particle board, the floor fitter did not mention anything about needing to cover the floor first with a ply. If that is the case what thickness ply needs to go over the top? Thanks for your help. I have a battle on my hands between who is at fault the builder who fixed the particle board down or the company who laid the moduleo floor
Ply ,ply ply ply. Its down the company who fitted the floor. they should have known better. Should have been a minimum of 6mm ply as per moduleos fitting instructions
Particle board and chipboard, to my knowledge, are one and the same. I hate particle/chipboard! It's just the most useless ****e going. Squeaks, sags, clearly doesn't hold a ring shank because the wood particles are held together with boiled sweet spit (although I do believe boiled sweet spit is one of the strongest adhesives known to man).. At the end of the day, your builders have dropped a clanger. Probably not helped by the misleading marketing of particle/chipboard. Although it doesn't take a genius to know that chipboards no good. They may have just about got away with it if they'd have used screws to secure but I ain't a vinyl guy so not 100% on that one..
The sub floor has may have been installed before acclimatising so it has now shrunk a little and the fixings have worked loose. OR, wrong fixings used and worked loose. OR, joists have excessive movement, subfloor moves excessively, nails work loose. What does the spec on the flooring say? Anything about overboarding with ply first? To quick to blame the installers / flooring firm. Need more info. Ideally, particle board should have joints glued and be screwed down, most of the time ring shank nails are used. Buildrs, to my knowledge, never check moisture content before installing sheet products. How many builders do you know with a decent pin meter or any meter?
I would go to the manufacturer and see what they recommend the modulo to be installed on then go from there. I would never fit vinyl tiles to chipboard/particle board but I've seen a lot of firms do it and get away with it
The spec for Moduleo is to over board chipboard with min 6mm ply. Think you will find most LVT manufactures are the same. At the end of the day the buck stops at the guy who installed it. Its wrong and that's it, simple.
Thanks floorcraft, do you have the link to where moduleo state this on the website, i can't seem to find it on the site. Thanks
Thanks so much, that is just what I need. Time to go and see the flooring company. I think I am in for the long haul on this. Cheers
Handed the flooring company the install instructions and a copy of the consumers guarantees act and gave them a week to get back to me. It has been a week so I guest it is off to the small claims court. Not a happy chap as the house is finished but the kitchen and laundry will all have to come out to lay the ply if there is the room to do it bearing in mind the new height (6mm higher). Any suggestions on what to do. Pull it up and put ply down on top of the particle board then relay the moduleo or just go with a more traditional click plank.
Why will the kitchen/laundry need to come out or are you just talking about the flooring. You'll be able to fit the ply and moduleo around the kitchen and laundry units. You'll not be able to reuse the moduleo as it will have been glued. If you like the Moduleo have that put down again once your subfloor has been prepared properly.
Probably will not need to take kitchen and laundry out but it will not be as tidy. We have a 3m by 1m island in the middle of the kitchen, just a little frustrating. Thanks for your advice.
