Hello all I'm renovating and extending a 1930s house. Most of the house had uninsulated (and very draughty!) suspended floors with a concrete floor in the small kitchen. The old kitchen floor has now been removed and a new damp proof membrane and concrete laid. The suspended floors have been lifted to fill between the joists with PIR insulation, chipboard flooring has then been placed on top. The extension and kitchen will have a new insulated floating floor above the damp proof membrane and concrete so it is the same height as the suspended floors . The plan is to install Wunda Rapid Response (RR) overboard UFH throughout the ground floor. The really big question is what type of flooring to apply on top. Wunda say their RR boards are compatible with pretty much all types of flooring. I was hoping for Amtico on top of a screed (Wunda say 5mm but I'm thinking 10mm) but have read some horror stories about Amtico on Wunda RR. Often the internet has only bad reviews, negative reports, etc. People don't always take the time to shout out when they've had a good experience. Has anyone had a positive experience using Amtico on a screed on top of Wunda RR boards? My other option is engineered wood glued directly to the boards with a flexible adhesive (as recommended by Wunda) with some smaller areas of porcelain tiles (utility and shower room). Does anyone have experience of either of these floor coverings with the RR boards? Really hoping for some good news from you guys Thanks in advance
Forgot to mention, I had a local Amtico/Karndean flooring company around today to measure up for the job. They haven't laid over this type of system before so contacted Wunda who gave them the 5mm screed response. They weren't happy with that so contacted their local Mapei rep who said in his personal experience the screed on these types of systems has a frequent tendency to blow causing big problems with any LVT laid. They said he discouraged them from accepting the job.
I think the wunda system 5mm is fine, use a decent fibre based compound, go 10mm if you wish, prime first
Very risky installing a 2.5mm vinyl tile over this type of system. Think you will be better off with something more solid like engineered wood or tiles as you say.
Did you get anywhere with this project? I am also renovating and extending a 1930s house and been looking at laying oak engineered flooring over Wunda RR, either glued directly or floating. My concern with a floated floor is that it feels bouncy and not solid but on the other hand gluing the boards directly to the RR panels feels like a recipe for something overheating / coming unstuck / warping etc. If you have any experience I'd love to hear it - thanks!
If your subfloors flat and the engineered wood is made well it wont feel bouncing. Ive never seen a flat overlay system though so maybe not the best plan. I would ask wunda to send you a written spec for bonding engineered wood to their system, if its even recommended, and follow that.
So, in the end, one local Karndean supplier was willing to fit across the ground floor on top of the Wunda RR. However, their quote was over £12k as they wanted to be double sure on the screed. That price was out of my bracket and build up height at the front door unfortunately limited by alternative options hugely. I ended up floating Quickstep Impressive Patterns on Quickstep underlay throughout. Laminate has come a long way since the 1990s when I first used it The flooring is textured and looks great. Several visitors have asked if the flooring is real wood. Not sure I would recommend it though as it damages quite easily. Having said that, minor dings and scratches do repair relatively well and are mostly invisible when done so. One word of advice, no matter what anyone may tell you, make sure you install the floor probes. My floor gets overly warm at times and the probe ensures the heating to that room is switched off until the floor cools thus protecting it. Hope that helps
Thanks for the replies! I actually already have 60 sqm of engineered boards as they were over-ordered on another job, otherwise I would be defintiely be investigating laminate options. Essentially I'm trying to work out the best way to use them with UFH on a suspended floor so will keep investigating. Thanks for the pointers..