Amtico visible plywood joint lines

Good Morning

First time posting and hoping for a bit of advice from yourselves.

I've got an issue on a new LVT floor. Some of the ply wood join lines are showing through the tiles. To begin with it was very slight however over time some have become more significant and detracts from the finish of the floor. The floor has been down about a year. The installer has been round and lifted a tile - all that could be seen was a very slight ridge in the feather compound.

The flooring company stance on the issue now is that the installer didn't do anything different to usual therefore it has been caused by the original subfloor. Original subfloor is of standard construction - suspended floor, 22mm chipboard floor boards. It is not a new build - house built in the 80's so everything is as stable as it ever will be.

I am wondering if you have any ideas what would likely cause these issues?

I've attached some photographs to show the lines. Am I being fussy seeing them as unsatisfactory?

Cheers

Sean

 

What plywood was used ?

 

Plywood was SP101

 

Did you see was it nailed at least every 3” on the joints ?
Did they feather finish the joints twice ?

 

Probably stapled the ply down

 

The ply was nailed down - not sure if it was quite every 3" but they were reasonably tight spacing from what I recall.

The feather finish was only done once. I have wondered whether it hasn't been sanded down sufficiently leaving a slight ridge?

Thanks for taking the time to respond, much appreciated.

 

Thanks for the reply. Ply was fixed down with pneumatic nail gun.

 

Since I’ve used sp101 I’ve never had a ply line show.
This is what we do-

1- If ply is cold we drop off the day before.
2- Nail every 6” in centres and 3-4” on joints
3 - Feather joints & Sand down with orbital sander
4 - Repeat no3

 

Steps 2 and 3 were done in this instance. It badly detracts from the finish of the floor as the lines cut right across the run of tiles.

Possible causes could be slight expansion in ply? Not sanded smooth enough?

What do you recommend to address it?

Cheers

 

Uplift LVT in them sections. Re feather and sand , lay new planks.

 

Have you checked the crawl space under the floor? It the joins are swelling it’s because the ply is taking on moisture. Is the floor below ground level?

 

OK thanks again for your advice.

 

Hi thanks for the reply. There isn't any moisture issue's, floor is suspended and all well above ground level.

 

So you’ve had a reading of the subfloor?

 

Are the lines all the same direction or both edges showing through?

 

Steam mop ever used?

 

Personally I think Amtico should always have a smoothing compound over ply. Can hide a lot more. Amtico shows everything and timber floors tend to expand and contract. Also if the subfloor is unlevel the ply lines can start to show through.

 

No I've not had any moisture reading on the subfloor. How is this done?

 

All lines are the same direction - I haven't noticed any in the other direction. Is this significant?