Hello all. Just joined the forum for some tips n tricks... I am currently self building, a house for me and my family to move into. I am basically a DIYer but have good practical skills for example I have done most of the 2nd fix chippying, kitchen fitting and tiled the bathroom walls and floor to a pretty high standard with not much previous experience. Am struggling a bit with the floors though!!! I have bought some amtico tiles for the kitchen and Karndean for the rest of the downstairs. I have a few questions and would be grateful if any of the pro fitters could spare a minute or 2 to answer. 1. I read on another site a few days ago that stapling 6mm ply to the floorboards was the best thing to do. Bought a staple gun and stapled ply down in the kitchen with 100mm centres. Have now read further info on this site that screwing or ring shank nailing is best, or at worst divergent staples (i used normal straight staples). Question is, should I now screw as well as the staples may not hold....? 2, Started to ply in the living room today and screwed every 150mm. (Will screw extra infill screws extra round the edges tomorrow). After laying 2 sheets I put my long level over the ply and can see an undulation, ie gaps under either ends of the level with the peak running down the middle of the living room floor. The 'wave' is probably around 5mm high, by about 1.5m accross and running the length of the living room. There are a few other peaks and troughs on the floorboards in other places too. Will this show once the karndean planks have been laid? Should I put a self levelling compound, perhaps a latex one such as this http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Latex-Self-Levelling-Floor-Compound-25kg/p/224669 over the ply to level, then just feather the high spots...? Would rather not as even more work and expense but if the ripples will show i may have to? 3. Do I need to prime after the feather finish (/SLC)? Or even before? I have bought some Stopgap P131 neoprene primer.. 4. For the kitchen I would like to put stripping down, they come in lengths of 915mm, which is almost the exact length of 2 tiles (457.2 x 457.2). How does this work, I would have expected the stripping to be 460mm or 920mm to allow for the extra 3mm width of the perpendicular stripping? Do you lay the length whole along the side of 2 tiles or cut them in half? Is the stripping easy to lay or a PITA?? Thanks in advance for any help!
Hi, there Is a lot more to installing LVT than people think. In answer to a few of your questions- The staples you have used are wrong, even if you add extra fixing they will start to squeak and work loose showing through the lvt. Don't use 131. Use 121 (same manufacturer). Yes you need to prime smoothing compound and plywood for best results. As for skim coat, apply it and when dry you need to prime over the top with a watered down primer so it penetrates and bonds to the plywood. Don't use the wickes product. You need a fibre reinforced product like Fballs 700 (to go with your primer) . . . Maybe you should consider doing a LVT course with FloorSkills, Karndean, Amtico etc to learn all the ins and out. Cant comment on the Karndean or Amtico courses but the floorskills course will defo cover all the subfloor prep you require along with different manufacturer adhesives and fitting technics .
Straight staples won't hold. I screw or nail my ply down. Used to use divergent staples too at one time but prefer the confidence of nails/screws. Any undulations will show through the Karndean. As for laying it yourself, its definitely not a diy job. Your better of getting a competent floorlayer/lvt fitter.
As for tips and tricks on fitting LVT's if your not a floor layer I personally won't give them too you as this is our living and if it was easy you'd have every Tom, Dick or Harry having a go and devaluing our trade. Sorry if a bit harsh but I'm sure the other fitters on here feel the same.
More tea cre8tive?.. I've got to start somewhere you know... rather than just clearing the rubbish up..
This is the open area of the forum, its designed like every other forum to help people and simply guide them. Maybe if you explained a few things to the opp they would appreciate that it might be out their depth and maybe push them on to using a pro when they realise whats involved and what a good installer wil actually be doing for their fees ! Would make good reading for the next person searching google and comes across this thread to again know that they really need a pro or some sort of training to learn how to install.
I understand what you mean Matt and maybe I was a bit harsh, but I think its a bit cheeky coming onto the forum basically asking us how to install it when its our living. I'm not a gas installer or a electrician and I certainly wouldn't attempt it. (Leave that to my brother.) I don't mind explaining procedures on how things should be done say another installer has been in and they are unhappy with the job. Take for instance the lady who's been asking about different carpets over the last few days. She's been given some good advice and taken it onboard but she's not attempting to fit it herself.
I don't give anything away. I've spent a lot of my hard earned money on courses and bettering myself, to give them to you? Sorry. Book a course and learn some basics. LVT level 1 covers all you would need and subfloor situations too.
Lvt and floor prep is an art form, it's almost impossible to advise on how or what to do with your sub floor without having a visit from a flooring specialist, I say this only because if the advice that is given is wrong, because of what's explained is wrong, who's at blame? The pro or the diy'er ? Where abouts you based ?
