There are plenty of reasons to install sheet vinyl flooring, not the least of which is price savings over other flooring materials. Vinyl flooring is available in a huge number of patterns and colors, is easy to clean and is softer to walk on than most other hard surfaces. Because yous can install canvas vinyl over existing vinyl, it offers the pick of irresolute design without breaking the bank.
Vinyl floor is unremarkably non installed directly over the subfloor in residential applications. In most cases 4-by-eight-human foot sheets of particle board or plywood must be installed in preparation for the vinyl flooring install.
One of the big considerations when installing different types of flooring in the home is getting the finished elevations to match. Cement board, thinset and tile add together up to well-nigh 5/8 inch. Traditional hardwood flooring is iii/four-inch thick and carpet with pad is commonly between five/eight and 1 inch, depending on the type. Sheet vinyl, however is just about 1/16-inch thick. It needs to exist congenital up to the same elevation of the other flooring types in the firm. The thinness and softness of sail vinyl requires that it be installed on a surface that is very flat and smooth. Installing underlayment in the vinyl areas supplies the peak, smoothness and levelness necessary for the proper installation of vinyl floors.
Particle Lath
One mutual underlayment for vinyl floors is 1/2-inch particle lath. It'south inexpensive, apartment, polish and bonds well to the vinyl adhesives. On the downside, particle board underlayment has very petty structural strength. In fact it must be supported by a strong subfloor with limited gaps and it can bridge simply minor holes.
Another weakness of particleboard underlayment is that information technology really doesn't like h2o. It soaks in water similar a sponge. Water makes it swell unevenly, which causes chimera-like irregularities in the surface. Add enough h2o and the particle lath volition fall autonomously. So, in areas prone to water exposure, don't use particle board.
Plywood
Some other common underlayment fabric is plywood, which has an advantage over particle board in structural forcefulness and h2o resistance. I concern with plywood, as a walked-on surface, is that voids in the interior veneer layers may allow a depression in the flooring if weight were full-bodied in one spot, such equally a big ol' girl wearing high heel shoes. I suppose that could happen, but it's not likely. If this is a business organisation, marine-grade and underlayment-grade plywoods volition avoid the voids.
Plywood used as underlayment for sheet vinyl flooring should too have a sanded, shine surface on the topside. Avoid using materials with distinct raised grain patterns, which tin affect the end texture of the sheet vinyl.
We use a potent-bristle hand brush to become debris out from under the drywall
Make clean Sweep
Don't overlook the importance of cleaning the subfloor before installing underlayment. Debris left on the subfloor can cause problems with the underlayment down the route. Whether your project is new construction or a remodel, the odds are pretty practiced some drywall joint chemical compound (aka mud), construction adhesive or plaster is present on the subfloor from the wall finishing process. An uneven surface is not the simply concern. These materials can break down over time, leaving a void betwixt the underlayment and the subfloor. This void tin can let noticeable movement, floor squeaks or cause fasteners to poke through.
Typical constuction debris on the subfloor includes drywall compound, $.25 of insulation, expanding foam and drill droppings from plumbing and electrical operations.
Nosotros use a hand brush with stiff bristles around the entire perimeter to rake droppings from under the drywall that could cause bug during the install. A thorough sweeping follows. Whoever does the sweeping should watch for boom and screw heads sticking up, equally well as holes, large cracks, dry rot and other problems that may warrant subfloor repairs.
Like many of our home improvement projects, proper training is of import to the success of an underlayment install.
Some subfloor materials volition soak in water and swell along the edges. Sentry for this if your projection experienced a lot of rain during the framing stage. The swelling results in ridges where the subfloor sheets come together. These ridges can create noticeable humps and bumps in the underlayment. They tin besides create voids between the underlayment and the subfloor, which tin develop movement, floor squeaks and blast pops subsequently.
Nosotros normally handle ridges in the subfloor by setting nail heads with a large punch and grinding, power planing or sanding the ridges closer to flat. A hardwood flooring sander works not bad for this task.
We load our sheets of underlayment fabric on sawhorses for easy layout and cut.Vapor Barriers
Moisture content in the subfloor should be low earlier installing underlayment. In some cases a vapor barrier should be used between the subfloor and the underlayment, particularly for outset-floor applications when using particle lath underlayment over a subfloor other than outside-grade plywood.
If a vapor bulwark is not required past code, yous demand to make up one's mind if the subfloor provides protection confronting moisture. If it'due south car decking (tongue-and-groove dimensional lumber) with gaps and knot holes, a vapor barrier is a good idea. Vapor barriers are normally polyethylene sheets (4 mil or thicker) or asphalt-layered kraft paper.
Determining the floor interruption in kitchen areas frequently requires a careful examination of the cabinet program.
Floor Breaks
OK, your subfloor is gear up, the material's been selected and protected with the proper vapor barrier and at present you're ready to showtime running that new circular saw, right? Agree on there, Sawyer—you gotta figure out your floor breaks next.
We utilize a T-foursquare to mark underlayment sheets for cut. Look in the drywall tool area to find a good T-square for your underlayment install.
Floor breaks are where the vinyl meets the carpet (or whatever other flooring is next to the flooring yous are preparing to install on your underlayment). The edge of your underlayment is the identify where the vinyl and the carpet meet. If, for instance, you are installing vinyl in a bathroom, you lot will desire to brand the floor pause nether the door going into the bathroom.
Set the depth of your circular saw to about 1/4″ beyond the material thickness.
If the door swings into the bathroom, then the floor break will extend into the door opening about 1 inch from the face of the drywall inside the bathroom. If the door swings out of the bathroom (such every bit into an adjacent walk-in closet), so y'all'll extend the underlayment into the door opening until it is about an inch toward the bathroom from the within face of the wall of the side by side room. In other words, figure out where the door is and identify the border of the underlayment right under the center of the door console.
We use Porter Cablevision'southward new 18-volt Lithium six-ane/two″ round saw for our underlayment project.
At that place are a few exceptions I brand to this flooring-break-under-the-door rule. One is in the instance of bifold or bypass doors where there is vinyl on one side and carpet on the other. Because bifold doors tend to be a bit college off the floor and bypass doors exercise not line upwardly with each other, it'south frequently preferable to accept the floor break on the inside of the cupboard area where information technology is unlikely to be seen when the doors are closed. Just imagine the flooring behind the doors peeking out into the living area and you'll make the right call.
Afterward notching the sheet so the floor break extends into the door opening, you tin then layout other cuts equally measured inside the walls.
When the floor break is in an open expanse such as a transition between a nook area and the living room, you'll have to determine how to make that happen so it looks best. If there is an archway or one-half wall on either side, it's generally preferable to split the flooring types in the middle of the dividing wall or arch or cased opening where in that location is no door.
The preferred method for carrying a sail of underlayment is one hand under and one over. This gives y'all good control to negotiate hallways and door openings.
In the case of a kitchen or bar area, you lot need to know the cabinet layout so you can make the floor pause at the edge of the outside cabinet box. If in that location are cabinets on both sides of the opening, program the flooring intermission to go in a straight line between the outside corners of each of the outside toe kicks.
Be careful not to damage walls and tubs equally you maneuver sheets into place.
Sheet Orientation
One time you've decided on the floor breaks, y'all tin measure, cutting and install your underlayment. In virtually cases I brainstorm with the biggest piece I tin can fit in a room (ordinarily a 4-by-8-foot sail) right in the door opening and so y'all avert putting seams in the areas that volition exist walked on most.
Keep the piece on aeroplane with the down border parallel to the wall as yous ease the piece into position.
Whenever applied, run the long management of the underlayment sheets in the contrary direction of the subfloor fabric so they cantankerous each other. This adds to the floor's structural force. Avoid placing sheets of underlayment in such a style that the seams of the underlayment correspond or line upward with the joints in the subfloor.
Check the piece for parallel to the walls before tacking it into identify.
If the floor suspension takes place in an area other than under a door, I prefer to lay the first sheets forth the floor suspension edge and work back into the vinyl area of the room. This allows me to cut and fit the smaller pieces confronting the walls and nether the cabinet areas where the tolerances are less enervating. Also, if you lot start with a overnice directly manufactory edge along a carefully established floor break it will profoundly improve the transition between flooring types.
After establishing the floor break with the outside piece, add material to the inside of the room to consummate the install.
Tolerances
Whenever possible, plan your cuts and so the manufacturing plant edges of the underlayment come together, and place the saw-cut edges on the perimeters against the walls. Requite yourself 1/eight to 1/4 inch of room along the walls. In fact, you can leave gaps the thickness of the base board. It's better to have a piffling wiggle room than to scratch up the walls.
Fastener spacing should be approximately 3″ on the outside perimeter of each piece.Get out a pocket-size gap between the underlayment and showers or tubs to avoid squeaks.
As you install the pieces, motion them away from the wall and tighten the joints out "in the field." When the pieces fit and the joints are tight, tack them in place with a ring-shank boom or with the staple gun.
Bathroom underlayment.Flooring breaks at door openings should line up with the center of the door itself.
Leave a little room (1/16 inch or and so) along fiberglass showers and tubs. Fifty-fifty a little flooring flex can cause a squeak where the underlayment rubs these fixtures. If you are installing vinyl floor in a large area where light from a patio door shines across the surface, it's a good thought to apply carpenter's mucilage at the seams between pieces to ensure that they stay well connected to each other as well equally to the subfloor.
Fastener spacing should be approximately 3 inches on the outside perimeter of each slice.
Nailing patterns should exist 3 inches on the perimeters and 6 inches in the field. Earlier nailing off the pieces in the field, bulldoze a few fasteners with plenty of weight virtually the nailing spot to brand sure the underlayment is against the subfloor.
This utility room floor pause is well behind where the bifold doors will be, and then the flooring cannot exist seen when the doors are closed.
Proper grooming of the subfloor, conscientious consideration for floor breaks, tight seams and thorough fastening volition ensure that your underlayment will provide a practiced platform for your sheet vinyl floor for years to come.
Big Cuts/Small Saw
You tin cut a piece wider than the capacity of your modest table saw by mark the desired width on the piece and measuring to the marking from the opposite edge. Set the saw to cut off the proper amount past measuring to the exterior of the saw bract. This arroyo allows you lot to use the debate on the table saw for a nice straight cutting even though the finished slice (on the other side) is wider than the saw's capacity.
Cordless Advantage
Ane of the biggest advantages to cordless technology is being able to easily take the cutting tool to the room where a tricky piece needs to be cut for installation. Some underlayment pieces are similar jigsaw puzzle pieces, which makes a cordless jigsaw an ideal tool to make the piece fit the puzzle.
Starting with a bones rectangular slice, you can marking your measurements direct onto the piece equally yous take them. This avoids the need to write down measurements or to depict a diagram. You can cut out openings*, make adjustments, and test fit your piece without always leaving the room.
*Tim, you actually should use a sawhorse for this operation.
Out of Bounds
When the center of a toilet drain falls outside of the canvas y'all are working on, y'all tin can extend the layout onto the sheet underneath and anchor your pivot nail there.
With the pivot nail in the canvass underneath, you tin can utilize your three-1/ii-inch radius jig to draw an arc for the toilet drain cutout.Cut out the toilet drain opening with a jigsaw.
What About Tile Floor Underlayments?
Some tiled floors last for hundreds of years and others get-go to show cracks afterward only a few months. Why? The reason can be all-time summed up in one word—uncoupling.
An uncoupling layer allows the tiled surface to move independently of, or be 'uncoupled' from, the subfloor. In recent years many installers have been inappropriately working to create a more secure bond by adhering tiles directly to the subfloor. The problem with this "straight bond" approach is that the subfloor expands and contracts due to changes in moisture and temperature, which exerts incredible stresses on the tile layer. The tiles and grout don't aggrandize and contract at the same rate as the subfloor, then tiles and grout are both vulnerable to bang-up and buckling.
So, what about those 100-year old floors that however await great? "The theory is simple," says Peter Nielsen, technical director for Schluter-Systems. "For centuries tiles were successfully installed on a layer of sand, which worked very finer as an independent uncoupling layer between the structural base of operations and the tile floors. In more contempo times, a thick wire-reinforced mortar bed placed over a skid-sail was used to attain this same role. Although highly successful, these traditional methods have the limitations of being thick, heavy and challenging to install, and they are non at all suited to modern dwelling house construction."
Schluter-DITRA is an uncoupling membrane engineered for mod construction techniques. DITRA is only 1/eight-inch thick, weighs only 2 ounces per foursquare pes and is easy to install. The matting allows construction materials below the tile to breathe, but information technology is impervious to h2o so floors and ceilings volition not exist damaged by spills and leaks. The system is designed for use on all of the most commonly used subfloor materials—plywood, OSB, concrete and gypsum-based screed.
The uncoupling membrane is adhered to the surface being tiled using a layer of thinset adhesive applied with a one/4-inch V-notch trowel. The tile is then adhered to the uncoupling membrane using another layer of thinset. Too bachelor is DITRA-XL, which is 5/xvi-inch thick to permit for fifty-fifty transitions betwixt typical ceramic tile and 3/4-inch thick hardwood flooring. For more than information, visit www.schluter.com.
Special Intendance for Basement Remodeling
When remodeling a basement into a living space, consider the advantages of an insulated subfloor to increase the room's comfort level. For example, concrete transfers moisture, so you lot should never install carpet or woods directly over the blank slab of a basement; they'll ruin in no fourth dimension. Vinyl or linoleum flooring in a basement can transfer common cold temperatures from the floor to the room.
Ane solution to warm, comfortable basement flooring is the Battlement Modular Subfloor from OvrX. Battlement is an insulated subfloor panel system specifically designed to embrace concrete floors and provide warmth from real insulation. The system comes in two-by-ii-foot panels that quickly and easily intstall using a tongue-and-groove system. The OSB panels are 1.125 inch thick and backed with a layer of closed-cell polystyrene insulation achieving an R value of 3.
Also available are the Barricade wall panels, which measure 8-past-two feet and are backed with XPS closed-cell Styrofoam. The wall panels are two.44 inches thick with an insulation value of R-12. The basement wall panels and subfloor system can be installed equally a system or can be installed separately. Together yous get the greatest benefit every bit a barrier that protects against air and water infiltration, intrusion from foundation leaks, sump pump failures and burst pipes, too as farthermost hot and cold temperature transfer through walls and floors. For more information, visit world wide web.ovrx.com.
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