Installing plywood sheets beneath glue-down flooring - Tips?
Discussion
A flooring guy came to look at installing glue-down floppy plank flooring for us, and said the floor needed all covered in 5.5mm plywood first, nailed over the top of the Egger board P5 floorboards.
My tame joiner is going to come and do it for me, but he has asked on how I want it done. What sort of nails to be used, and nail spacing etc, anything else.
Any tips from those that have done it? I'm guessing the objective is to get the floor as flush/smooth all over as possible, especially where the edges of the plywood sheets meet?
My tame joiner is going to come and do it for me, but he has asked on how I want it done. What sort of nails to be used, and nail spacing etc, anything else.
Any tips from those that have done it? I'm guessing the objective is to get the floor as flush/smooth all over as possible, especially where the edges of the plywood sheets meet?
First thought is why can’t the flooring guy put down his own sub-floor? Is it beneath him? (Insert your own joke)
Second thought is shouldn’t your joiner know what’s needed? Weapon of choice for this job is usually one of these…
…you can hire them pretty easily and they’re fun to use, beating the crap of them with the mallet!
Second thought is shouldn’t your joiner know what’s needed? Weapon of choice for this job is usually one of these…
…you can hire them pretty easily and they’re fun to use, beating the crap of them with the mallet!
wolfracesonic said:
First thought is why can t the flooring guy put down his own sub-floor? Is it beneath him? (Insert your own joke)
Second thought is shouldn t your joiner know what s needed? Weapon of choice for this job is usually one of these
you can hire them pretty easily and they re fun to use, beating the crap of them with the mallet!
Excellent points.Second thought is shouldn t your joiner know what s needed? Weapon of choice for this job is usually one of these
you can hire them pretty easily and they re fun to use, beating the crap of them with the mallet!
Point 1: Yes, the nice chap from the 'posh flooring shop' gave me a quote for the whole job, start to finish, and it was £4700. Armed with his list of materials and quantities provided by his quote, I worked out that I could buy the materials for £1850 (trade price via my account) and that it would be a maximum of 5 days of work for one person to lay the sub-floor, and then and the floor.
All my trades recently have been approx £200-250 a day, and even if we go with £250 a day for 5 days, that is £1250 labour, plus materials is £3100 total, saving me £1600. I do this type of value engineering on everything, and have saved tens of thousands over the years on projects and builds.
Some people will happily pay whatever the asking price is, for a hassle free start to finish job, and the advantage of not trying to find and chase tradesmen to do all the separate bits, but oh no... not me.
Point 2: The joiner has been institutionalised by 12 years of working for a local premium house builder, who tell him how to do every last thing via plans and instructions. How many screws. What colour are the screws. What is the spacing of the screws. The client has specified a particular silicone sealant colour etc etc. I'm in the process of getting him back to thinking for himself, but there's no harm in him checking what I want.
Not sure of the size of the job but If you do hire one, be prepared to have a buy a box of 50million staples to go with it!Mont Blanc said:
Point 2: The joiner has been institutionalised by 12 years of working for a local premium house builder, who tell him how to do every last thing via plans and instructions. How many screws. What colour are the screws. What is the spacing of the screws. The client has specified a particular silicone sealant colour etc etc. I'm in the process of getting him back to thinking for himself, but there's no harm in him checking what I want.
So when your floor layer says the work done by the joiner is incorrect, who is going to pay to put it right? You say "think for himself" but what you really mean is "be the one to pay for it if a third party doesn't like what he has done". There's a reason he wants a job specification from you.Mr Pointy said:
Mont Blanc said:
Point 2: The joiner has been institutionalised by 12 years of working for a local premium house builder, who tell him how to do every last thing via plans and instructions. How many screws. What colour are the screws. What is the spacing of the screws. The client has specified a particular silicone sealant colour etc etc. I'm in the process of getting him back to thinking for himself, but there's no harm in him checking what I want.
So when your floor layer says the work done by the joiner is incorrect, who is going to pay to put it right? You say "think for himself" but what you really mean is "be the one to pay for it if a third party doesn't like what he has done". There's a reason he wants a job specification from you.
GasEngineer said:
From the sound of it you would be a very difficult customer so the joiner is probably covering his arse by getting you to give him the exact specification of what you require.
Genuinely interested to know what gives you that impression, from what I have written? Serious question Mont Blanc said:
All my trades recently have been approx £200-250 a day, and even if we go with £250 a day for 5 days, that is £1250 labour, plus materials is £3100 total, saving me £1600. I do this type of value engineering on everything, and have saved tens of thousands over the years on projects and builds.
.
Just a minor and perhaps overly pedantic point - the amount you save will be (£1,250 less your net income for 5 days work). The point being that if you normally earn more than £250 a day you’re losing money by doing it yourself (and not taking into account that it would probably take you longer).
Countdown said:
Mont Blanc said:
All my trades recently have been approx £200-250 a day, and even if we go with £250 a day for 5 days, that is £1250 labour, plus materials is £3100 total, saving me £1600. I do this type of value engineering on everything, and have saved tens of thousands over the years on projects and builds.
.
Just a minor and perhaps overly pedantic point - the amount you save will be (£1,250 less your net income for 5 days work). The point being that if you normally earn more than £250 a day you re losing money by doing it yourself (and not taking into account that it would probably take you longer).
Did this last autumn and bumped 40 sheets of 6mm ply down in a property and we will be doing it again a week on Monday but 50 sheets this time.
How we did it was air compressor, pin gun and 20,000 staples, yes 20k, in any direction you don’t want to see more than a 5-6 inch space between fixings. 18mm staples held it well, I wouldn’t use a smaller compressor then my 24l one though as that was running almost constant.
One cutting sheets, or laying full sheets and racking the corners, the other fully stapling them down.
Point 2, joiner with over 30 years house bashing behind him who can think for himself.
How we did it was air compressor, pin gun and 20,000 staples, yes 20k, in any direction you don’t want to see more than a 5-6 inch space between fixings. 18mm staples held it well, I wouldn’t use a smaller compressor then my 24l one though as that was running almost constant.
One cutting sheets, or laying full sheets and racking the corners, the other fully stapling them down.
Point 2, joiner with over 30 years house bashing behind him who can think for himself.
OldPal said:
Has the Floorlayer agreed to come back after you ve chopped any profit off the job?
No. He was from a flooring centre type place where they do it all, or nothing.I have someone else who has said they will fit the glue-down floppy plank flooring, but asked that I get a joiner to lay the plywood first.
Countdown said:
Mont Blanc said:
All my trades recently have been approx £200-250 a day, and even if we go with £250 a day for 5 days, that is £1250 labour, plus materials is £3100 total, saving me £1600. I do this type of value engineering on everything, and have saved tens of thousands over the years on projects and builds.
.
Just a minor and perhaps overly pedantic point - the amount you save will be (£1,250 less your net income for 5 days work). The point being that if you normally earn more than £250 a day you re losing money by doing it yourself (and not taking into account that it would probably take you longer).
£250 a day is money well spent so that it gets done to a decent standard, and I don't have to do it!
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