Laying laminate before plastering?

[B19GRR]

Hi all,

Going to be boshing down some laminate in the new utility, currently it's bare concrete and the stud partition woodwork is in but not plasterboarded yet. We had the cunning thought of laying the laminate before the plasterboard goes up so that the laminate edge is well and truly hidden under that plus the skirting. It then occurred to me that the room is going to get pretty damp when it's skimmed which may well mess up the laminate. So would it be sensible to wait until it's all plastered up and dry again?

Cheers,
Rob

[sleep envy]

you need to leave a gap between the floor finish and the wall for expansion

skirting will cover the gap between the two

[Simpo Two]

I'd say: Plaster walls, lay flooring, fit skirting.

[Engineer1]

Is this room going to have your washer etc? if it is i'd consider tiles or lino rather than wood laminate but then i've had a washer flood my kitchen a couple of times.

[B19GRR]

Thanks guys, looks like I'll wait until it's plastered.

Yep the room will have the washer in it, we have thought about the risk of a flood but reached the decision to deal with that if it happens!

Cheers,
Rob

[Simpo Two]

IIRC some laminate flooring is OK for kitchens - ie, can cope with a bit of spillage. Not sure how much though!

[Wings]

Simpo Two said:

IIRC some laminate flooring is OK for kitchens - ie, can cope with a bit of spillage. Not sure how much though!

Washing machine spillage will simply "blow" the laminate, so should never be used in a laundry type room.

[Simpo Two]

Glad I used vinyl in mine then - within weeks of the kitchen being finished, the cat brought a mouse in, which escaped and took refuge under the kitchen units (my fault for not quite finishing a 3" awkward section of plinth!). The mouse chewed through the WM waste hose to get out and so caused a major flood...

[pixel chick]

B19GRR said:

Thanks guys, looks like I'll wait until it's plastered.

Yep the room will have the washer in it, we have thought about the risk of a flood but reached the decision to deal with that if it happens!

Cheers,
Rob

could be an expensive decision

why not get a laminate type vinyl instead?

[B19GRR]

We've got Kardean vinyl tiles in the kitchen, had a similar mouse experience to Simpo but it chose the dishwasher waste pipe to knaw through (twice the little fecker!!). Tiles were reuseable but I had to replace a lot of hardboard under them to get the floor level again. I'd have to use hardboard in the new utility before using any type of vinyl tile so same flood risk really.

Just so we know, any ideas on cost to tile a 2.8x2.8m area? Floor would have to be properly leveled first. Not something I'd want to DIY, I'm quite happy to do laminate as I've done it a fair few times before and know what I'm up to but I've never tiled anything and wouldn't want to start on this project!

Cheers,
Rob

[KevF]

Guess that rules out using lamnate in the bathroom too then.....

[B17NNS]

Simpo Two said:

I'd say: Plaster walls, lay flooring, fit skirting.

What he said

[sleep envy]

B19GRR said:

We've got Kardean vinyl tiles in the kitchen, had a similar mouse experience to Simpo but it chose the dishwasher waste pipe to knaw through (twice the little fecker!!). Tiles were reuseable but I had to replace a lot of hardboard under them to get the floor level again. I'd have to use hardboard in the new utility before using any type of vinyl tile so same flood risk really.

Just so we know, any ideas on cost to tile a 2.8x2.8m area? Floor would have to be properly leveled first. Not something I'd want to DIY, I'm quite happy to do laminate as I've done it a fair few times before and know what I'm up to but I've never tiled anything and wouldn't want to start on this project!

Cheers,
Rob

karndean should stay down despite a flood with the provision that you use the appropriate adhesive and use marine ply

normal ply will just warp and pop the tiles - as you've found

[B19GRR]

Well it raises a question or two. Obviously you can get laminates that are supposed to be OK for use in bathrooms. The stuff we've got is splash proof but not flood proof. We were talking to (or rather being talked at) by one of the old boys in Homebase at the weekend and he suggested sealing the joing edges of all the boards with PVA which sounds reasonable in theory but would be a real pita in practice and turn a simple 3-4hour job in to a couple of days as you have to wait for the damn stuff to dry before you can lay it, well I suppose that's if you're assuming you want to dismantle it easily at some point

Cheers,
Rob

[sleep envy]

waste of time - if you leave a gap it will soak through

buy the right materials to begin with IMO

[Wings]

sleep envy said:

waste of time - if you leave a gap it will soak through

buy the right materials to begin with IMO

Very much agree. although water will be absorbed into all of the joints/surface of the laminated flooring, causing the laminate to “blow”.

I have just had to partly replace a laminate floor in a rented flat, and this was just due to a long term leaking radiator valve.

[Simpo Two]

sleep envy said:

waste of time - if you leave a gap it will soak through

Yep - PVA as I know it is water-permeable.

It all depends how long the flood is going to be sitting on it - now off to the vinyl showroom with you - plenty of floorboard-effect patterns to choose from!!