Bathroom floor sheet vinyl

[Give up]

Hi all,

So I have recently had sheet vinyl fitted in the bathroom. The floor boards were prepared by adding 5 mm plywood on top of floorboards and screwed in. No other The sheet vinyl was installed on top with adhesive . I am finding it hard to walk on and not soft as I imagined (we chose the thickest vinyl). I can see a few seem indentations of the plywood through the vinyl . Can someone please tell me what did I do wrong? Thank you.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

I'm not sure you did anything wrong, rather perhaps your expectation were too high. I have to say I do find your username rather depressing.

 

[Give up]

Thanks for your response. Haha my username. You know the story behind it, well when I was registering for the website, each potential name I was considering was coming up as already being used. So I said out loud ‘ I give up’ and then the idea came to me that this one definitely won’t be taken. I am living life to the full and have no intention of giving up just yet

 

[mikeey84]

I just did the same, but I left a 5mm gap between the ply boards, and filled them with 2 part wood filler and sanded back.

No complaints so far!

 

[Give up]

I just did the same, but I left a 5mm gap between the ply boards, and filled them with 2 part wood filler and sanded back.

No complaints so far!

Yes your way makes sense. It’s too late now but I should have done the same, but a lesson learnt for future . Thank you for your time.

 

[foxhole]

Hi all,

So I have recently had sheet vinyl fitted in the bathroom. The floor boards were prepared by adding 5 mm plywood on top of floorboards and screwed in. No other The sheet vinyl was installed on top with adhesive . I am finding it hard to walk on and not soft as I imagined (we chose the thickest vinyl). I can see a few seem indentations of the plywood through the vinyl . Can someone please tell me what did I do wrong? Thank you.

Thin ply doesn’t offer good fixing, screws will destroy thin ply leaving the indentations you mentioned .

 

[Give up]

The indentations are at the seams of the ply. (sorry for the typo in my original message). Over time I feel the sharp plywood edges will weaken and tear the vinyl. I also get you regarding the screws destroying the thin ply, especially as they had to be knocked flush or shall I say below the surface of the ply so as not to feel them underfoot on the vinyl .

 

[Deleted member 174758]

The floor boards were prepared by adding 5 mm plywood on top of floorboards and screwed in. No other...

What centres were the screws installed at? Plywood needs to be screwed down at 150mm centres except for the last rows around the edges which need to be at 100mm centres and an set in about 10 to 20mm from the edges (to prevent lifting). With screws on thin plywood you need to be careful to sink the heads flush to the surface of the ply as any proud heads will subsequently telegraph through the vinyl. For this reason on thin plywood I normally fix the plywood using annular ring nails (about 19 or 22mm long x 2mm) at 100mm centres - or 325 nails per sheet. Easy enough to do if you have a compressor and the appropriate nailer like I do, which ensures that the heads are set flush or just slightly under, but hard going if you need to fit more than than 2 or 3 sheets (and I do sometimes need to do that)

The sheet vinyl was installed on top with adhesive

So no self levelling compound/flooring screed? As a chippie my job ends once the plywood is down, but the floorers invariably lay down a thin screed (of SLC) over the top of the plywood, spread out with a large float. This smooths out any minor depressions, fills sunken screw or nail heads and covers the gaps between sheets (which in any case should always be minimal). So there is never a need to use 2-pack filler or any othe nostrum on the plywood.

It may seem prescriptive, but in floor laying preparation is key

I am finding it hard to walk on and not soft as I imagined (we chose the thickest vinyl).

In the commercial type work I mainly do vinyl flooring is typically only 2 to 4mm thick and is laid in "medium traffic" areas because it is durable. I would only ever describe it as a hard surface, though. You may have been better served by choosing a cushion vinyl flooring if you wanted a softer feel

I can see a few seem indentations of the plywood through the vinyl . Can someone please tell me what did I do wrong?

Could be a combination of gaps between boards (boards not butted up tightly), insufficient screws near edges/not close enough to edges, no screed applied to fill screw heads/hollows in floor, etc. See description above

 

[Give up]

That’s correct. No self levelling compound/flooring screed was used. I didn’t lay the plywood myself. Got someone to do it. I don’t know about the distance of the screws, except that there wasn’t enough and the vinyl fitters added more screws. I do have a question regarding the self levelling and screed; ‘What happens if in the future there is a leaking pipe beneath the floorboards, are the floorboards still accessible or is it permanent like concrete?

Many thanks . I already appreciate the time spent on your knowledgeable and detailed reply.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

What happens if in the future there is a leaking pipe beneath the floorboards, are the floorboards still accessible or is it permanent like concrete?

TBH that question gets asked, and asked, and asked. The floor is effectively semi-permanent as it will be hard to lift (i.e. time consuming). On the sorts of jobs I work on (a mixture of listed building and commercial in the main) we always get the services sorted out before laying this type of floor, meaning it should be good for at least 15 years, all being well, but there have been occasions when there has been a leak early on and and it turned out easier and cheaper to cut a section of the ceiling beneath out

As an aside late late last summer my new next door neighbour came for help with a leaking first floor bathroom. After we'd isolated the water in the cellar her plumber arrived, the told her he couldn't access the (underfloor) leak because of ths (expensive) tiled bathroom floor. The solution was for me to cut out a section of her kitchen ceiling, the plumber to do the repair, and for me to then reboard the ceiling. A week or so later she got a plasterer to come in and skim the repaired section back in. Not ideal, but also not that difficult

This access issue is a common DIYer concern, but the reality is that lifting any floor such as T&G chipboard, or even 140 year old softwood planking, is going to take a bit of effort - and maybe a few saw blades, not to mention a sub-floor repair. That's one reason that I'll be up in my own attic this weekend installing conduiting prior to replacing a sick extractor fan - that way of I ever need to run any extra wiring in the future it should just be a simple fishing expedition - I hope!

 

[Give up]

Thank you so much for your professional advice and your time. I have learnt a lot from you. I never knew so much work goes into preparation of a sub floor. Also I will be looking into cushion vinyl flooring next time.
Good luck with installing conducting in your attic at the weekend. Have a nice day