Egger Protect Installation

[imorgan]

Hello all.

I've redoing my bathroom floor after a leak that turned the old chipboard to mush. I've bought some 22mm egger protect chipboard flooring that I'd like to install, there are a few things I'd like to check in regards to how I want to lay it out.

The recommendation is to stagger the sheets like bricks and glue and screw the boards to the joists. The room itself is shorter than the length of the boards so I was wondering if it's okay to just lay one after the other and not stagger them to reduce the amount of joints that could have future leaks. I also don't fancy glueing the boards to the joists incase the floor needs to come up again sometime in the future, but I'm happy to glue the boards to each other and screw them down. The installation also recommends noggins to support the edges, the joists are 175mm deep so I was thinking 95mm x 45mm C16 Timber would surfice, or should I match the full depth of the joists? if I go the full depth of the joists I assume cutting slots for the existing cables is okay as long as patch across the slot with some ply?

Cheers

 

[robinbanks]

Egged is good gear, and the protect range are able to withstand exposure to rain for 6 weeks when installed per spec, which is a handy thing, but I wouldn't rely on them as being waterproof chipboard. The covering you put over them has to effectively keep water out if used in a wet area

I was wondering if it's okay to just lay one after the other and not stagger them

Yes

incase the floor needs to come up again sometime in the future

Consider not gluing them together then; re-laying it will be a right pain if the grooves are full of PUR glue and bits of broken chipboard

so I was thinking 95mm x 45mm C16 Timber would surfice

It will. How far away from the wall is the last joist, and what is the joist spacing?
It may not be necessary to have anything on the wall if it is close enough

if I go the full depth of the joists I assume cutting slots for the existing cables is okay

Its better to drill holes on the center line of a joist and pass services through rather than notching them. Notching seriously weakens a joist as it is the top and bottom that carry the load, and it puts your services nicely in range of having a screw or nail put through them

 

[imorgan]

Hello Robin thanks for the response.

The covering you put over them has to effectively keep water out if used in a wet area

I was planning on adding a tile backer board to the floor and having it tiled, but I could tank the part under the bathtub for safety, any recommendations?

Consider not gluing them together then; re-laying it will be a right pain if the grooves are full of PUR glue and bits of broken chipboard

I'm not bothered to much about the glue in the joints if it needs to come up in 30 years time, but I didn't want to potentially end up damaging joists if it's all glued down.

How far away from the wall is the last joist, and what is the joist spacing?

The room is 2m x 1.8m with the joists at 600mm centers, the room is in the corner of the house so the joists are either in or right next to the outside/next door neighbours walls. The joists are 175mm x 50mm except one which is 175mm x 75mm. The edge of the joist furthest from the outside wall (running parallel to it) is 1.63m into the room. There is a 170mm overhang after that joist where I can't support the floor, because any support would clash with the ceiling of the stairwell beneath it, however this area will be under the bathtub so there shouldn't be any point loads there.

Its better to drill holes on the center line of a joist and pass services through rather than notching them. Notching seriously weakens a joist as it is the top and bottom that carry the load, and it puts your services nicely in range of having a screw or nail put through them

Sorry little bit of confusion here I was taking about slotting the noggins (if they are the full depth of the joists), the cables are already in place and I'd prefer not to cut them to fit the noggins if I can.

I'll be leaving about 100mm of the old chipboard on one side of room which is next to a partition wall, butting up to it and leaving a 10mm gap on the outside walls, or should I leave a gap between the walls and old flooring?

 

[John D v2.0]

you would only need to tank the room if you're expecting the floor to be used as a shower tray and having a drain in it. If it's just a bit of splashing that will dry naturally then there's no need for tanking.

any noggins for this purpose can just be 3x2 as they are only spanning half a metre or so to pick up the edges of the boards
If they were to provide lateral support to the joists they would need to be most of the depth of the joist. But you could still notch them or drill them.