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Property/DIY

Sticking vinyl tiles to floorboards

29 replies

Spindelina · 16/11/2012 11:19

I'm planning to lay some cheap ish vinyl wood effect plank things on top of tongue and groove, which is in pretty poor condition. This is a temporary solution, to stop imminently crawling dd getting splinters - we plan to get a nice floor at some point. Although round here temporary solutions have a habit of lasting longer than we had planned.

My question: do I really need to seal the floorboards with PVA? Or can I just lightly sand, damp dust, and leave to dry?

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wendybird77 · 16/11/2012 13:15

Please beware of doing this. If the tiles are quite cheap they will split where the boards underneath meet and will look an absolute mess. They will also collect all sorts of nasty where the tiles meet and you can't get it clean. Can you do a cheap carpet instead? Or sand and clean up the floor boards? Or even paint the floorboards?

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Spindelina · 16/11/2012 13:33

Oh dear.

Carpet not an option - it's in our dining room which is open plan to the kitchen.

Haven't got the time to sand or paint floorboards. Reason for vinyl tiles instead of just one big bit of vinyl is that I need to do it in the 90 minutes between dd and me going to bed. Was hoping to do a few a day until it is done.

Don't really care what it looks like tbh, but worried if you say they'll split along the floorboard joints. It needs to be cleanable.

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Spindelina · 16/11/2012 18:15

Bump

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MaybeAMayBaby · 16/11/2012 18:44

You can buy vinyl 'planks'. You could try and match the width with your floorboards? Or-better off putting good down first. Then tiles on top.

What about a large rug? Seagrass? Or jute? Then it would be easier to clean in a dining area.

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MaybeAMayBaby · 16/11/2012 18:44

That should say plywood down first!

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PigletJohn · 16/11/2012 19:06

you can fit vinyl over floorboards (I prefer a roll rather than tiles) but you have to put a flat smooth sheet over it first. 4mm or 6mm ply is very good, hardboard will do but is much more inclined to bubble.

Because the sheets are made with perfectly square edges, you can butt them tightly together with no lumpy join.

A big stapler will fix it down

DIY sheds, builders or timber merchants will have it and usually deliver. The big 2440x1229mm sheets need fewer joints than smaller sheets, and can be moved easily by teo peope, or with some difficulty by one.

"exterior" or "structiral" ply often has big knots that will show through, view it before buying.

Ceramic tiles need a much thicker ply to prevent cracking.

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Spindelina · 16/11/2012 19:13

Vinyl planks is exactly the plan. I'm intending to lay them at right angles to the floorboards so the joints don't coincide. Don't think I'll manage to get hardboard or plywood down in my 90 min sessions.

Long term plan is probably engineered wood, which will get done along with the kitchen next door. For now we need something safe for a little person, and safe from the results of little person's attempts at eating! And we want to do it cheaply - it should only need to last a couple of years. Hopefully.

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Spindelina · 16/11/2012 19:22

Cross posted.

I prefer a roll too, but that's not going to happen.

Have done roll on bare, very wonky, floorboards before. Lumps and bumps all showing,and wore fairly quickly, but as a temporary fix it was fine. Is this going to be any worse? What is the ply / hardboard for? Flatness (don't care) or adhesion (do care)?

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RandomMess · 16/11/2012 19:25

The ply/hardboard will stop it splitting.

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Spindelina · 16/11/2012 19:58

As in splitting along the joints of the floorboards?

Floorboards flex a bit under load and the different flexing of neighbouring boards means anything glued to both will split?

If so, will need to rethink hardboard.

Plan B is a playpen for baby and a plastic sheet under the table. Unless anyone else has any great ideas!

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PigletJohn · 16/11/2012 20:21

vinyl over boards will crack along the edges of the boards below, and will wear away at highspots.

Why won't you do roll over ply?

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RandomMess · 16/11/2012 20:34

How about playpen/travel cot and put bamboo down, hardwearing and resonably priced...

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Spindelina · 16/11/2012 21:23

Why won't you do roll over ply?

Because I need to do it a bit at a time, and leave the room in use between bits. As well as being our dining room, it's a storage area (lots of boxes stacked up), living room (sofa to move) and thoroughfare to the kitchen.

Current plan is to buy small sheets of hardboard from DIY store and stick with the vinyl tiles.

Random How does bamboo work? Can I do it bit by bit, shifting the furniture behind me?

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Spindelina · 16/11/2012 21:27

Also the room is just over 4m in both directions. Good amount of space :)

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RandomMess · 16/11/2012 21:37

bamboo works like laminate, a bit of buggar to cut I think...

However you could do it over days IYSWIM, a few strips per day...

Vinyl would last months if you laid down the ply/harboard first then it would last a few years.

Bamboo lasts for decades.

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Spindelina · 16/11/2012 21:38

Will investigate bamboo tomorrow.

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RandomMess · 16/11/2012 21:40

What about flortex or is it floortex?

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RandomMess · 16/11/2012 21:42

simplybamboo is where you can buy it from

I'm starting to think kitchen carpet for you Confused

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Spindelina · 17/11/2012 03:41

At first glance, bamboo looks like it's a lot more expensive than cheap vinyl. Probably much nicer and longer lasting, but this floor is going to get trashed in a few years when I strip the skirting boards and cornice.

Thought about carpet tiles, but the idea of getting smooshed weetabix out of them doesn't appeal.

If I don't get something fitted, floortex mat is probably what I'll do, but I'd rather get something wall to wall so that sprog can crawl more freely.

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RandomMess · 17/11/2012 06:24

Hmm really cheap laminate?

How long do you reckon it will be down for? How about unfitted vinyl roll, anything you stick to the floor boards is going to make them worse to sort out later on?

Can you not find a babysitter for a few hours and hire a sander to sand the floor now?

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Spindelina · 17/11/2012 08:15

What would be the advantage (other than arguably aesthetic) of cheap laminate, over hardboard + cheap vinyl tiles? If I'm going to have to get my jigsaw out, I think I'd prefer to be cutting hardboard (done it before) than laminate (haven't).

The issue with babysitter is feeding. My boobs are required every couple of hours, and I'm crap at expressing. DH is working hideous hours at the moment, so I would rather not need him to take sprog for the weekend minus feeding, but that is a possibility. If I did that I'd do hardboard + vinyl - sanding is going to be more mess than it's worth, and I'll still need to varnish bit by bit. The hard bit is getting all the furniture and boxes out - the only place they could go without lugging upstairs is the kitchen.

Reckon it'll be down for 2 or 3 years. Floorboards are going to have to go anyway - some are worm eaten, some are missing tongues where they've been up for electrics / plumbing.

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RandomMess · 17/11/2012 08:31

Okay I'd do the hardboard and then vinyl, they will last 3 years if you don't put down hardboard I don't think they will...

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Spindelina · 17/11/2012 09:37

A plan!

This thread has convinced me I do need the hardboard to stop the tiles splitting very quickly.

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confusedperson · 17/11/2012 17:18

I had old wonky floorboards in my kitchen and hated - every chair movement would leave a dent, draughty and not suitable for my small DC to crawl about. So I bought cheap but very thick vinyl flooring from ebay and laid over as temporary solution. I could not be happier and just wondering why I hesitated to do this for 2 years! It's roll vinyl and one piece covers my massive kitchen/diner. My builder warned me not to do it as over time vinyl will dent and show every board, in fact he said my idea was rubbish :) so I laid it myself overnight while my 2 DC and DH were asleep (very proud of myself). No glue was needed, it is cut to shape and sits perfectly on the floor. It is warm and cosy, and super easy to wipe clean, so I am really really happy. If I sell the house in the future, it can be easily lifted and those floorboards (whoever likes them) will be still in tact.
I just have to stress the importance of thickness of the vinyl - it makes all the difference.

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confusedperson · 17/11/2012 17:23

Spindelina, your floorboards look like mine - mine flex too, but I barely notice this now as they covered by the vinyl. I did not lay any plywood or anything under the vinyl. It is just floorboards and thick felt-backed vinyl. My kitchen/diner is also big, about 4.5m x 4m. I fitted it myself (I am a women) within about 4-5 hours, while my family was asleep. It was heavy roll and not easy but I did it. I will try to find the link on ebay for you.

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