Fitting Hardboard before fitting vinyl lino

[andy2306]

Ive been told by the vinyl company that i need to hardboard my floorboarded floor prior to them fitting the vinyl.

I had presumed that the flooring company would do it for me but nows its down to me, fortunatly im a decent DIY'er so I just need a few tips.

1) what thickness and type of board would be suitable, its for a bathroom floor

2) Do the boards need to be fitted flush to each other and the skirting?

3) What fixings should i use? nails or screws? how often?

4) Any other tips that would be useful?

 

[mattysupra]

dont buy a 'fitted' vinyl floor of a company who wants the consumer to do the floor prep! Do you want any kind of guarantee? And even tho i dont want to comment on this subject as it is ' ridiculous ' dont use hardboard! This is a cowboy floor dress up. You should always use plywood (wbp) Hardboard does not reach the British standard for flooring in wet area's.
Please dont take offence here but you must be stupid to go to a company who tells there costumers to prep there own floors? On a serious note tho , would you mind emailing me the so called company who advised this?

 

[andy2306]

Well, I was a little taken by suprise as well, Its not actually my house its the mother in law to be. And she has already paid her deposit!!

Im not sure about the name of the company i'll find out, It might be that they said it would be cheaper if you knew someone who could lay the ply? And then presuming I dont have better things to do on a saturday asked me, Im not too bothered as it will help me if i ever lay lino (doubtful) or floor tiles in one of my renovation projects.

Help on the questions would still be appreciated

Andy

 

[mattysupra]

fair enough if she opted out of them doing the plywood and volunteered yourself, you need 6mm plywood (wbp or marine or exterior grade etc) You need to pin it at 6 inch centres and every 2-4 inch around the edge. You must use 20-22mm RING SHANK nails, not panel pins! You need to make a template of the area you are fitting to transfer onto the plywood. Also fit net to walls and the other boards.

 

[andy2306]

Thanks for that useful advice

When you make a template, Do you mean make a template for each cut or should i be trying to just put 1 board down?

What do you advise using as a template? I cant really think of anything big enough? maybe joining cardboard boxes together with tape?

 

[mattysupra]

i have a roll 2 meter wide paper felt. Which i roll out over the whole area and cut to the correct size. I then layout the plywood ( in garage , drive etc) and tape the sheets of plywood together so they dont move and lay my template over the top of the plywood. I dont know what else you could use really. Maybe if the bathroom is lets say 2m x 2m then you could try going to local flooring shop ( not the big boys as they will rip you off ! )and buy some paper felt of them. Should cost you maybe £5 quid. Will also save you al ot of time and stop you cocking up by tapping news paper together etc. Cardboard might be a plan but will still be a pain to work with and also a bit thick to try and cut around things. A tip also is to use a NEW blade in your knife, other wise you will drag and rip the paper.