Advised not to lay laminate over ply - is that right?

[JohnnyF]

Hi,

I've purchased 45 sheets of 8 by 4 6mm WBP ply to overlay all the floorbaords in my house as the boards are in bad nick.

I've done most of the house, screwing the ply at 30cm centres (probably hire a stapler to make the centres less).

On the receipt I have just noticed it says the ply is not suitable for flooring so after spending ages doing the floors I rang the company to ask about this.

The fellas said it is OK to carpet / vinyl over the ply but not laminate.

The reason being that the big sheets can shrink and distort the laminate. Is this right?

The ply has been in the house for about a month before fitting and will have been laid for a couple of months before final floor coverings.

Should I lift it where I am having laminate? Or should any shrinkage have happened when the two months is up and I can caulk any gaps?

Or could I lay insulation board on top of the ply?

I am loathe to lift as I have a knee op next week so will be out of action and this will set me back but at the same time I don't want to shell out for the flooring for it to look naff.

Any advice would be great cheers.

 

[WoodYouLike]

The fellas said it is OK to carpet / vinyl over the ply but not laminate.

The reason being that the big sheets can shrink and distort the laminate. Is this right?

Carpet and vinyl are ok?? ('soft covering', glued or stapled down on the 'shrinking' plywood) and a hard floor covering (usually installed floating on top of the plywood) not????

Strange world we're living in today!

 

[JohnnyF]

So the bloke was talking cobblers?

So I'm ok to put the 6mm ply down everywhere. I'll sand the ridges and caulk the gaps. Is there anything else needs doing like where the screw heads are (i would reckon the underlay should cover any small protrusions.)

Cheers

John

 

[SJRSJR]

I'm no professional but providing the joins in your ply are generally even and you lay the thin plastic foam underlay over it (should be on sale near the laminate) I can't see what the problem is. Even if there is a bit of unevenness, the underlay can pack it out, so not even the screw holes should be a problem. If you have sufficient expansion gaps at the edge it is effectively a floating floor and I can't see how the ply could distort the laminate.