Gaps in laminate floor

[Chopsy]

Hi, this is my first post so be gentle with me.

I have recently laid a laminate floor on top of concrete which has underfloor heating within the floor screed. When I first put down the laminate, there were no gaps in between it - now there are gaps starting to appear and it looks as if the floor is starting to rise slightly. Does anyone else have any experience of this and is there a cure ?

Thanks

Leigh

 

[WoodYouLike]

Hi Chopsy

When you say laminated flooring, do you mean the Melamine stuff (= foto copy of wood) or wood-engineered (solid toplayer of 0,2 till 6mm)?

 

[Chopsy]

The stuff you get from Homebase, I think it's melamine, a photocopy of wood. It's made by Westco if that helps.

 

[big-all]

heeelllooo chopsy and welcome

when you say rising if you stand on it does it go down or moove in any direction

 

[Chopsy]

Hi Big All

When I stand on it, it does go down and the cracks disappear. Do you think that it will get better over time or should I glue it ?

 

[WoodYouLike]

Chopsy,
If I read correctly you have two kind of problems: shrinking and rising?
Thinking about it, it could be caused by the same reason: the floor is skrinking (what melamine is not really know for) and therefor coming out underneath the skirtingboards which could, if the under floor is somewhat unlevel could cause the rising.
Did you turn-of the underfloor heating when you installed the floor and then raised the temperautre gently over a few days?

 

[Chopsy]

I did turn the underfloor heating off, I think that I may have turned it up a little too much too quickly ! I don't think that the floor is shrinking as the expansion gaps at the end are still the same. If I stand on the boards, the little gaps in between disappear and become almost invisible.

 

[WoodYouLike]

Chopsy,
The the only thing I can think of is that your flooring is deforming (is that correct English?, sorry I'm Dutch )
If you still have any of the packaging, check if it states that it's suitable for under floor heating.

 

[masona]

I agreed with woodyoulike, you may also have got away with it if you left the heating off for a couple of week for the glue to dried 100%, not sure though. The problem with some of the laminated flooring is the T&G, If you look on the top of the flooring the gap should be tight and underneath there's a small gap, this is so the top gap tighten up better and sometime if the glue not apply correctly the glue underneath tend to pull the small gap underneath creating a tent action.

 

[big-all]

just another thought here has the heating been off for ages

my thinking [could be wrong though]moisture in the concrete driven out by the heating causing expansion

have you got a propper clear expansion gap all round without touching any thing

 

[trowelhead]

I could be wrong,but is everyone missing the point here?I have yet to see a laminate that says you can use it with underfloor heating,(and yet to see underfloor heating that says you can use their product under laminate) and if it is the 'cheapo' from one of the sheds you almost certainly cannot use underfloor heating.It gives this advice for a specific reason,i wonder what that could be

 

[masona]

I could be wrong,but is everyone missing the point here?

No I don't think so, woodyoulike did says,

If you still have any of the packaging, check if it states that it's suitable for under floor heating.

As you pointed out, I'm not sure if there is any laminated flooring suitable for under floor heating. I suppose a lot depends on type of underfloor heating as well.

 

[trowelhead]

Must learn to read properly!