Preparing chipboard bathroom floor for new vinyl

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Hello All

I am not very experienced with DIY and am hoping someone here can offer me advice.

I live in a 1st floor flat (built 2001). I think my block was quite cheaply put together (other contractors have mentioned this...).

The bathroom floor had ceramic tiles of which some were loose, others cracked etc. A lot of the grout was discoloured and cracking in a lot of places. I am led to believe this damage was caused by the tiles being laid directly onto a chipboard floor. I'm told that chipboard has slight movement which in time will have caused the tiles to move and crack. In short, this type of floor was probably not suited to ceramic tiles.

In my kitchen, I had the same problem. Last year I removed all of the tiles fairly painfully, leaving a flat(ish) chipboard surface (it had a few imperfections where the tiles had pulled up some of the chipboard when removed, but was mostly flat). I then had guys from Carpetright come and lay a new vinyl floor. They covered the chipboard with sheets of plywood which they nailed down with a machine. They then laid the vinyl floor on top of this. I was more than happy with the result.

I now want to do the same thing in the bathroom, however, I have found removing the tiles to do extremely difficult. In some parts, they have come up fairly easily but left a lot of the adhesive behind. In other parts, they have brought up the adhesive and chunks of chipboard also. As you can see from the pictures I have attached, it has not left anything like a smooth surface behind.

My question is, how flat does the chipboard surface have to be in order to secure plywood to it? Can I screw/nail a plywood floor through the old tile adheisve into the chipboard (once I have got the rest of the tiles up of course...)? I've really struggled to remove it. Or is there some other way of levelling it out, like a foam or filler?

Other people have told me that I'd be better to replace the chipboard but that's not really an option as it goes right under all the built in appliances etc and I can't see anywhere where it is screwed down etc. I just want to do the best I can with the existing chipboard.

Should I get someone in to remove the tiles and the remaining adhesive before having the plywood floor fitted? A professional would probably have better skills and equipment than I have to perform the task...

Also, when I do lay the plywood subfloor, does it matter if it is nailed or screwed? Also, I have read that I should leave gaps between plywood sheets as it is a bathroom and moisture may caused it to expand/contract.

Any help appreciated!

Thanks

Darren
 
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Hi Darren, ( nice name )
You would be best removing all the adhesive, then you could apply a wood screed like f.ball 700 or mapei renovation over the chipboard. Then fit the new plywood over that.
What floor covering Are you putting over the ply.
What size ply are you using, you could ring nail it if 6mm or above that then screw it down.
 

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