vinyl tiles on ply - preventing movement in ply sheets

[JVH]

Hi there - I will be laying vinyl tiles in my bathroom which has an old and fairly uneven planked floor. My plan is to eliminate all movement in the floorboards, then lay 6mm egp ply to level out as much as poss, then lay 2mm self adhesive vinyl tiles onto this. Lifting the entire floor is not an option and I have been told by the tile supplier that the tiles will cope with some unevenness but not movement. I have been unable to source a sheet of ply big enough for the entire room, therefore there will be 2 joins. I need a product to seal the joins and prevent any independent movement in the ply sheets. I have been recommended Ardex feather finish, but cant find a local supplier (and it only seems to come in vast quantities) is there an alternative solution?

 

[mac391]

A feather finish is usually required when jointing ply for 2mm vinyl tiles but...if you pick the right spot to make the join and get it spot on then you won't need feather edge. If you join the 2 pieces and have a lip, then feather edge is required.

Don't forget to fix 6mm wbp ply with "ringshank" nails available from b&q, builders merchants etc..

 

[JVH]

Thanks for the advice - I'll do my best to get the join spot on, but pretty much our only option for the join location will be 40cm inside the door, so right where you walk over it. Do you know if there are any other brands of feather finish? I don't really know what it is apart from some sort of levelling compound - will any levelling compound do? I wondered whether some flexible filler or caulk would do in the absence of feather finish.... Also, on the ring shank nails, should the ply be secured right through to the joists below? I had intended to use counter sunk screws only into the floor boards having already secured any loose boards with counter sunk screws - should I use ring shank nails for this too? Although I plan to lift loose boards to check there are no pipes running through the joists before I fix them down, I am concerned if I start hammering nails through the ply into the joists below that I might hit a pipe....

 

[mac391]

You can use screws to secure your original floorboards, just follow the original nail holes and fit srews right next to them, like realy close.

Fix the ply with ringshank nails, they are 20mm long so no chance of puncturing a pipe below floorboards as floorboards are at least 19mm thick plus 6mm ply.

Try to avoid putting the joint in the doorway, the most walked on spot, even with feather edge it's a weak point. You can fix your ply starting at the door and put the cuts somewhere else, even if it means buying another sheet.

F-ball do a feather finish www.f-ball.com but like most manufactureres, they sell to the trade. You will find it easier on google i think. I have a local supplier so i don't know.

Good luck