wood floor underlay

[encom80]

wbp. marine is over kill.

Thanks Matty!

Hey another problem here! I have been lifting up the old cupped warped floorboards and noticed at the top left of the lounge has a black patch. It looks like a damp patch but the skirting above it had no rot or fungas strands coming from it - could this area be where the previous owner spilt water/overflowed a xmas tree for example? I also noticed some yellowy powdery spores of some kind under some of the old solid wood floorboards, do I have a damp problem?

I am getting a meter tomorrow to check but best to ask you experts!

cheers

 

[mattysupra]

sounds damp, that could be the subfloor is not dried out yet or a damaged dpm or even a brigded dpc in the outside wall.


Hope you have a hygrometer coming with the correct tape to seal to the floor. O and calibrated. ?

 

[encom80]

sounds damp, that could be the subfloor is not dried out yet or a damaged dpm or even a brigded dpc in the outside wall.


Hope you have a hygrometer coming with the correct tape to seal to the floor. O and calibrated. ?

The left corner wall black damp patch is on the green floorboard - Do you have any recommendations for a hygrometer and correct tape seal?
I was going to go to B&Q to find a meter but don't think they would be that great there. Is it worth getting a damp specialist also?

cheers again!!

 

[mattysupra]

b@q dont sell them. the cheapest place to buy one is from F-BALL google them.

Still going to cost you about 120 quid tho. The tape you need is butile tape. Get it from the same place. This meter is for reading concrete not wood tho.

Sounds like maybe a christmas tree is your problem then with the chipboard. But you will need to also check you have the correct vents under the chipboard flooring. You should also test the chipboard moister, thats another meter you will need!

 

[encom80]

b@q dont sell them. the cheapest place to buy one is from F-BALL google them.

Still going to cost you about 120 quid tho. The tape you need is butile tape. Get it from the same place. This meter is for reading concrete not wood tho.

Sounds like maybe a christmas tree is your problem then with the chipboard. But you will need to also check you have the correct vents under the chipboard flooring. You should also test the chipboard moister, thats another meter you will need!

cheers, I have a hygrometer and humidty ranges from 36 - 50% over the course of the day. Going to hire the moisture reader for the sub-floor from HSS Hire.

cheers

 

[encom80]

Hey Matty,

I have discovered that there is small area where a 5mm gradient has been made when I removed the old wood floor. I couldn't see it before as the 2 rooms were separated by a stud wall which has now been removed also.

This is due to where the builders have concreted a small section by the french doors which is slightly higher that the rest of the room. So was wondering if i screwed 18mm plywood would this be ok to make everything pretty much the same level? I tried a small piece of 18mm ply I had lying around and when pushed flat down and putting a long straight piece of wood it was flat to it.

Cheers again!

 

[mattysupra]

Hey Matty,

I have discovered that there is small area where a 5mm gradient has been made when I removed the old wood floor. I couldn't see it before as the 2 rooms were separated by a stud wall which has now been removed also.

This is due to where the builders have concreted a small section by the french doors which is slightly higher that the rest of the room. So was wondering if i screwed 18mm plywood would this be ok to make everything pretty much the same level? I tried a small piece of 18mm ply I had lying around and when pushed flat down and putting a long straight piece of wood it was flat to it.

Cheers again!

without seeing it, well its impossible to say. Sounds o.k tho. ( you can post pics on here by the way!)

Just read your previous thread! Readings of a concrete base should be pretty much stable. They can move maybe 5% between day and night/humidity changes in the day if there subfloor readings.

How have you got them results tho? They are air humidity are they not and not subfloor moister content?

 

[encom80]

without seeing it, well its impossible to say. Sounds o.k tho. ( you can post pics on here by the way!)

Just read your previous thread! Readings of a concrete base should be pretty much stable. They can move maybe 5% between day and night/humidity changes in the day if there subfloor readings.

How have you got them results tho? They are air humidity are they not and not subfloor moister content?[/quote]

hi matty,

see attached diagram pic of what I mean about the different floor level.

I haven't tested the floor moisture level yet but the readings for the relative humidty were 36 - 50% But it has been hot so the RH has risen to 57% by evening time.

Untitled

• encom80
• 2 Jul 2009
• 1

 

[mattysupra]

i will have to re-read over the thread to catch up with the subfloor problems you have. (i get calls and see loads every day! )

I dont have time tonight to do it tho.

However, lets make a flooring hygrometer. You need a sandwich box about 6"x 6". Cut a hole in the bottom to fit your hygrometer you have in it and seal in well with plastacine. This needs to be air tight.

Now stick with plastacine the open side to the floor (concrete) .

Make sure you have the hygrometer so you can read the dial when looking down on it and it should now be reading the air in the box.

This is a very crude effort so wont be accurate but will give you an idea. You need to sheild the diy sandwich box from chages in heat so maybe use a old blanket over the top.

You should get an idea of moister in concrete doing this and if it anywhere near wrong then you will need to have/buy the correct equipment.

This is what you are trying to make! http://www.f-ball.co.uk/video_player.asp?vidID=moisture You are trying to make the 'digital hygrometer' the test they do first is to find the wetter area of the subfloor to place the hygrometer. The first test is not a accurate test at all so dont bother hiring it! Indicator only

 

[encom80]

hey matty or anyone else, my carpenter installed the 18mm ply over my enitre ground floor with sisalkraft underlay. I told him so many times to line the walls by 100mm of underlay and he hasn't on many parts. Also a lot of the boards don't sit level, he said that some of the ply-sheets had differing depths from 18mm-20mm.

- should I unscrew the ply-sheets and fit more dpm around the walls and use packers to level out the floor properly?

cheers