mobilehomerepair.com

Hi~ And Happy Thanksgiving to all.
My problem:
I'm installing Allure vinyl planks .When I win the lotto I'll get something I really want.
I've removed all the carpet already.(Yeah** What a chore**)
Now~ What can I fill the center seam with ? I realize that it probably should be something that flexes..It's just a small 1/2 " or so. Maybe 10' feet long. You can see insulation material in the seam.
My camera has to charge so I can attach a photo tomorrow if needed..

Thanks So Much~ Nancy

Many here have used floor leveling compound. Mix, pour, and sand if needed. Personally I'm not wild about the vinyl planks, I have seen some that show any kind of imperfection under them, but I would hope that some are better quality brands than others.

Greg

I would also recommend floor compound. It is cheap, easy to use and floor compound and/or sanding can correct almost any floor imperfection you would come across. If the 1/2" gap is deep, you may want to stuff 5/8" caulk rod (caulking rope) into the gap so the floor compound doesn't just fall through the gap or collapse on you later. Caulk rod is just a gray foam rope used to help fill gaps and is usually near the caulking supplies at home stores.

Thanks Greg and JD~
Greg I'm not crazy about the planks but they are cheap and something I can do myself.
JD I'll look for that caulk rod along with the floor leveling compound you both recommended...

I love this forum

Another quick question~
Since the carpet is up I now have the exposed press-board..
Do you think I should seal it before putting down the vinyl planks ?
Would that help at all for future spills ?
Or perhaps not necessary ~
Nancy

I always do. A bucket of oops latex paint is good and cheap and adequate to seal if smell or visible stains are not an issue - cheap insurance

That's exactly what I was thinking~
I'm the Queen of oops paint.
Can't help myself !
Nancy

One problem you might have if you use paint under the self gluing planks is that the planks will only be glued down to the paint. If the paint comes loose from the particleboard the planks will become loose. A penetrating sealer might work better. Also sometimes when you paint or seal particleboard it might become a little deformed. I would contact the manufacture of the planks and ask them what you should do under the planks for particleboard.

Ron

Hi HouseMedic~
The floor I'm using will be floating ..Per Allure applying over press board is OK.

It's Presdek flooring so the point about the moisture in the paint itself causing problems is the $64 question...
I guess I'm off to call Presdek in the am !!
Thanks~ Nancy

If you have a big enough spill that it gets threw the planks and down to the subfloor you will have bigger problems. Even if you paint the floor to prevent water getting into the subfloor that water has to go somewhere. It will spread and most likely be soaked up by the flooring planks. Which means your flooring will expand and buckle. I'm not saying that painting the subfloor is a good or bad thing, I'm just saying that if you have a spill big enough to affect the subfloor you will have many problems. So don't spill!

Another thing you really need to look into is how level is your subfloor? Your allure flooring should have a spec of how out of level the floor can be in a certain amount of feet, something like +/- 1/4" in 4ft. This is important because if you do a floating floor over an unlevel subfloor your planks will float "level" and there will be a gap under it. Then when you walk on it you will push the floating floor down which will weaken the joints if it flexes to much. So make sure your trailer is level before you do the flooring.

forboystoo wrote:Hi HouseMedic~
The floor I'm using will be floating ..Per Allure applying over press board is OK.

It's Presdek flooring so the point about the moisture in the paint itself causing problems is the $64 question...
I guess I'm off to call Presdek in the am !!
Thanks~ Nancy

OK, I thought since you said vinyl I was thinking of the glue down type of strips that I have installed before. If it is a laminate then you should be fine with just the underlayment/vapor barrier that gets put down before the floor go's down. I would not paint or do anything else. Or does this type of laminate have the pad and vapor barrier already on the planks? Still if so I would just use the floor leveler to fill in the gap that you have and any other areas that seem to have a un level spot.

Ron

I put down Luan subfloor before laying my Allure planks in the dining room. I had a similar seam and was afraid it would telegraph through the planks. So far so good. I thought I had a pic of the subfloor down but all I can find is the finished floor

Chris

Here are the installation instructions for the Allure flooring.

http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/pdfIma ... 3d607e.pdf

It says it can go over particle board.

Ron

OK, I found this to use as a filler on top of the foam caulk that JD recommended .All the other types of self-leveling I found around here where for cement floors only. Home Depot guys where useless this time around.
Am I going in the right direction ?(I realize it's not SELF-leveling)
Or can you recommend a manufacture that I can google and get online ...
Abbottsmanor~ Your floors look great !

That will be fine.

Use a flat edge trowel to apply it and let the first application dry as per the instructions. You may get shrinkage, so a second application may be in order.

In addition, before you start laying down the floor, "bounce" around to check for squeaks, and if found, screw the area down to both adjacent joists.