Laying down laminate flooring on a concrete floor

Joey_1984

I am currently in the process of putting down laminate flooring on my basment floor. The basement is fully finished with a concrete floor. My question is can I just put down the underlay then the laminate flooring on the the concrete. People are telling me I should put a subfloor down first but I don't have the option to do that because my ceiling is only 8' and if I put the subfloor down then the ceiling will be very close to my head. Can I just paint the floor and then put the laminat down or should I put plastic on the floor first, then the underlay and laminate.

poppameth

It depends on your pad. If your pad has a vapor barrier with pretaped edges go ahead with the pad and then the laminate. If it does not have a moisture barrier you need plastic, then pad, then the laminate. I don't see why anyone would recommend a subfloor be installed first. If you are worried about moisture issues you should check the floor with a calcium chloride test kit, or a moisture meter at the very least.

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jpcustoms

i agree, use the 2 layer pad with vapor barrier, plastic meets the floor. you may want to go the extra step and use a primer on the concrete 1st, such as kilz or zinnser 123

poppameth

If you want to prime the slab don't use Kilz or Zinsser. They are not meant for this. You could use a product such as Cutdown II by Dependable that is designed to hold back from 8 to 12 psi of water pressure, but that's probably not necessary in your situation.

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jpcustoms

thks pappa
will check into the cutdown stuff next time i run across a similiar situation.

MinConst

Best case.
Seal slab with a concrete sealer. SW has a decent one.
Lay 6-8 mil poly on top.
Lay vapor barrier padding best you can get.
Lay Lam.
Second best
forget the sealer
Worst case
Lay with just vapor barrier pad.
Absolute worst
no pad no vapor barrier no sealer. Floor will buckle at first summer

In other words if you have an untested pad you are taking a chance. I normally forgo the sealer because of customers wanting to save $$ but don't recommend it.

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UpComingBuilder

What kind of plastic goes on top of the slab?

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Floorwizard

6 mil poly is fine

UpComingBuilder

So the plastic is called 6 mil poly? Does it come in a big roll like the underlayment does?

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MinConst

Bigger

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diy'er on LI

we're debating doing the exact same project probably next year (we're currently overloaded with ongoing DIY's that need completion before we can put another thing on our plate ) We dare to dream of a clean basement that we can enter with just socks on.......

question about vapor barrier padding and the 6 mm poly:

what is a good vapor barrier padding (brand? features?)

for the 6mm poly, what should I ask for to get the proper product? Is it called a "6 mm poly underlayment"? or something else?

this website is forever humbling to me... it shows me daily that I know virtually nothing!