Hi I am placing laminate flooring in one of my bedrooms. I have taken off the carpet and am ready to put down the vapor barrier. The subfloor is concrete.I bought Simple Solutions Moisturbloc 6mm vapor barrier. I tried taping the barrier to the concrete subfloor on the edges but there is a small amount of dust that does not allow it to stick well to the concrete subfloor. My question is can I tape the vapor barrier to the dry wall at the edges of the room. This will be covered by the base board eventually or do I have to tape it to to the concrete. Thanks.
Best way to tape vapor barrier
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Good morning rimmi,
While we wait for the pros to wake up, my thoughts go to moisture every time I hear a vb is to be used over concrete. If there has been any small amount of moisture drying to the inside then adding a 6 mil vb perfectly sealed will mean the moisture level below will rise until it matches the ground underneath. Now, I know laminates don't like moisture either so it is a catch 22 as to whether you isolate that moisture to accumulate below or risk letting it dry up through the laminate. The decision relies heavily on how the concrete base was built and the moisture levels in your location.
Just a heads up, but in many cases, laminate over concrete is not a good solution. Not all cases.
Bud
While we wait for the pros to wake up, my thoughts go to moisture every time I hear a vb is to be used over concrete. If there has been any small amount of moisture drying to the inside then adding a 6 mil vb perfectly sealed will mean the moisture level below will rise until it matches the ground underneath. Now, I know laminates don't like moisture either so it is a catch 22 as to whether you isolate that moisture to accumulate below or risk letting it dry up through the laminate. The decision relies heavily on how the concrete base was built and the moisture levels in your location.
Just a heads up, but in many cases, laminate over concrete is not a good solution. Not all cases.
Bud
Thanks Bud. For some background the house was build in 2004 (slab foundation). Has had carpet in the room since then. When I took it off there was no moisture. I was putting in a moisture barrier because everywhere I read it was advised to do so. Logically thinking about it, I wasn't sure why it is needed if moisture hasn't accumulated in 12 years. This is the first time I'm doing a project like this, so I am going by what I read online and help from this forum has been awesome.
Almost all the homes in our area are slab construction (in california) and many have wooden floors...any reason why laminate over concrete is not a good idea? My laminate is a already self padded so that is why I am not placing an underlayment. Thanks for the help.
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