5 Flooring Mistakes to Avoid When Renovating Your Home

Flooring is one of the last jobs in a renovation and often gets squeezed into whatever time and budget are left. In that rush, people make small mistakes that cost them more money and problems in the long run.

For example, a concrete slab needs about one month of drying time per inch of thickness. Even though it can feel dry from the outside. Most flooring failures begin at that hidden stage, well before the first plank is laid.

Let’s go through the flooring mistakes that people most often forget to think about when renovating their home.

Omitting the moisture test on the subfloor

The fact that something is dry to the touch tells us very little. In the case of concrete, a test using calcium chloride or an in-situ relative humidity test is required, and with wooden subfloors, a reading from a moisture meter is necessary.

Since moisture retention is not uniform throughout a given space, it is also important to take a number of readings in various locations. Several readings should be taken in areas adjacent to exterior walls, sliding glass doors and plumbing lines. Those are the areas in a given space that will retain moisture the longest.

Ignoring Subfloor Flatness

Most manufacturers permit only about three-eighths of an inch of variation over a distance of 10 feet. Vinyl flooring is particularly sensitive in this regard since a thin plank will show every ridge and dip on the surface.

Dips lead to clicking, gaps between the boards, cracked tiles and broken locking edges in the case of floating floors. A small low area can continue to bend under foot traffic for months before the seam eventually breaks.

To locate the problem areas, place a straightedge across the floor in a number of different directions. Wear down the high spots and fill the low ones with self-levelling compound. The compound requires its own primer and a certain cure time, so make sure both of these are included in your schedule before the flooring is delivered.

Installing the flooring on the day it arrives

New planks will have the temperature and moisture content of the truck or warehouse they came from, so if you lay them down straight away, they may swell or shrink as they get used to the air in your house. This can leave you with gaps or raised edges.

Instead, set the boxes in the room where they will go, with the heating or cooling running as usual. Check the manufacturer’s guide for how long to wait. Solid hardwood will typically require a few days, whereas many of the vinyl planks will only need a fraction of that time.

Determining the Height of a Floating Floor

Since a floating floor has to be able to move in response to changes in humidity, an expansion gap should be left all around the edge; this gap is usually 1/4 to 1/2 inch. Kitchen islands that are heavy, built-in cabinets and fixed bookcases situated above the floor prevent this movement and cause buckling to occur. When the air becomes damp, the pinned planks have no place to go, and so they push upwards at the weakest joint.

In many cases, long stretches and large door openings also call for expansion breaks, so it is necessary to refer to the installation instructions for the maximum span. Either fit the fixed cabinetry first and then float the floor around it or glue the floor in place under those areas if the manufacturer permits it.

Mismatching underlayment and heating

The type of underlayment that you use between the new floor and the old subfloor has to be right for your house. Some are just too thick. With underfloor heating, the heat has to be able to transfer through the underlayment. Some types of underlayment are not even rated for use with underfloor heating.

There may be building codes for apartments and upper floors that require certain sound ratings. It is a good idea to check your building guidelines before making a purchase. Using two layers of underlayment can void the warranty, and the floor may even feel soft to walk on. Make sure the materials that you choose for the underlayment and the heating are all compatible and work together prior to purchase.

Conclusion

A home renovation is a series of small decisions. One bad decision can slow or stop the entire process. The flooring mistakes in this guide are small but important to consider and can easily be avoided by developing awareness of them.

• Always test your subfloors
• Check the subfloor flatness
• Give your flooring some time to settle in before you install it
• Measure the height of the floating floor
• Check for proper underlayment

Doing these things at the beginning of your process makes your renovation easier and less unexpected. It makes your process steady and on time. Following these steps can make your renovation less stressful and reduce surprises at the end of your process.

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Becky

Meet the award-nominated UK lifestyle blogger behind Spirited Puddle Jumper – a mum of three living in South East London! Becky shares the real ups and downs of family life, parenting tips, and lifestyle inspiration, proving that being a mum doesn’t mean you stop being fun or having other interests! Follow along for honest insights into UK family life and opinions on a whole range of topics, from travel and food, to beauty reviews, home and DIY, business and health and wellness.