floating wood floor trouble

[Kinnan]

I am having trouble with a floating laminate wood floor. It is adhered to a sticky-back foam, which rests on a vapor barrier on top of the old carpet. Plenty of room was left around the perimeter for expansion, and I think now too much was allowed. This is in a rather large meeting room (40X 40'?) which has several door ways, connects to a hall and also another room. The entire floor has shifted to one end, and is apparent at all these connections. How do I move it back? Should I? What about all the entries? Gaps?

[Fat Pat]

Depending upon whether each panel was glued together or not, find out which is the fitted end and pull 'em up and relay....

If you have skirting boards, then you'll most like have to pull them off as well.

Just finished a couple of rooms myself, and noted a problem half way through the job. Pulling them up and relaying takes bugger-all time. Just remember the order that they have been pulled-up, and relay them in reverse.

It's pretty easy, unless you have some sort of complication.

Good Luck

[seriph1]

perhaps fitting a transitional strip at each problem-point might be easier - having a bit of trouble understanding the extent of the issue - do you have any pics?

[Trav]

did you say that you laid it over the exisitng carpet? If so, that is probably the issue. I think you are supposed to lay it over a moisture barrier and then the underlay.

The gap should be about 10-12mm next to each wall that buts up to the grain of the timber. The gaps should be a bit smaller for the walls running parallel to the grain. For a room that big, I couldn't even imagine how it would move - that is a lot of friction to overcome.

Note that most flooring is glued together so picking it up and relaying may not be an option.

Trav

[TassieKiwi]

It's pretty easy, unless you have some sort of complication.


That pretty much covers amost any activity i can think of....:rolleyes:

[gpkennedy]

At my workplace we had a rubber mat laid over the carpet at the entrance for protection from wet feet. The mat was laid loose over the carpet. As it was walked over it would move slightly, after a few weeks it would move sufficiently to create a trip hazard. However it always moved in the one direction on all occasions. I suspect that the individual fibres in carpet tend to slope slightly in the same direction. As part of the manufacture they are uniformly bent in the same direction, ie not random. Any foot pressure on the mat (or the floating flooring) would slightly depress the fibers further and when the foot pressure was released the fibres would attempt to stand upright. Each individual fibre would be "brushing the bottom" of the mat and creating a small force that eventually moved the mat in the same direction.
This minute but often repeated force would have the effect of brushing the mat (floating flooring) in the same direction every time, gradually moving it ALWAYS IN THE SAME DIRECTION.

Still with me?
To test this hypothesis. Get a small piece of your floating flooring or three ply and place it on top of any other carpet in your place. Stand on it, lift foot, repeat, repeat, etc.
Does it always move in the same direction?
I have no experience with floating flooring, nor can I suggest a solution to your problem: but I suspect the carpet may be a continuing problem.
George

[E. maculata]

I think the fibre direstion of the carpet is called the "Bias" seem to remember that from somewhere :D

[gpkennedy]

Thanks Bruce
that's exactly the word that I was searching for. The bias! It's a good word as it exactly explains the lean of the fibers in a way that most readers would understand. :)
George