Laying Lino

AceCobra

Hello

I understand when laying lino over floorboards it is recommended to put hardboard down first. Is this nessisary in every circumstance?

The reason I ask... Our floorbaords are quite neat and the lino we like seems very thick compared to others. I'm not that handy myself so laying board and cutting it round all the doors in the hall seems impossible to me.

I understand that the nature of the product will make it take the form of whatever its on eventully but given the situation above how long would this take? We plan to have this down for no more than a few years before we move/replace it with a good solid wood floor.

Martin.

boogiemaster

They put down a quarter inch piece of ply board in case the floor isn’t level, it’s also a lot better for when they cut it as they have something firm to cut on.
It should last you a few years because ours has been down 5 and it’s as good as new.

AceCobra

Assuming I dont want the board put down though? do you think it'll cause a major problem? The people we are buying it from are a carpet place, with a little laminate/lino on the side. We'd have to fit the board ourselves which isn't really an option unless we pay someone else.

If the board wouldn't show for years i'd be happy with the risk. Any advice appreciated.

Martin.

charlie2309

my bathroom lino is one of the cheapest you can get and has been laid directly on floorboards for nearly 3 years and looks good as new.

charlie x

Little_John

I think the laying of hard board also stops the lino falling through any gaps between the boards which can cause it to split over time.

calmgirl

( CG'S HUBBY HERE)
If it is the cushioned lino then small irregularitys should not matter to much. The reason i always recomend to lay ply wood first is that when you have a paying customer and they complain that their new flooring is getting BUMPY they sort of ask for their money back.

You dont mention what room its going in but.....oh sorry yes you did the hall isn't it. dont bother with plywood then as you only walk through the hall not sit in it an stare at the floor. And its only untill you lay hardwood flooring then the extra cost really isnt worth it.

boogiemaster

The ply board will protect the flooring underneath as he says, quote, our floorboards are quite neat!
If he hates the lino and wants to rip it up at a later time? Then he will have lots of glue to scrape off possibly damaging the nice floor in the process.
With ply board the glue will be stuck to the ply board and won’t damage the floorboards.
Also, the floorboards could be uneven and you would feel it when you walked over the lino, so it just levels the floor with using ply board.

AceCobra

Hello,

Many thanks for the replys guys, most helpfull.
By neat I ment more the levelness and closeness of the boards, there doesnt seem to be any major gaps and they've been varished by the previous owner. I wouldn't be happy with them as they are now though, hence I want a cheap solution to cover them up. I dont like the nails showing and theres also a large cut in one part near the hot press, I assume this has been a plumbers access. Another issue would be heat I guess, it seems a little drafty.

Anyways the lino we selected is now going to run right through into the kicthen. It seems fairly thick, maybe 5mm(ish) so i'm happy enough that'll last a year or so until we replace it.

In anycase the guys are coming to fit it tomorrow along with the carpet on the stairs/landing. The Living room is having a wood floor fitted today and all the painting is done!

Starting to come together at last.

Martin.