Underlay for vinyl on uneven floor

soupdragon10

Hi, I want to lay vinyl flooring in two downstairs rooms, one with an uneven wood floor and one a slate slab floor.

It is not possible in the short term to take up the floors and relay them so I need an underlay that could absorb some on the unevenness, and stop the vinyl splitting across uneven areas.

Can anyone suggest something that might do this? would a carpet underlay be suitable (I am thinking of the thicker spongy underlays that you can get.

robowen

anything thick and spongy will split the boards and probably creak after a while.
Best way I can see to do it is to use large plywood sheets nailed to the existing floor boards. This this gives a reasonably level surface to play with. Hollows can be levelled out with levelling compound and sanded flat to give a perfect surface.
This was how the floorers did it when I had Karndean layed. It's a bit different to click lock planks I know but would work.

Tom99

I have used 3mm mdf for a solid bathroom floor, worked very well.

chappers

self levelling screed, your vinyl fitters will do it.

vigreen

A good article, if you want to find related information can look at the following article:

Tom99

chappers wrote: »

self levelling screed, your vinyl fitters will do it.

On the wooden floor?

Ectophile

Use screed to level a concrete floor.

On a wooden floor, use hardboard. Unless the instructions on the vinyl say otherwise, lay it rough side up. Make sure you don't leave nail heads poking up, or it will ruin the effect. http://www.diy.com/help-ideas/how-to-prepare-for-new-flooring/CC_npci_100025.art