Flood Proof Flooring

WillLife

Hi there,

We have moved into a small town called Knaresborough and the river here floods a lot. Does anyone know a laminate or vinyl floor that would be resistant to flooding?

Thanks

suki1964

Seriously, if you get flood water in your home, whatever flooring you have needs ripped up and disposed of

When rivers flood, the drains and sewers tend to overflow as well.

trailingspouse

Are you on the flood plain? If not, then you don't really need to worry about it. If you are - then it will have come up in searches and suchlike? Have you been able to get insurance?



If it floods, it will come up through the floorboards and in through the doors. If it's a genuine risk, keep all your important papers and sentimental things like photo albums well above floor level (preferably upstairs). Most damage is done by the fact that the water is contaminated, as suki1964 said. Things simply have to be thrown out if they can't be sanitised. The type of flooring you have will be the least of your worries. People can be out of their houses for months while they get dried out.

tacpot12

Only flooring I can think off that might be flood-proof would be polished concrete. You'll warm to the idea of underfloor heating though if you have polished concrete (sorry for the pun).

Everything else; tile, vinyl, lvt, carpet is at risk, especially if laid onto floorboards.

You might also look into bunding around your property. If flooding is a yearly occurrence, and the construction of the house means you can't fit flood gates to the doors, bunding the entire property might be the only choice. If you live in a semi or row of terraced houses, you might need to involve your neighbours in a flood defence scheme.

trailingspouse

The polished concrete might be OK - but not after you've had to rip it out to deal with the underfloor heating that was damaged in the flood...
There's a pub by the river in York that has flagstone floors, and their electric sockets are in the ceiling. All the seating comes apart for easy removal to an upstairs room.

WillLife

What a fab idea. I was looking more for a wood effect vinyl like Karndean as my vet has it installed in their waiting room and it has lasted 20years with heavy animal traffic. I spoke to a fitter last night and they said if we securely fix mdf or ply wood to the floor joists then we should be okay with LVT fitted with water resistant adhesive. I have researched the house history and it flooded once a couple of years ago when we had that terrible weather.

Also I have seen some greatKarndean offers at the moment so I might take advantage and risk it. Thank you for the concrete idea though, I will look into that if my LVT isn't successfully durable enough

Norman_Castle

WillLife wrote: »

I spoke to a fitter last night and they saidif we securely fix mdf or ply wood to the floor joists then we should be okay with LVT fitted with water resistant adhesive.

Neither MDF or plywood would survive a flood.

suki1964

Erm I think we have been caught out here, look at his home page, we have a sneaky spammer