Water Under Vinyl Flooring Concrete

This is true whether it s a new or existing structure on or below grade.

Water under vinyl flooring concrete.

For installation of vinyl flooring you need a smooth even surface for the underside of the flooring to achieve the best contact for adhesion. Without water it wouldn t be concrete. If you ve noticed moisture appearing on the concrete in your basement or have some bare concrete in your home you d like to cover easily and cheaply vinyl plank flooring could be the thing you are looking for. However when lv is installed over concrete there is a possibility that moisture under the floor whether it seeps down from above or is emitted from the slab can react with chemicals in the concrete to create high levels of alkali which can degrade the vinyl.

There are a number of vinyl plank flooring options. Once the slab is poured the excess moisture must leave the slab in order to strengthen the concrete bond. What s more installing them is something you can easily do on your own. Water is necessary to complete the chemical process.

A vapour barrier under the floor anytime you install over concrete is required. Over wood the problem is usually a water leak flooding or the underlayment was too wet when installed. Vinyl flooring can either be glued to the subfloor or it can float on top of it and either way moisture underneath it causes problems. Preparing a concrete subfloor for vinyl newly poured concrete off gases water vapor and typically needs from 120 to 150 days to dry out before it s ready to accept flooring according to milliken company.

Vinyl may be water proof from water sitting on top of the floor but it is not a vapour barrier. A concrete floor seems like the perfect base for a vinyl floor installation. Moisture is to concrete as. Water damaged vinyl flooring problems are more common over concrete than with vinyl floors installed over wood substrates.

Moisture weakens glue bonds and causes the edges to lift and. Water damage problems may not be as common with sheet vinyl flooring as some other flooring products but they do happen. Your builder just voided your flooring warranty. Vinyl plank flooring is water resistant and if it has a wpc core it s waterproof so it won t be damaged by the off gassing.