Do You Need To Seal A Concrete Floor Before Laying Laminate

If you have to lay laminate boards on a small surface or a room with a complex shape buy 10 more flooring as you will get significant waste due to cutting.

Do you need to seal a concrete floor before laying laminate.

If your concrete passes the moisture test then plastic sheeting at least 6 mils thick will prevent moisture from getting into your laminate flooring. Install a plastic vapor barrier. Sealing concrete is both a protective coating for the concrete floor from above and an additional moisture. You don t need to seal a concrete floor before installing laminate.

However to prevent moisture from the concrete floor from affecting your laminate install a vapor barrier of polyethylene film. Laminate flooring is also fairly easy to install. Sealing prevents moisture from evaporating out of the porous concrete surface onto the new flooring. Add about 10 to that number to account for any possible mistakes and warped boards.

You can install laminate flooring over a variety of subfloors including concrete. If the house is older or there is a doubt regarding possible moisture in the concrete subfloor then laminate can be laid on a bituminous reinforced underlay designed for that purpose. However before you can begin to lay the floor boards you must ensure that any damage to the concrete is completely repaired. Remove any carpet or other flooring.

Where plastic sheets must be joined overlap the sheets by several inches and use strong vinyl tape to secure them. Allow the thinset to completely dry before you seal the surface of the concrete pad. Many types of flooring can be installed over a concrete sub floor. From my understanding the screed will not need sealing if you are only going to fit laminate or carpet.

Do you need to seal a concrete floor before laying laminate the operative word in your question is need and the answer is it depends. Nevertheless if you have to lay laminate flooring on a large surface a very large room or several room you should buy only 5 percent more flooring. However many homeowners are disappointed to discover that solid wood flooring cannot be installed on a concrete slab. Install this barrier even if the concrete subfloor is covered by vinyl linoleum terrazzo or ceramic tile.

If you have a vinyl floor you may be able to install your flooring directly on top of it. Laminate flooring is a good alternative to wood flooring in basements. Multiply length times width of the room. A freshly screeded floor should be sealed before tiles are fitted unless a screed has been used that does not need sealing priming this screed is usually dust free so it seems as yours would require sealing for tiling.

Determine how much flooring and materials will be needed.