Priming floor before vinyl flooring

[courtney]

What should I prime the floor with before putting peel and stick wood-looking vinyl on my Scamp floor. Should I put any additional adhesive on it? Don't want to deal with it ever coming up. Any other surface prep I should know about?

[steve dunham]

The floor of my Scamp is OSB and Osb is not recommended as a substrate for vinyl flooring . I would consider covering the OSB with 5 MM under layment plywood .It holds glue better,is smoother and has less chance of having imperfections in the substrate which can show through the vinyl flooring

[Jim Bennett]

If your flooring is OSB, then the first choice would be just as Steve recommends. There are primers that help on other types of flooring, but none that I know of for over OSB.

Given that you should put down an underlayment for vinyl tiles, why not opt for a floating floor? Lots of good options there, and the cost would be fairly low, ever for good stuff, give the square footage of a small trailer.

[David B.]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

If your flooring is OSB, then the first choice would be just as Steve recommends. There are primers that help on other types of flooring, but none that I know of for over OSB.

Given that you should put down an underlayment for vinyl tiles, why not opt for a floating floor? Lots of good options there, and the cost would be fairly low, ever for good stuff, give the square footage of a small trailer.

I had used a roof coating to seal my floor prior to putting down a floating floor. The problem I found was when a water line ruptured, the water just sat between the floor and the floating floor (really was a floating floor) and would not evap. over several days of a fan running in the dry summer Arizona climate. I had to remove the floor, let it dry, and reinstall. I may try a vinyl sheet flooring glued down in the future.<_<
Dave & Paula

[Jim Bennett]

Dave, did you glue (seal) the joints? I always advice customers that we should do this in wet areas. We then seal good before any baseboard or trim is applied around the edges. Unless you leave the water standing, there should be no issue.

But, you are right, there is always the potential, and it is darn tough to remove that moisture once it gets in.

I just put the last (fourth) coat of polyurethane on the double layer of 3/16" cork I laid down in my trailer this morning. Both layers are glued down after stripping the old vinyl and cleaning and levelling the floor good. The poly will guarantee a waterproof seal, and the 3/8" layer of cork will provide warmth, insulation and beauty.

[David B.]

Jim, the flooring has self stick joints, but the water still got under it. It's not very difficult to remove the dinette bench, and just pull up the floor, but it takes time.

[gmw photos]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

Dave, did you glue (seal) the joints? I always advice customers that we should do this in wet areas. We then seal good before any baseboard or trim is applied around the edges. Unless you leave the water standing, there should be no issue.

But, you are right, there is always the potential, and it is darn tough to remove that moisture once it gets in.

I just put the last (fourth) coat of polyurethane on the double layer of 3/16" cork I laid down in my trailer this morning. Both layers are glued down after stripping the old vinyl and cleaning and levelling the floor good. The poly will guarantee a waterproof seal, and the 3/8" layer of cork will provide warmth, insulation and beauty.

Jim,
not to hijack this thread, but that sounds really nice....any pictures ?

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by gmw photos

Jim,
not to hijack this thread, but that sounds really nice....any pictures ?

I have taken some photos along the way, and will take some more when everything is back together. I will then start a thread for anyone interested.

Now, back to your regular programming.

[Otters]

Courtney, I installed vinyl wood look flooring and it came out really nice. Its like Allure that others talk about on the forum but another brand. I cleaned the floor really well. Then just used a water based primer called Kilz and available at Home Depot and Lowes. Then I painted the floor with a good coat of deck paint. I made sure it was really dry before putting the flooring down. Waited about 4 days. Although the flooring was the self adhesive type I used a sealer adhesive under the vinyl around all the outer pieces and on any short pieces. I'd be really surprised if it came up. I bought colored caulking that matches the flooring to seal around the perimeter. I'm very happy with the results.

[HighPlainsDrifter]

I replaced the carpet in my 16 foot Scamp with vinyl flooring. I used glue less vinyl that I got at Menards. Menards is like Home Depot if you don't have one in your area. The glue less floor was very thick and feels almost padded. They have tape to hold it down. I scraped off all the glue from the carpet and put two coats of primer on the OSB. I used lots of tape and metal transition pieces at the door and in the dinette area. The flooring looks great. I know they do not recommend vinyl directly on OSB. The reason is that OSB is a particle board. I would not recommend it in a large area like a home, but in the Scamp it is a very small area and the primer sealed the particle board.

Good luck.

Joe

[gdo]

Sand the floor first, snap a chalk line, then trowel a pressure sensitive adhesive with a 1/32 trowel. After the glue dries carefully put the tile in.

[fusedlight]

Once again, saved from myself in the nick of time. The Allure should be sitting at Home Depot for us to pick up today. I hadn't seen anything about priming the floor first, but I guess that'll be my first step tomorrow morning.

A quick question, though... is the deck paint needed since the vinyl doesn't let water out if some gets beneath it? With carpet, I suppose, the thought is that if it gets wet everything evaporates out.

So... my question is how many have put down Allure WITHOUT prepping the floor?

[Tonia]

I used the Allure vinyl planks that stick to each other but NOT to the floor as it's a floating floor. I took out the carpet and scraped off the carpet padding "gunk", vacuumed and installed the floor. Easy! With nothing glued, I could, in theory pick up the entire sheet (now that all the pieces are stuck together) should I need to.....water mishap or something.

Good luck!

[ShawnKK]

Hi Gary, I too am right now putting down the Allure vinyl planks but I am using the Ultra which does not stick to each other but locks in to the one next to it like real wood planks do. I just took up the fuzzy crap (pain) and I will go back to HD to pick up some level flooring for prep. I have some spots that need it. Not sure how picky I have to be but since it is such a small area why not.
The Ultra is 100 percent water proof but not the Allure vinyl planks. It cost like 10 bucks more a box but since I will need only 2 boxes, why not. I would prep the floor if I were you. It wont take much time to do it, even if it is peace of mind.
Tonia, I think you picked a good color. Is your the cherry? I see no cherry it mine but that is what they call it.

[Otters]

Mine said to prime the floor first. I just did the floor paint as an extra precaution. It may have been overkill but I thought the floor paint might add some extra protection for the subfloor as moisture can always creep in some how and my 36 year old floor is in good shape and I want to keep it that way. I'm very happy with the flooring. Just hope it lasts another 36 years.

[Tonia]

Mine is called cherry. Not very "cherry" like in color though.

I was eyeing up the walnut color (called something else that I can't recall) but since I bought the in-stock color, it would have been $45 or so more for 2 boxes for the walnut.