Do I need a vapor barrier between concrete and wood flooring?

Begin installation by laying a plastic vapour barrier (minimum 6 mm thick) or any other manufacturer-recommended barrier on the concrete subfloor to prevent moisture from reaching the laminate flooring. Use vinyl tape to secure the barrier and keep it from coming out.

Their online instructions/diagrams show no use of a vapor barrier. You should, so that any moisture that gets behind the cement board runs into the tub or shower instead of into your wall cavity (causing rot or mold/mildew).

You still need a vapor barrier with cement board, although in this case the barrier can go behind the board. Cement board is heavy enough and breathable enough to take the moisture without a problem. By having the vapor barrier behind the cement board you stop the moisture going further into the wall.

You should NOT place a vapor barrier BEHIND the backer board. Where, pray tell, would any such collected vapor/water go? Answer:There's nowhere proper for such moisture to egress. The current best practice is to place waterproofing OVER the backetboard and just UNDER the tile.

Concrete floors are a great alternative to linoleum, carpet, wood, tile, stone or marble flooring. Concrete can be stained nearly any color, resurfaced in a variety of textures and finishes, or polished for a smooth, shiny look. Plus, concrete flooring is durable, long-lasting and easy to clean and maintain.

You could just add a couple inches of sand, enough to handle the vapor barrier and then cover the pipe with a couple layers of plastic or roofing material and place the concrete right over the pipe.

Waxing Products and Concrete Flooring Not all types of concrete flooring will benefit from this treatment, but high gloss polished flooring and some types of stained concrete flooring will. ... Do not use cheap wax-cleanser combination products, such as Mop-n-Glo and other products available at your local grocery store.

With dry concrete and the right subfloors and vapor retarders, solid hardwood floors can be installed on slabs that are either on-grade (at ground level) or above-grade (above ground level). ... Wood floors should not be subjected to very wet conditions.

Measure any gap that appears between the floor and the level. If the gap measures less than 1/8 inch, you can consider that area level for flooring installation. Larger gaps require pouring a self-leveling mortar in the depression to level the flooring surface. Mark these depressions with a felt-tipped marker.

Plywood-on-slab. Place a 6-mil polyethylene vapor retarder directly over the concrete. Lay 3/4-inch plywood sheets opposite to the direction of the finish flooring, leaving a 1/4-inch gap between panels to eliminate squeaking. Fasten the plywood to the concrete using powder-actuated fasteners or concrete nails.

Laminate. One low-cost option to covering concrete floors is laminate flooring. Laminate comes in a variety of designs and colors. The laminate material can mimic the look of wood, tile or natural stone flooring.

Most exterior slabs do not need a vapor barrier. ... In general, place the concrete slab directly on top of the vapor barrier, with the subbase below. ... The vapor barrier can be placed under the subbase, if the building is closed in when the dry subbase material is placed.More items...

It is rolled out between the actual laminate flooring planks and the subfloor.

Very often, particularly in a below-grade installation on a concrete basement floor, a vapor barrier is recommended in addition to the underlayment.

That vapor barrier would go between the subfloor and the underlayment..

Concrete bases need an underlay with a moisture barrier, a damp proof membrane (DPM) or a separate barrier to protect the floor from damp. If the sub-floor is wooden the choice of underlay will depend on what is being laid on top.

If your historic house has original plaster walls, you should not blow insulation into the exterior walls. Old houses with plaster walls have no vapor barrier under the plaster to stop moist air from saturating the insulation. Instead, plaster walls are designed to allow the free exchange of air and moisture.

plaster is not a vapor barrier, so any odors in the walls can get in. it's good for the longevity of the plaster since it can breathe (if it gets wet, it can dry, for instance), but it won't keep the odors out.

Although most backerboards currently available won't fall apart when exposed to moisture and are somewhat water-resistant, they aren't waterproof. To prevent moisture from seeping through to the wood or metal studs beneath the tile, a barrier or sealant must be used on porous materials.

If it's a cement board, you need a vapor barrier, because cement retains moisture, which means the wood next to it is always damp.

Anatomy of a Concrete Floor This layer is covered with a vapor barrier sheet that prevents moisture from moving up into the concrete. A welded wire fabric mesh sheet is then placed over that in order to aid with adhesion. Finally, the concrete slab is poured directly onto these layers.

Lay 6-mil polyethylene sheeting over the concrete to minimize moisture migration from the concrete up into the wood flooring. Then fasten 3/4-in. treated plywood to the concrete with concrete screws spaced every 16 in. Alternatively, screw rows of treated 1x4s to the concrete 16 in.

There are two ways to handle insulating concrete floors. You can attach wood sleepers to the floor, fill the gaps with rigid-foam insulation, and then apply your finish flooring. Or, as demonstrated here, you can cover the slab with rigid-foam insulation, add two layers of plywood, and then add the finish flooring.

Plastic drainage mats, or dimple mats, allow air to circulate under the flooring and provide a moisture barrier.

They also provide an insulating layer of air that separates the floor from cold concrete, reducing the potential for moisture damage from condensation or water vapor migrating through the concrete..

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. Install this barrier even if the concrete subfloor is covered by vinyl, linoleum, terrazzo or ceramic tile.

Remember that even several inches of concrete cannot stop radon. Some builders believe that the plastic vapor barrier under the slab will stop radon. Although it is a part of the "radon resistant" construction, it merely reduces the flow of soil gas.

When indoors, ceramic tile and concrete flooring can ground you if you walk barefoot. Carpet, vinyl, and wood flooring will not. But the effects aren't as powerful as direct contact with the Earth itself.

Barrier release agents prevent adhesion by the development of a physical film or barrier between the forming surface and the concrete. Reactive release agents are chemically active and work by the process of a chemical reaction between the release agent and the free limes available in fresh concrete.

Excess water can result in wood rot. In the past, tree cavities were simply filled with cement in an effort to block up the wound. ... When a tree is wounded, it uses its natural defense of compartmentalization to create a barrier between the wound and the rest of the tree.

engineered wood floorA floating floor is the perfect companion for a concrete subfloor. According to flooring experts, the best kind of wood flooring to use with a concrete subfloor is a floating engineered wood floor. This kind of floor performs well, resists moisture and is easy to install.

Methods Used to Stop Moisture in Concrete FloorsLow-permeance Vapor Barrier or Retarder.

A Low-permeance vapor Barrier or retarder can effectively keep below-slab moisture from reaching the flooring system.

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Allow Natural Drying of Concrete Slab.

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Keep Excavation Free of Water..

Most sub-floors will be either wood or concrete. Concrete bases need an underlay with a moisture barrier, a damp proof membrane (DPM) or a separate barrier to protect the floor from damp. If the sub-floor is wooden the choice of underlay will depend on what is being laid on top.

Cement board is heavy enough and breathable enough to take the moisture without a problem. By having the vapor barrier behind the cement board you stop the moisture going further into the wall. ... You should NOT place a vapor barrier BEHIND the backer board.

“A waterproof membrane or vapor retarder membrane must be specified to prevent moisture intrusion and protect adjacent building materials.” ~B412 Bathtub or shower with prefabricated receptor. Cement board or Fiber-cement board. Ceramic Tile. ... Consult local building code for moisture barrier requirements.”

Installing concrete over wood flooring can be an easy way to hide damaged floors. Concrete floors provide a unique look that can't be matched by other flooring materials. ... Thin concrete overlays, which are usually 3/8 to 1/2 inch thick, can cover existing concrete slabs or other approved subfloors, including wood.

Creating an insulation layer and a vapor barrier between the concrete slab and the ground beneath it is the best practice in insulating basement floors.

The insulation barrier will help keep warm air in, and the vapor barrier will keep unwanted moisture out..

Because cement board can be used either for floors or walls, the surface below the cement board will vary: Flooring: For ceramic tile floors, the cement board usually rests on a plywood subfloor (minimum 5/8-inch-thick exterior-grade plywood or OSB).

You still need a vapor barrier with cement board, although in this case the barrier can go behind the board. Cement board is heavy enough and breathable enough to take the moisture without a problem. By having the vapor barrier behind the cement board you stop the moisture going further into the wall.

Registered User. permanent wood foundations require gravel, not concrete or soil for the footings - every situation is a little different, but all footings need to bear on the soil/gravel/bedrock/ whatever is supporting the structure equally, or it's going to settle at different rates.

Concrete is the most popular flooring choice for this type of building. Cost to add concrete flooring: $5-$10 per square foot. Installing wood flooring costs: $8-$12 per square foot.

The use of a vapor barrier (more accurately termed a vapor retarder), having a water vapor permeance of less than 0.3 perm is frequently used to retard the flow of moisture through the slab. These vapor retarders are typically polyethylene or polyolefin sheeting materials.

Do I need a DPM under laminate flooring? Simply put yes. In order to prevent damp rising through the concrete floor and causing issues, a DPM should be used under all final floor types including wood flooring, laminate, vinyl and floor tiles.

Treat Your Gutted Walls Like New Construction When you have gutted your walls, install fiberglass batting, foam insulation or dense-pack cellulose insulation from the inside. Place a 4-mil plastic sheeting vapor barrier over all three of these types of insulations.

Actually, no. Air barriers need to be continuous and free from holes, but vapor barriers do not need to be. Lots of vapor moves by air movement, not a heck of a lot of vapor moves by vapor diffusion. The concrete slab is the air barrier, and the ripped and torn and punctured polyethylene sheet is the vapor barrier.

Any gaps or cracks in your concrete floor and walls need to be sealed with cement. Special concrete coatings or a polyethylene membrane can also be applied as a barrier.

The application of vapor barrier in exterior concrete is unnecessary due to the fact that water penetration does not matter. Any slab on grade that is enclosed and on the interior of a building should have a vapor barrier installed prior to pouring concrete, especially if flooring will be applied.

In California they place sand between slabs and plastic vapor barriers—in Florida they don't. Almost everywhere (except “California”) that slabs are placed on the ground—a plastic sheet—a vapor barrier—is located directly under the concrete slab and on top of the ground (Photograph 1).

Mortar calculation for tile flooring We need 1.5 m3 volume of wet cement mortar that means, we need this much volume after adding water to cement and sand mix. Dry volume of mortar is considered as 25% of more of wet volume.

9 ways to effectively reduce garage condensationControl your garage's temperature. ... Use a vapor barrier. ... Dry your wet vehicle off after parking it in the garage. ... Check your ventilation. ... Inspect your drainage. ... Apply a floor coating. ... Install a dehumidifier. ... Get rid of that old garage fridge or freezer.More items...

How to Water Proof Between Wood & CementLoad a tube of caulk into a caulking gun. ... Cut the end of the caulk tube off with a utility knife to accommodate the size of the gap between the wood and the cement. ... Fill the gap between the wood and the cement with backer rod if needed.More items...•

If you're working over a wood subfloor, cement board is the right choice for your tile base. ... Because plywood expands and contracts beneath the ceramic tile, grout and tile failure (loose tiles and cracked, crumbling grout) is just a matter of time.

Yes, but you should also have a insulating barrier between the concrete and the wood. Pressure treatment is generally to kill bugs and reduce fungi but it will still absorb moisture through the concrete if it is there. By insulating between them, the chances of moisture transferal is greatly reduced.