Laminate flooring / slope in floor

[xplosiv]

Hello,

I'm getting some laminate flooring fitted in the dining room. New skirting will be fitted after.

The fitter came over to check out the job last week. Today he raised concerns that the floor isn't quite level (old house) and the laminate might slide. I'm not sure just how likely this is, as there will be a large dining room table and chairs on the flooring as well as book case etc.

Despite the fitter's concerns my wife wants to stick with the laminate rather than put down carpet instead. So, I'm wondering if there's any measures we might take to minimise any risk of the laminate sliding? Could we ask the fitter to put some adhesive under the laminate so it sticks to the underlay?

Any thoughts welcome!

 

[dazlight]

Get the floor levelled with smoothing compounds .
Can take a couple of coats though.

 

[Doggit]

What is the existing floor; wood, or concrete.

 

[xplosiv]

What is the existing floor; wood, or concrete.

It's concrete, and it looks like it's tiled (I've only moved into the house a few months ago). The fitting is next week so not going to be doing any big jobs to flatten it. To be honest I didn't even notice it wasn't totally flat. Was just hoping for some easy-ish tips or ideas to prevent the laminate from moving...

 

[Doggit]

Normally, you'd add self levelling compound to get it flat, but if you haven't noticed the "slope", then it may not be that bad. You can't stick the laminate to the underlay, as that'd just ruck up if it slid, so how big is the room, and how much does it fall by over that distance.

 

[xplosiv]

Normally, you'd add self levelling compound to get it flat, but if you haven't noticed the "slope", then it may not be that bad. You can't stick the laminate to the underlay, as that'd just ruck up if it slid, so how big is the room, and how much does it fall by over that distance.

The room is anput 3.5x3.8m I think. It opens up into the living room, which will be carpeted at the same time. We want the dining room laminated as the kids drop food and drink everywhere. I'm not sure how much the room slopes by. I've been using a ball to figure out which way it's meant to slope! Could I put some wood around the edges of the floor behind the skirting (before the skirting is fitted) so if the laminate does move, it can only move a little bit?

 

[Doggit]

Call the laminator, and ask how much it slopes by. You need to leave an expansion gap under the skirting board, and there are some that say you leave an empty 10mm gap, and others that say you should put a cork expansion strip in, and this might be the best thing to use.

 

[xplosiv]

Call the laminator, and ask how much it slopes by. You need to leave an expansion gap under the skirting board, and there are some that say you leave an empty 10mm gap, and others that say you should put a cork expansion strip in, and this might be the best thing to use.

Sounds good - thanks for your help!