Laminate floor

[shogun rua]

Hi,

Any do,s and donts for tiling to a laminate floor?

Cheers

Paul

[kilty55]

for tiling onto a laminted floor? dont is my answer

[johnryan]

i wouldn't have thought there is any do's which therefore make the don'ts a moot question

[shogun rua]

for tiling onto a laminted floor? dont is my answer

What i mean is the walls are getting tiled but the floor is laminate

[nybor62]

yes dont, rip it up , and put a suitable surface down like hardi backer, what room is it in

[andy allen]

do you mean the wooden laminate floors? why would you want to tile on it .....just rip it up

[kilty55]

What i mean is the walls are getting tiled but the floor is laminate

lol sorry mate i misread that

[andy allen]

that had us all going

[nybor62]

right my answer over lapped with yours

[johnryan]

What i mean is the walls are getting tiled but the floor is laminate

sorry from me too. got the wrong end of the stick there.

[nybor62]

we all fell for that one

[shogun rua]

LOL, so dont i just silicone as normal as tile to tile?

Cheers

Paul

[SandyFloor]

Tile walls first leaving bottom course. Fit laminate floor. Fit bottom course of tiles down to laminate floor. This way you don't need beading to cover expansion gap

[andy allen]

leave a gap and fill with silcone

[shogun rua]

Tile walls first leaving bottom course. Fit laminate floor. Fit bottom course of tiles down to laminate floor. This way you don't need beading to cover expansion gap

Cheers mate,

the floor is already down im not fitting it

[shogun rua]

leave a gap and fill with silcone

Cheers Mate 2mm?

[davebates]

if the side of the tile is to meet the top of the laminate you shouldnt need a gap, the laminate will not expand up and down only side to side if you silicone the gap your kind of defeating the object of a floating floor when it expands in the summer theres a chance the floor may bow imo

[tfs]

Hi,

Any do,s and donts for tiling to a laminate floor?

Cheers

Paul

Hi Pual,

My prefference would be to just use a skirting in this type of scenario (tile, wood or UPVC) as you may find that the cuts around the perimter of the room are not very straight and the margins may not be consistent as fitters doing laminate cover the expansion gaps so can get away with not so perfect cuts at edges.

[Scott]

Silicone the gap it will be fine, it will flex enough to allow the floor to expand. If you are worried about the lack of expansion you could always use a low modulus silicone on the join, however unless its a large floor area i owuld just silicone it as normal

[GaryS]

what is the area that is being tiled as if its a bathroom then silicone will not work as the humidity changes will cause laminate to expand and contract more than the silicone will allow for use a few sheets of paper to sit tile on and then remove when tile is set.

[davebates]

exactly the point i was making but feel this would happen in a different room at a slower rate during the seasons and temp changes, nice idea with the sheets of paper !!

[GaryS]

The problem with silicone is that it will go under the tile between the laminate and tile and laminate will expand upwards aswell as outwards so the laminate will become pinned under the tile and cause the floor to fail, I have seen this happen i specialise in laminate floors.

www.laminateinstallations.com

[Scott]

More than silicone will allow for? Do you know what LOW MODULUS means? If alow modulous silicone can cope externally around windows and on fascia boards that are in direct sunlight im sure it can cope with a tiny amount of expansion on a bathroom floor.

I think you are making far too much of the expansion of a laminate floor expanding VERTICALLY! At 6 to 12mm thickenss then it would have to expand at a huge percentage of its own size to cause a problem with a 2mm gap between floor and tile. I appreciate that wooden floors expand and contract and i too have fitted hundreds of metres of wood flooring of all kinds. However given the average UK bathroom floor is around the 4 or 5 sq mts the expansion will be nominal vertically or laterally

[Rich]

I would silicone the joint

[Dave]

if the side of the tile is to meet the top of the laminate you shouldnt need a gap, the laminate will not expand up and down only side to side if you silicone the gap your kind of defeating the object of a floating floor when it expands in the summer theres a chance the floor may bow imo

The tiling field will expand and contract though.. So it is wise to leave a small gap and silicone and the silicone will not hinder the floor expanding and contracting..

[shogun rua]

You can't tile on a laminate floors because it's a floating floor & it's wood so it'll swell & will crack with movemant

You didnt read the whole thread did you!!! lol

[Dave]

You can't tile on a laminate floors because it's a floating floor & it's wood so it'll swell & will crack with movemant

Tell your son to stop typing for you..

[tfs]

Tell your son to stop typing for you..

You sure its your son making those typos Ahmed?

[GaryS]

More than silicone will allow for? Do you know what LOW MODULUS means? If alow modulous silicone can cope externally around windows and on fascia boards that are in direct sunlight im sure it can cope with a tiny amount of expansion on a bathroom floor.

I think you are making far too much of the expansion of a laminate floor expanding VERTICALLY! At 6 to 12mm thickenss then it would have to expand at a huge percentage of its own size to cause a problem with a 2mm gap between floor and tile. I appreciate that wooden floors expand and contract and i too have fitted hundreds of metres of wood flooring of all kinds. However given the average UK bathroom floor is around the 4 or 5 sq mts the expansion will be nominal vertically or laterally

Sry Scottley I have re read my posts above and i realise that i wasnt very clear in what i was trying to explain. I am not suggesting that you cant use silicone only that there needs to be a sufficient gap to allow it to work, hence the suggestion of tiling onto a few sheets of paper first. I was trying to explain the lack of expansion if tiled directly to the floor or without an adequate gap and then siliconed.

Silicone will allow the floor to move laterally providing there is enough of a gap to allow the silicone to work put it under pressure ie. squeezed in too small a gap and compressed between a swollen floor and a tile or skirting board and it will restrict the movement of the floor. (I have seen this happen)

A bathroom even a 5m2 bathroom is not an ideal environment for laminate in the first place as the changes in humidity will cause more extreme expansion and contraction than in other rooms but more importantly it will cause the floor to swell, go put a scrap piece of laminate in a bath overnight you will get an idea what happens to laminate over time in a bathroom as it absorbs moisture.

Even a low modulas silicone that allows more movement than a standard silicone can restrict the movement of the floor if this happens and will most probably cause peaking on the floor at the joins.