Date: _________________________
Dear Customer:
If you are reading this sheet, it must be because you are about to install your own 1/4 inch underlayment over which either you or
The Floor Store will be installing a new vinyl floor covering.
Please take a minute to continue reading just to be sure about a few details that we may well have reviewed verbally by now...
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING to consider is the actual quality of the underlayment itself. The ''best buys'' at some of the lumberyards [especially the discount cash & carry outlets] are usually the worst products to use because of the voids in the laminations and the inferior glues which hold it together. We strongly recommend an exterior grade plywood or luan product with as few laminations as possible. One side should be sanded smooth to minimize surface preparation once it is installed. Floor surfaces, like wall surfaces, need to be perfectly smooth.
The Floor Store supplies a product called ''Multiply.'' It is solid core, exterior grade specially made and constructed for use as an underlayment for vinyl floor coverings. It is one of the only underlayments that we know of that is guaranteed for this use. More information on this product can be obtained at the store.
When placing sheets on the floor,make every effort to span existing seams [or surface imperfections] with solid pieces of new underlayment. Always run the new sheets in opposite directions from the existing ones when it can be determined. Nail the new underlayment every four inches in every direction and every two inches along the seams. That's well over 300 nails per sheet. To some people, that may seem somewhat extreme, but it's very possible that glued sheet vinyl will lift -or bubble- underlayment that is nailed less often... we've seen it often enough.
Always use threaded nails with flat, easily flushed heads such as dry wall nails.
Absolutely never use common nails because they will eventually work loose. [The Floor Store uses pneumatic divergent, coated staples designed specifically for this application.]
Do not leave gaps at seams or along walls or door framing because floor patch is subject to shrinking and/or crumbling in time when applied in thick layers.
Do NOT attempt to countersink nails... rather; set the nail heads flush with the surface to avoid the need of patch.
Once flash-patched and sanded, the surface should be as smooth and consistent as a sheet of glass.
In ideal situations, the temperature of the new underlayment should be allowed to be the same as the surface that it is being installed upon... which would be between 60 and 75 degrees. Remember that the temperature of the floor surface is far less than the measured room temperature.
Also, ideal subfloor thickness is made up of two layers of 5/8 exterior plywood. If you have less than that to start with, 1/4 inch underlayment will add little to no strength to the subfloor - IT IS STRICTLY MEANT TO PROVIDE A NEW, CLEAN SURFACE.
