Flooring Question

OWDouglas · Jul 21, 2006

A friend of mine is putting in a new kitchen floor, he is using the armstrong squares (thier "better" grade). He put down all new Luan for a subfloor, the person at the store told him he should paint the Luan with primer first, the reason being the luan will suck the moisture out of the glue and the tile will not stick as well, by priming it this will not happen. The question is, before wasting paint and time does anyone know if this is worth it? Thanks.

mchasal · Jul 21, 2006

I don't know if it's required or not, but I did do it when I did my bathroom with sheet vinyl. What would really be a waste of time would be if the floor started to peel up and you had to redo it.

Mike

PILOON · Jul 21, 2006

The advice might not be all that far off as luan is soft and porus.
In fact I would think that luan might even be on the soft side for underlay which is generally birch or popular.

On the other hand porus would suggest good penetration hence better adhesion but maybe use a bit more glue.

I'd opt for more glue rather than paint/prime as who knowes what reaction will occur between the glue and paint, in fact many glues could actually cause the paint to disolve.

Farwell · Jul 21, 2006

I agree that birch or popular is a much better choice for underlayment than luan for flooring. I have never heard of priming the underlayment with a paint primer but I have heard of using shellac as a sealer for bathroom floor underlayment.
Farwell

roxynoodle · Jul 21, 2006

I put in wood parquet and was also told to prime the subfloor first even though the parquet is glued down. I did it. Put it on with a roller and it goes fast. The floor has only been in 3 years but has had no problems. For hardwood floors they recommend you put down tar paper first as a vapor barrier.

mchasal · Jul 22, 2006

PILOON said:
I'd opt for more glue rather than paint/prime as who knowes what reaction will occur between the glue and paint, in fact many glues could actually cause the paint to disolve.

There was a specific primer that I used that was especially for this application. I think it was from Armstrong.

Mike