installing peel & stick Armstrong tile on kit. floor over old linoleum w/ wood subfloor. putting hardibacker down on old floor for smoother surface. Question is: can I pneum. staple hardibacker? or will staples pull out later? Sure would be quicker & cheaper than screws. Not planning to glue.
Thanks.
Replies
why hardi?
hardi is for tile ... real tile ... as in .. thinset.
go ply.
Jeff
Buck Construction, llc Pittsburgh,PA
Artistry in Carpentry
ply has voids.
Used to use luan, but Armstrong will void warranty if use luan.....something about oils leeching thru.
Jeff is right as usual. Go to the local home center or lumber yard and ask for 1/4" BC plywood. Smooth sanded surface and fits the warranty profile by all the manufactures we have checked with for vinyl. I assume for stick tile too. Keep in mind peel and stick is not a long term product. The clear coat on it is not very thick at all compared to vinyls. DanT
>> ply has voids.
Baltic birch ply doesn't, but you may not want to pay the going price.
Use ply as an underlayment, and use an UNDERLAYMENT-GRADE plywood.
Underlayment-grade means that there are no voids either in the surface of the ply, or in the inner plies.
Someone in heels walks across a thin vinyl floor with a regular ply or luan underlayment and there's a good chance they can not only dent the subfloor, but they can punch through it.
You can staple the ply underlayment, then fill and sand the seams and large staple holes to get a good, flat working surface.
Thanks all.
Mongo, was not aware of underlayment grade ply.
reinforcement for why I am always here.
as I think about it ...
I don't even know if peel and stick would stick to a CBU?
maybe hardi .... but that may even be too dusty.
I can tell ya .. the trick to a good 12X peel and stick job ... is to get the 2 edges set .. and slightly curl the other "side" under ... then stick ... and force it all in tight.
I cut my teeth laying too many 12x's to think about ...
with the right tile ... think about one's with a outter edge "band" ... that helps the seams blend together .... it can look and function almost like a sheet good ...
at the end of a day's install ... your fingertips should be bloody ...
from all the bending and forcing of the tiles ..
anything less ... the seams will show!
If my scanner worked ... I'd show some of the eraly work pics ...
I'll dig them out and try to dig pic them.
Jeff
Buck Construction, llc Pittsburgh,PA
Artistry in Carpentry
thanks jeff, always like to see ur work
It's been a long time since I saw anyone put vinyl directly over plywood unless they had to... usually they go with particle board for the uniformity and lack of voids. If the plywood's already down then they want to go over that with at least 1/4" particle.