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Concrete House Slab / Carpet Question
Marc1301
Member Posts: 31,897 ✭✭✭
Hopefully this fall I am going to get around to replacing my almost 17 year old carpet. Don't get me wrong,......it looks like a lot of folks carpet does after a year or two being as light colored as it is. It is time though, and I want to go berber with a little pattern, and not so close to white. Tired of taking my shoes off for every trip in and out.
I already have about 1500 square feet of tile, and while I like wood floors, I don't like them in my bedroom. I think it would look "funky" to mix 3 different flooring types myself in one house.
Here is the question!
When this was put in, it was simply padding over the slab, followed by the carpet.
I would like to put down a "vapor barrier" of some sort, since for now I live in a very humid climate part of the year. Also in Florida there is no such thing as a mono slab without at least "hairline" cracks throughout.
Am I better off using a liquid type sealer, or just putting down some visqueen plastic under the pad?
When I tiled I used some stuff that you troweled on that was a charcoal grey color. It sealed for moisture, as well as bridging any cracks. Can't remember the name but it worked very well,......I DO remember it was pretty expensive, and it also dried quite fast.
Any ideas would be appreciated.
I am preparing far in advance, as I intend to interior paint at the same time.
Lots of fun coming up![;)]
I already have about 1500 square feet of tile, and while I like wood floors, I don't like them in my bedroom. I think it would look "funky" to mix 3 different flooring types myself in one house.
Here is the question!
When this was put in, it was simply padding over the slab, followed by the carpet.
I would like to put down a "vapor barrier" of some sort, since for now I live in a very humid climate part of the year. Also in Florida there is no such thing as a mono slab without at least "hairline" cracks throughout.
Am I better off using a liquid type sealer, or just putting down some visqueen plastic under the pad?
When I tiled I used some stuff that you troweled on that was a charcoal grey color. It sealed for moisture, as well as bridging any cracks. Can't remember the name but it worked very well,......I DO remember it was pretty expensive, and it also dried quite fast.
Any ideas would be appreciated.
I am preparing far in advance, as I intend to interior paint at the same time.
Lots of fun coming up![;)]
"Beam me up Scotty, there's no intelligent life down here." - William Shatner
Comments
Yes. Don
Now I know exactly what to do,......thanks Don!
This is the stuff I used under the tile:
"Mapelastic 315 is a trowel-applied, two-component, flexible, fiber-reinforced waterproofing and crack-isolation membrane. Mapelastic 315 meets ANSI A118.10 requirements for waterproofing and is IAPMO-listed as a shower-pan liner."
I don't have anything major, just typical hairline cracks.
They never used to seal here, but now I am finding they do.
I don't know which is better,........seal it, or let it "breathe" per se.
That's why I'm asking.
it comes in 6 ft wide rolls and a clear 2" wide tape for the seams.
alot easier to put down than thin poly plastics and alot cheaper than the true cement paints (like dry-lok).
I used it when i put in laminate wood florring last year and liked it so much, i used it in the basement under carpet.
lumber liquidators carry's it
just my 2 cents
tom
there's some stuff called "deamhouse superfoam" that's used as a vapor barrier under laminate wood floors.
it comes in 6 ft wide rolls and a clear 2" wide tape for the seams.
alot easier to put down than thin poly plastics and alot cheaper than the true cement paints (like dry-lok).
I used it when i put in laminate wood florring last year and liked it so much, i used it in the basement under carpet.
lumber liquidators carry's it
just my 2 cents
tom
Yes Tom,.......I am familiar with that stuff.
I don't quite understand why they haven't made carpet padding with a sealed back surface that would be somewhat of a vapor barrier and padding all in one.
Visqueen is surely a PIA for something like this.
I'd go ask a professional carpet sales/installation place, and talk with the owner.
Doug
We are going to do a similar project in the near future. The wife would like tile or wood in the bedroom, but with tile already in about 1/3 of the house I'm not sure another tile would look good. Wood doesn't apeal to me in a bedroom so we are thinking about going with carpet again also.
Is water/mildew growing under your carpet padding?
Doug
http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/insights/bsi-003-concrete-floor-problems
Yes,.....my slab was done just like the first pic in your link.
Also I don't have any moisture problems under the padding, as I took a lot of carpet up when I tiled, and saw nothing unusual.
I used that Mapei product because it was highly recommended to avoid cracks in the grout caused by expansion, contraction of the slab on any small cracks in it.
Once again,......there is no such thing as a slab without cracks. At least not in Florida. Mine actually had very few, and they were hairline. You couldn't even slide a piece of paper in them.
In years past we would be roughing in a new home, and you frequently would see cracks everywhere. They stack the block on the slabs while the concrete is still green, and also most builders do not cure the slab properly,.......takes too much time![:0]
I guess I was just thinking it would be of a slight benefit to coat the slab under the pad to help with humidity infiltration.
After reading that link it appears that epoxy would be fine since they use it to help with "wet" slabs, but that is a lot of work and expense for something I guess would not benefit me much, or at all.
Not only that,.......the stuff stinks to high heaven![xx(]
If you put a vapor barrier under the carpet padding, it may creat a situation where you will get mold between the barrier and the concrete slab. I had laminate floors and when I pulled them up, the house stunk like mold for days.