Help with laminate floor + water

Chuck Beland

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Rhode Island
Guys I need some advice & info on this. My SIL has a Ranch house but hers is on a concrete slab. The house was made in late 1950's No idea of the thickness of the slab She has never had a issue with any of her floors getting wet, her kitchen has wood laminate floors that were put over linoleum. Her living room has a fireplace & she had a rug that was taken up & my wife says a plastic sheet (used as a vapor barrier) was put down then laminate floor over that. This was done in Feb, now she has water coming up through the laminate floor one place is where the laminate touches the porcelain, ceramic tile??? (not sure what it is) when you step on the laminate the water comes up through the joints. you see water damage about half the room especially at the joints. She was told that a sub floor should have been put down but if that is the case her front door wouldn't open due to the thickness of the sub floor???????
Basic info on the guy who did the work. He is in charge of special projects in charge of outside contracting for Providence College where my wife & SIL work. He is a good carpenter & has done some good quality work in my SIL's house.

My questions are:

1. should something like drylock water proofing be done before laminate floor was put down.

2. should a vapor barrier be put down? this would stop the concrete from breathing???

3. Should a sub-floor have been put down???


Any help or advice you can give me I'll furnish to my SIL to give her ammo to talk to the guy who did the work.

Thanks

Chuck
_________________
Chuck # ???


Here is some pics of it.


Kitchen floor. no problems

drum001.jpg



Living room.


drum003.jpg



drum004.jpg
 
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Laminate floors always should have a vapor barrier/pad put down when it is on concrete.

All maufacturers sell the pad designed for their particular floor. Also...if you don't use their barrier, they can void any warranty.

As an ex-installation manager for a large chain, we would encounter many people in Florida putting down their own floors, have an issue with moisture, and the Sales Rep from Pergo, Armstrong, etc, void the warranty because of improper underlayment.

As for sealing the concrete......never advised by any manufacturer that I dealt with.

If you are in a moisture prone area though, make sure you keep a good eye on the distance left between wall, cabinets, etc. They are called floating floors for a reason. And they can swell and move. Follow your particular flooring's recommendation for expansion.

Hope this helps
 
This was done in Feb, now she has water coming up through the laminate floor one place is where the laminate touches the porcelain, ceramic tile??? (not sure what it is) when you step on the laminate the water comes up through the joints.

Isn't what you describe here different than just some moisture leaching up through a concrete slab? Vapor barrier or sub-floor or not, doesn't that sound like a *lot* of water? Dom?
 
Judging from the pics, that looks more like a leak around the fireplace or something. Pulling up that section and verifying would probably be their best bet. I'd say some moisture barrier should have been used since it was going over concrete. That does look like it's concentrated to that area though, not all over the floor.
 
The dark grout around the hearth tiles suggests that they are moist, which suggests to me that you have a chimney problem - perhaps the cap is off or improper, and water is coming down the chimney. If that is the case, no vapor barrier under the flooring will protect the moisture coming in the side from the hearth and chimney. I would check that first as the source of the problem.
 
my wife says a plastic sheet (used as a vapor barrier) was put down then laminate floor over that.

If that is true, then it doesn't seem likely that the moisture is coming from the bottom, so I'd have to side with the other guys that the water is coming in from somewhere else, probably the chimney...
 
i too agree that yu have a leak somewhere causing this water problem.. or the whole floor would look like this..in order for the tile to show moisture in a grout line you have more than condensation..
 
Here's a question, Why is the towel laying on the fireplace hearth?

Was it to stop water from there? Or just to wipe it off the laminate?

drum003.jpg
 
i too agree that yu have a leak somewhere causing this water problem.. or the whole floor would look like this..in order for the tile to show moisture in a grout line you have more than condensation..

agreed.....some water pipes running through the concrete?....or the wall near the fireplace?
 
'Moisture' as in the moisture seeping up through the concrete slab which rises the humidity level and kills hardwood floors is basically invisible (you don't see the moisture). Water seepage (which effects are visible such as this) through the concrete can not be solved with a normal moisture barrier. A typical moisture barrier does not stop moisture from coming through, but greatly slows it down so that the top and bottom of the wood flooring stays in equilibrium so you do not end up with problems. While there are ways to seal the slab, and some products listed as moisture barriers do this, there are still dangers.

What you have here though, is not an installation problem, but a water leak. (or a very naughty, very big, dog?:D)
 
I agree with the idea it's coming from the chimney or close to it and not an installation issue. I had a pretty nasty leak I thought was coming from my roof but it was coming through the flashing around my chimney. It was a pretty inexpensive repair.

If it is coming up from the floor it could possibly be from a leak in the radiant heating. You said the house was a slab. Around the New England area most slab houses had the heating pipes buried in the slab. If they spring a leak it's a messy and expensive job to fix it.
 
Bob, We're in Rhode Island, I'm going to check the mechanical room better. There is a lot of stuff in that space I'll have to clean it out & check thoroughly

Thanks guys..
 
That's a leak, not migrating condensation. My first thought was a leaking pipe under or in the slab, but it could also be coming in from somewhere around the fireplace (assuming there's been enough rain in the area lately).
 
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