Does this flooring look ok for a laundry room/mudroom?

Flooring Forum

Help Support Flooring Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Working away from any doorways and thresholds is easiest zannej. Unless you might be short on the opposite wall and need a sliver then by all means rip the plank down in half. I prefer a full plank at doorways.
 
Thanks, Erneso. I think I'll do something in between the 2 options. I'll have full width planks on the interior wall but will make sure the plank in front of the door is full length. The nice thing about the clicklock is that I can move things around if I'm not happy with how it was laid out. I also am not too picky & don't need it to be perfect.

I forgot to mention that I plan to put a vapor barrier underneath the planks to protect the subfloor (unless you guys think that would be a bad idea). In case the washing machine ever leaks or there is a big liquid spill, I want to make sure the subfloor won't get soaked if water manages to get through the planks. If there ever is a major leak/spill, I can bring in the dehumidifier (which I used to help speed up the floor drying process in my bathroom after the sewage backwash)
 
Trapping moisture in a wood subfloor from a basement ir crawlspace can rot the subfloor. You need to make sure the crawl space will stay dry.
Its a big problem.
 
They sell trays to set your washer on in case of leaks @ HD, or Lowes .. You just drill a hole through the wall and insert a garden hose to the outside ..
 
Ernesto, there is no basement. The "crawlspace" is just the underneath of the house. It's one of those raised houses up on little concrete triangles. It's basically just dirt a couple feet below the plywood. The same moisture barrier stuff was used in my bathroom and saved the lower part of the subfloor because it was between plywood sheets. But, if you think it's a bad idea, I will skip the moisture barrier. The vinyl plank manufacturer did not say any moisture barrier was a requirement on wood subfloor.

Nick, That's a good idea. My primary concern is if something happens with the hose & it doesn't land in the pan or if my incontinent dog pees on the floor.

I've been thinking about the subfloor situation, and I've seen that there are some types of tongue-and-groove flooring grade plywood that only require one layer to be put down (but I think that is with 16" spaced joists). So, I'm debating if it would be easier to build in additional joists (which would also allow me to level things up a bit more. I could sister up to some of the existing ones and add new ones in between at the right intervals. That way the floor will have extra reinforcement for the washer & dryer & tub. It would simplify the process of alternating the seams as well. In the long run, I think it might be easier than trying to mess with 2 layers of plywood, and I can use construction adhesive on the joists to keep hold the subfloor steady to limit movement.

I was watching the old video of "construction Mr. Rogers" (not what he called himself in the video, but what youtube viewers called him) and he mentioned maintaining a 1/8" gap between the board ends that did not have tongue and groove. So, should I have a gap like that? I saw that someone who used 3/4" tongue-and-groove used ring shank nails that came with adhesive on the shanks to hold them in. I don't know if I've ever seen those sold around here though. If they are, I wonder if they would work in one of my nail guns (although I would still want to reinforce with screws).
 
There is a hole in the pan Z ..Just put some glue around it to secure it .. They use them on all second floor apartments here .. I have one in my house ..
 
There is a hole in the pan Z ..Just put some glue around it to secure it .. They use them on all second floor apartments here .. I have one in my house ..
I should have specified that I meant if something goes wrong with the water supply hose (not the one for the pan) and the water sprays on the floor outside of the pan or if the incontinent dog pees on the floor in the middle of the night and I don't see it until later.

I'm contemplating putting something like flex seal on all of the plywood edges that are not tongue-and-groove and on any parts that are cut to fit to make sure they are sealed. I was thinking of doing that mostly at the front door entry in case rain blows in (we sometimes get winds that blow the rain sideways and it goes under the back door & comes in a bit). Or would that just create more problems? I'm not sure if flex seal would peel off over time or if it would react with the flooring's underlayment. I also still want to find something to put over the seams to smooth out any edges.
 
Mom bought a few cans of it when it was on sale one day so we already have it, but if it's not worth using I won't waste my time on it.

I watched a video of someone who was prepping a floor for vinyl & he said he used some kind of flooring compound (premixed) that spread on like putty. I wonder if that would be any good to take edges off of any uneven seams. I'm paranoid that there will be uneven seams.

I also watched an hour long video of Larry Haun showing how to frame walls, doors, & windows in a house because it was in a related link. That guy was impressive.

I know I won't be able to work on the floor part until the weather warms up a bit, but I want to plan ahead so hopefully things will go more smoothly when I get around to it.
 
It's some sort of like rubber in a can that comes out as liquid and dries after being sprayed (although it can also be painted on with a brush if you get the kind in a paint can). My brother sprayed it over a crack in the bottom of the fiberglass showertub unit. It does not go on smoothly like it does in the commercials.
 
Heh. It sort of reminds me of the cool seal stuff we mopped on to the roof of the barn and workshop. It was tin put over the rafts with nothing underneath. If I'd known then what I know now about roofing & stuff, I would have wanted to reinforce the workshop's roof better. I'm amazed the roof is still standing on it given how poorly it was built.
 
For the record, I ended up buying https://www.homedepot.com/p/MSI-Her...ng-19-04-sq-ft-case-HD-LVR6520-0017/307423350 but I got it for $1 less per sqft during a special sale. I believe I got 5 boxes.
I'm currently trying to work on the best pattern for laying it out. It's not a large area so I'm not worried about repeating patterns. I'm thinking of starting with a full board in the southwest corner and ending with a full board in the northeast corner (so there is one continuous board spanning the doorway). I need a better version of sketchup to see about getting the best use of the materials with as little waste as possible. I believe it needs at least 8" overlap but I need to check the specs again).

Sorry for the multi-posts. I'm hoping it will inspire me to stop procrastinating & get stuff done.
 
Don't make an effort to start with a full board. You have to cut all the others, so a couple more isn't going to be a big deal. Cutting the starter row to accurately fit the curvature of the wall will actually help you.
 
Also, remove the planks from the boxes and look through them. Stack duplicates in separate piles to avoid getting patterns side by side. Don't just grab em from the box in the order they come out. You will have at least 4 or more piles. You don't want to end up with the last 5 boards being the same.
 
Last edited:
I want to be sure we are talking about the same thing on "full board"- you mean lengthwise, not width, right? I do plan to trim the width of the first row to make sure the end row isn't too small.
Good point on wall curvature. There are two doorways that run parallel to how I want to run the boards and I know things won't be even/square.
I completely forgot about the patterns on the boards. I'm glad you reminded me. That's another thing to consider.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top