Hardwood over vinyl plank......?

[Mark Brown]

So here it is, I have 95 sqft of hardwood going into my kids room. Its over my uninsulated, unconditioned 100%rh all the time dank crawl space. I have more than 18" of ventilation so that should save me.

I'm debating leaving the plank down and just nailing over it into the osb subfloor. I know it's wrong.... but there is a part of me saying 65% rh up 95% rh below... just let it go.

Anyone wanna chime in on my science experiment?

I honestly cannot see how utilizing it as a moisture barrier in this instance could be worse than what is below.

p.s. I already know how wrong it is lol

 

[Mark Brown]

So i went ahead and did it anyway. So ill let everyone know how it goes. We just entered our wet season so I figure, it can't breathe below and the top is gonna be wet, something bad should happen but there really is only one way to find out.

 

[C.J.]

It’s not the end of the world when you’re the one who lays floors for a living. If it all fails it’s gonna cost you an afternoon to fix.

 

[Mark Brown]

That's my logic, plus seeing as I dont get a chance to do fun things often and experiment a little bit... this is my chance.

 

[Tile Tom]

The way I see it is it's a free vapor barrier?

 

[Mark Brown]

Yeah, this is my... hope? It has not completely crapped the bed yet, but it has only been 4 days. Install is sound and hasn't started to creak and crack. I think in time it will, but like CJ said, in my own house, I am prepared to remove 100 sqft clip some cleats and install it again.

 

[Tile Tom]

Over the course of damn near 25 years on my knees I've seen many of "outside of the box" installs. To the point I'm freaking impressed sometimes.
Things done all kinds of wrong that have held up to the test of time and look great! I can't help but feel like if I tried doing some things that way the job site would implode!
I don't understand it and probably never will. But sometimes crazy ideas work and they work great?

 

[Mark Brown]

Over the course of damn near 25 years on my knees I've seen many of "outside of the box" installs. To the point I'm freaking impressed sometimes.
Things done all kinds of wrong that have held up to the test of time and look great! I can't help but feel like if I tried doing some things that way the job site would implode!
I don't understand it and probably never will. But sometimes crazy ideas work and they work great?

Tell me about it!! I see all manner of insanity and thing Gee.... maybe me too. Meanwhile, I do something half a degree off of "textbook" and the whole house comes crashing down. I think the key is to not know that you should know better.

 

[C.J.]

The funny thing about all this is didn’t you just pull up a wood floor that was installed over glue down carpet and tack strip? And it was just fine right up until you demod it. See, you used to live there in a past life and you were experimenting back then as well I’m just curious as to what your future you will do for an experiment.

 

[Mark Brown]

That floor isn't fine my man, not fine at all. It is installed on commercial carpet, 15# roofing felt, vat, 1 ³/⁴ for floor boards and the same dank crawl space however.

Suppose defining fine... it is still stuck to the ground so there is that. It develops seasonal gaps of a good 1/4 inch or so and creaks like all hell... which makes sense being installed over carpet.... but this house breaks all the rules.

 

[C.J.]

I got one of them houses too. Funny thing is the rocks didn’t fail but everything else around them did.

 

[Mark Brown]

ARE YOU SHITTIN' ME?
Your posts were piles of rubble? Crazy!

I'm glad you know my pain buddy. I mean, I wouldn't wish it on anyone else..... but I'm still glad

 

[highup]

The funny thing about all this is didn’t you just pull up a wood floor that was installed over glue down carpet and tack strip? And it was just fine right up until you demod it. See, you used to live there in a past life and you were experimenting back then as well I’m just curious as to what your future you will do for an experiment.

That was totally out of line...
....I love it
What a better place to experiment than your own home. You learn a lot more than if you experimented at a customer's home. If you succeeded you learn something and if it failed...... you still learn something with the side benefit of you're not going to sue yourself. A total win-win.

 

[highup]

ARE YOU SHITTIN' ME?
Your posts were piles of rubble? Crazy!

I'm glad you know my pain buddy. I mean, I wouldn't wish it on anyone else..... but I'm still glad

I think you buy those as a kit direct from the quarry in a little town called Bedrock.
I do like the addition of the 4x4 version being installed as backup.

 

[C.J.]

That was totally out of line...
....I love it
What a better place to experiment than your own home. You learn a lot more than if you experimented at a customer's home. If you succeeded you learn something and if it failed...... you still learn something with the side benefit of you're not going to sue yourself. A total win-win.

I used to experiment with new products in my bathroom and laundry room. You do get real world experience with how the products will perform and nobody is pissed off if it doesn’t work out.

 

[Mark Brown]

My shower at home is a direct product of my first time working with kirdi board and a niche.... also so **** grout mapei was selling, their acrylic something something.

Tile looks great, half the grout washed out because my kids had a shower too soon. Good thing it's got kirdi board

......someday ill pull the grout out and redo it, that same day I might just install the 4th leg on the niche for the rondex corners