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Underlayment for vinyl

10 years ago

Hi,

I'm taking up some old flooring and putting down sheet vinyl. The current subfloor appears to be 3/4" plywood, rough and not suitable for a vinyl subfloor so I want to put a smooth layer on top for the vinyl. In addition, I'd like to bring the floor up a bit, so a 1/4" smooth sided layer of plywood would be perfect.

So my question is how should this new layer be fastened? I have a bunch of 1" ring shanked nails - that would drive into the 3/4" existing underlayment but not into the joists. Is this OK or should I get longer ones and follow the joists? And spacing? 6", 8", 12"?

Thanks!
B

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Comments (3)

glennsfc
10 years ago
You do not want longer fasteners, as you do not want to drive them into the joists. You want to check the nailing of the subflooring to the joists to eliminate any looseness or in an attempt to quiet squeaks.

If you buy a plywood underlayment panel, the nailing schedule will be printed on the panel's face ply.

The best method for fastening underlayment panels is with a pneumatically operated narrow crown staple tool. There is no dimple created when you fasten that way, as opposed to nailing, the penetration point is tiny, as compared to that of a ring shank nail...and it is much faster.
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bobby_c
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks Glenn - I especially like the idea of the narrow crown staple method. I have a stapler for my compressor, I didn't think of that. The only issue is I need to be careful to not staple into any screws in the subfloor below.

Would you recommend 1/2" or 3/4" staples?
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glennsfc
10 years ago
When using the pneumatic stapler you don't have to worry about length; it won't matter much if you hit the joists. 1" is a good length, even 1 1/4" is fine. You can use 3/4" if you want...all you're doing is laminating the underlayment to the subfloor. Also, don't worry about hitting a nail or screw below; most of the time the staple leg is deflected and bites adjacent to the obstruction. In those cases where you do hit a nail directly, the staple will just bunch on the surface and is easily removed.

You should use the fastener schedule for the panel you buy. Most panels will have the schedule printed across the panel and at the edges. Just place a staple at every mark and you're good. Stagger the seams of the underlayment and the subfloor. I hope you've purchased an approved panel or intend to. Luan is not suitable, so if you've bought that stuff, take it back and get a birch or similar white wood panel made as underlayment.

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