Is A Moisture Barrier Necessary For Vinyl Flooring

Where is the wall located.

Is a moisture barrier necessary for vinyl flooring.

If you are adding an exterior wall anywhere in the house and you answered yes to either of the above questions you should consider using a vapor retarder. This practice has been linked to moldy buildings and other air quality problems. A moisture barrier may or may not be needed to insure good adhesion of your vinyl floor so do your homework to avoid problems later on down the road. Floating floor installations when installing laminate or other floating floors over cement vct ceramic tiles or kitchen vinyl use 6 mil poly sheeting plastic as the moisture barrier.

They have the potential to release moisture into the structure creating an inward vapor that doesn t exist with vinyl siding. Some underlayments have a built in moisture barrier. These are typically used for floating floor applications. This is also an extra piece of protection if you have any water leaking underneath the vinyl planks.

Omit plastic when covering bare wood subfloors thereby allowing the subfloor to breathe. Moist concrete concrete may seem very dense but it is actually full of small pores that will absorb water from the ground. The visqueen acts as a barrier between the flooring and the sub floor and allows the vinyl planks to float above the sub floor and smoothly expand and contract with the temperature and humidity changes in your home.