Has anyone ever laid intello plus over timber floor and ?under carpet? I’m following an informal plan suggested in a People Powered Retrofit consultancy. I wonder if I’m missing a step. It was going to be:
Lay intello on floorboards and behind skirting, taping the joins and perimeter with tescon. Perhaps a bead of orcon on the floor at the perimeter to hold the membrane flat.
Carpet gripper: protect each nail with a blob of orcon before hammering it in (somehow)
Then thick underlay and carpet fitted by the carpet retailer
Im wondering if i ought to add a hardboard layer above the membrane both to protect the membrane and receive the carpet fitters nails and staples
Hardboard may give a more durable finish than the membrane but it needs nailing down approximately every 50-75 cm in a grid across the floor. That’s a lot of punctures to the membrane.
I’ve never seen or heard that advice before. I can see that it might work under a floating timber floor, although mine has the manufacturer’s recommended foil faced insulation underneath, which should be both air and vapour impermeable, apart from the edges.
I think this suggestion needs a rethink/second opinion and to come with full installation instructions and explanation.
Jonathan I have done this with Partel membrane and tape. I laid OSB on top of the membrane as protection. NB you will need to have insulation under the timber floor to prevent condensation forming.
I was worried that hardboard or plywood could be damaged by water spillage particularly in kitchen and WC.
Using a decent thickness of OSB over the membrane has the advantage that it doesn’t need fixing down and can be a floating floor, door undercutting will be needed to compensate for the increased height of the resultant floor.
Tongue and groove edges are best to avoid the different boards floating away in different directions, within the confines of the walls and any edging, as they expand and contract.
You could use marine ply in wet rooms but the price difference limits it to those areas