Karndean Flooring Problem

megskins

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

Hello

I had 3m Karndean planks laid before Christmas.

The lower floor was laid directly onto concrete and apart from a few bumps it looks ok.

The Upper floor was laid on top of FC sheeting that our builder laid as per instructions of the flooring company as it is a direct stick product and cant be laid on yellow tongue.

The upper floor has issues. The Planks click in places like they are not stuck down properly (but the floor guy says it the FC sheeting moving) and are lifting badly in places. There is also speed bump type bumps where the FC sheeting joins as well as pimples all over are what we believe to be nail heads. see pics

The problem is that the flooring company are saying its the builders issue as its the FC sheeting that's caused the bumps but the Builder says it the floor layer as they should not have laid a floor if they were not happy with the surface. We were also charge floor prep by the flooring company to feather out the floor. I believe that by laying the floor and charging us floor prep the flooring company were happy with the surface and they should not have proceeded if the floor was not up to standards.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this please?

Featured Answer

Tom Franklin

5 years ago

Hi I'm a flooring installer 27 years experience. I have had issue after issue with karendean flooring pertucularly the 3in glue down plank. If a knat lands in the glue it will transfer through. Karendean is the only glue down plank that I've ever had issues. I've drum sanded subfloor laid new underlayment, sanded filled joints use dry set adhesive tried everything possible and there is always somthing that transfers through. Looks beautiful until you install it. My opinion very as far away from karendean floor as you can get.

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Comments (9)

PRO
J Design Group - Interior Designers Miami - Modern
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
It looks like you have a mix of problems on the installation and on the quality.

I would call a few professional wood floor installers in the area and get a price to fix and/or redo and hear their opinion on the problem right where the problems are.

J Design Group | Interior Design company in Miami, FL
225 Malaga Ave
Coral Gables, FL 33134
Ph: 305-444-4611
https://www.JDesignGroup.com
SJ McCarthy
8 years ago
This is all subfloor concerns. The "floor prep" costs should have been $2/sf or so. If you are looking at "$0.50/sf" then you didn't pay enough for the floor prep.

It is up to the flooring company/installer to ensure the substrate is appropriate for installation. The builder is correct here. The FC sheeting "moving" is a weird one. I'm not sure what they are trying to say...but it sounds like someone doesn't want to come back and remove/redo the entire thing.

And yes, these THIN vinyl products (anything less than 6mm or 7mm thick is considered "thin") will telegraph EVERY SINGLE THING. Seams. Nail heads, etc. And these adhesives do NOT like to stick to metal...which means they do NOT like to stick to nail heads...which means all of those things needed to be patched and then sanded flat before installation of the flooring began.

Which means the subfloor needed to be smooth as a skating rink before the vinyl was installed. And that level of subfloor prep is expensive. More than $1/sf that's for sure.

And you ALSO have adhesion failure. Which means we have to assume that the whole thing will fail sooner rather than later. Again, all of this points to the installer. The builder is in the clear. They did as they were told.

The installer charged you for subfloor prep meaning they "own" everything from their feather job and "up" (literally).

Just for fun, check your paper work to see if you can figure out how much was charged for subfloor prep. It should be a significant amount.
megskins thanked SJ McCarthy
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Jen Hans
8 years ago
megskins - We have the same line in our flooring from our subfloor seams (the butt joints of the plywood). I had the installer "fix" it once (which didn't last long) by pulling up the planks and re-patching that seam. A few weeks later it telegraphed through again. After talking with SO MANY flooring professionals I believe the problem is that they didn't sand anything. They put patch on and "leveled" it with the trowel and that was it. From what I understand they should have patched, dried, sanded, patched, dried, sanded and then started the adhesive and laying of planks. My guys patched....and that's it.
glennsfc
8 years ago
Yeah...been there as an installer of vinyl tiles and sheets. Never did a floor where preparation was not paramount. The 'skating rink' descriptive phrase by SJM is an absolute must, regardless of that substrate the flooring is going over. Underlayment panels secured over wood construction must be the correct type and installed as per the panel manufacturer and the flooring manfacturer requirements.
lisa rott
5 years ago
I'm having an issue with my Karndean Van Gogh. Has only been down 6 months and is cupping at seams. Lifetime Warranty doesn't seem to mean anything. Having a helluva time chasing people around.
SJ McCarthy
5 years ago
@lisa rott do you have vinyl or laminate?
Lisa Rott
4 years ago
Sorry I did not see this. Vinyl Van Gogh Being pulled out of my house after 6 months
HU-337200978
2 years ago
I just had new floor installed on concrete that was leveled. Just one week later, the seams are lifting in several locations.