Hello,

My mother-in-law has just bought some EasiKlip floating flooring to replace some floating flooring she currently has in her basement now. The reason she is replacing it is because part of the flooring was water damaged when the dishwasher broke years ago.

The current floor is a glue-together floating floor half over concrete, half over tile. It has been here for 8 years. Other than the damaged areas, there is no other signs of moisture damage. No buckling or shrinkage or staining. Thus, I intended to re-use whatever barriers were beneath the old floor if they were in good shape. Well, they are in good shape, but the only thing underneath is a thin layer of foam. It does seem to be waterproof, but the seams are not joined together and it certainly does not seem to be designed as a moisture barrier, just something to make the floor a little more comfy to walk on and eliminate some noise.

Everything I've read on this forum and on other sites suggests using some type of platic under floating floors over concrete. But if the previous floor has been ok for so long, would it be ok to install the new floor in the same manner.

By the way, cost is not the issue here. We're willing to buy whats needed to get it in right. We're just trying to avoid creating a new problem if its possible the platic is not needed. The previous intaller was a pro, and I am a DIYer with 1 previous floor install. I'm wondering if he knew something about this type of install I do not.

-Rick

It should have a moisture barrier...and it's possible it does. Some of the underlayments,( almost all now a days), are 2+1 underlayments, meaning a plastic barrier is attached to the underlayment. If this is the case....it may be hard for you to tell, since the barrier would be on the bottom side. Some of these products come with an overlap flap of barrier on one side of the underlayment. This "flap" usually has a tape that is pulled off, and overlaps underneath the underlayment. Kinda hard to describe....but it gives the illusion that the seems are not taped together, but in actuality they are. If this is the case.... you should be able to carefully seperate the underlayment with your fingers, at the seam, to see if there's plastic under there.

All that description, for... ...if NOT...I would tear it out and install a 2+1 underlayment.

Howard,

Thanks for the very quick reply.

As I've been removing the old floor, I've already been able to remove one strip of the old foam uderlayment, confirming that it's not attached to the piece next to it.

Also, its the same color on both sides (white) and does not pull apart. It resembles foam you'd use to wrap something fragile before shipping it. Actually, come to think of it, its nearly identical to the sheets of foam they put between the EasiKlip boards in the box. For kicks I took the piece and cupped it and poured water in to the cup and it did indeed hold.

However, I will take your advice and go for the 2-in-1. My resistance has been the fact that this is a very small apartment with a ton of stuff. I had figured out a way to install the floor by moving all the furniture to one side, then moving it back and installing the other side. I think this type of moving operation will be difficult with a large sheet of plastic, and would also risk ripping it, so we'll have to figure out somewhere to put the furniture. This adds considerable complexity to the job.

Thanks again for your input. It's much appreciated.

-Rick

I play "musical furniture" all the time. The 2+1 underlayments come 3' wide, so you don't have to deal with covering the whole room at once.