Is A Moisture Barrier Necessary For Vinyl Flooring

Avoid fully impermeable barriers such as polyethylene or vinyl wall coverings on spaces that are air conditioned.

Is a moisture barrier necessary for vinyl flooring.

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. They have the potential to release moisture into the structure creating an inward vapor that doesn t exist with vinyl siding. 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.

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. Where is the wall located. Omit plastic when covering bare wood subfloors thereby allowing the subfloor to breathe. Some underlayments have a built in moisture barrier.

This is also an extra piece of protection if you have any water leaking underneath the vinyl planks. These are typically used for floating floor applications. Moist concrete concrete may seem very dense but it is actually full of small pores that will absorb water from the ground.