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Floor - To seal or not to seal ?


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Hi all,

I have a question to which I keep getting differing opinions on.

I am about to start laying my final flooring onto my plywood Base floor. Lino in bathroom, carpet in bedroom and some sort of laminate in galley and lounge areas. The thing is do i need to seal the plywood base floor or not.

 

Thanks George.

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1 hour ago, George-Pole said:

Hi all,

I have a question to which I keep getting differing opinions on.

I am about to start laying my final flooring onto my plywood Base floor. Lino in bathroom, carpet in bedroom and some sort of laminate in galley and lounge areas. The thing is do i need to seal the plywood base floor or not.

 

Thanks George.

Depends probably what type of ply has been used. If it is a substantial good quality marine ply, probably not. If it is the sort of stuff bought from B and Q it maybe worthwhile.

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4 minutes ago, Phil. said:

Depends probably what type of ply has been used. If it is a substantial good quality marine ply, probably not. If it is the sort of stuff bought from B and Q it maybe worthwhile.

B and q sell good quality ply.

 

Do you care to be more specific?

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2 minutes ago, MJG said:

B and q sell good quality ply.

 

Do you care to be more specific?

Yes ensure it complies with bs1088 then it o know for use in damp areas. It also costs three times as much as normal ply.

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Just now, Phil. said:

Yes ensure it complies with bs1088 then it o know for use in damp areas. It also costs three times as much as normal ply.

Strange, I have lined various wet areas with ply before flooring and never had a problem.

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1 hour ago, George-Pole said:

Hi all,

I have a question to which I keep getting differing opinions on.

I am about to start laying my final flooring onto my plywood Base floor. Lino in bathroom, carpet in bedroom and some sort of laminate in galley and lounge areas. The thing is do i need to seal the plywood base floor or not.

 

Thanks George.

You are probably too late, any damp or water ingress including condensation will probably affect the lower side of the plywood first if it isn't a decent quality and treated ply.

B&Q ply is crap quality, not enough layers and not bonded well enough. That's why it is cheap. you have to search for quality ply now.

  • Greenie 1
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7 hours ago, George-Pole said:

My base floor is marine ply so are you all saying I don't need to seal it then?

There is marine ply and not so marine ply. 

I would seal areas prone to wetting, like the loo and shower, I think epoxy is the best sealant, but others will know better than me.

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Under a basically waterproof covering like Lino or laminate I would not bother, but under carpet I would - a damp carpet on bare wood for a while will encourage mould etc.  I would give it a couple of coats of decent yacht varnish.  If foam backed I would also put a layer of paper under the carpet to stop it sticking to the varnish 

Edited by Chewbacka
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2 hours ago, LadyG said:

There is marine ply and not so marine ply. 

I would seal areas prone to wetting, like the loo and shower, I think epoxy is the best sealant, but others will know better than me.

agree on both points.

 

I bought some marine ply direct from Lathams warehouse, 9mm and 12mm, cheaper than the so-called 'hardwood ply' from B&Q, duly marked with a BS1088 stamp.  The salesman tried to guide me away from it, and said he could order some Lloyds approved BS1088 marine ply at 3 times the price.  The 12mm ply delaminated as I was cutting the sheet in half!  the 9mm was fine, .. so far.

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I don't think it will make much difference. If you paint the underside of flooring and it gets damp and stays damp without drying out then it eventually it will rot. A coat of paint or varnish isn't going to stop that. If you don't paint it given the same damp conditions it may rot slightly quicker. 

 

Surely the point is that there's no more reason for floors on boats to be damp than in a house or flat and they should be kept dry. If the floor on a boat is damp even in a galley or bathroom, then there's something wrong. 

 

 

On 13/06/2018 at 06:09, LadyG said:

There is marine ply and not so marine ply. 

I would seal areas prone to wetting, like the loo and shower, I think epoxy is the best sealant, but others will know better than me.

What on earth are you doing? Pissing and showering on the floor? ?

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8 hours ago, blackrose said:

What on earth are you doing? Pissing and showering on the floor

Maybe on return from  the pub. 

 

Back to the op

My view on this is if its not to expensive might as well do it now, can't really be the wrong answer whereas if you don't do it you might regret it later. Ha'Porth of tar and all that. 

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8 hours ago, reg said:

Maybe on return from  the pub. 

 

Back to the op

My view on this is if its not to expensive might as well do it now, can't really be the wrong answer whereas if you don't do it you might regret it later. Ha'Porth of tar and all that. 

In a house the bathroom floor is often on top of a ventilated area, so the floor will dry out easier than in a flat bottomed bilge.

After a few years, you will find that the flooring gets pretty smelly, due to "spillage", so , trust me, seal it as you lay it,  unless it is going to be exposed to fresh air.

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I'm not sure it matters if you seal the plywood or not, any gains made by sealing may be outweighed by the ability for the floor to breathe - especially if you are only coating the top side. I have yet to see the base flooring of any boat coated but i'm sure some do. As some have said, poor quality ply may benefit but as you have already laid it..

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Apropos nothing.... In December, I replaced the carpet and vinyl that I presume had been on the boat since built in 2001, so 16+ years. The ply when revealed is as good as the day it was fitted. A year or two ago, I drilled a big hole in the ply under the bed, and it was the same, both the topside and the underside... so my guess is that the untreated ply on the floor of my boat at 17 years old is as good as when it was new.

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