Posted 2009-03-12 1:51 PM (#101204) Subject: Question about Sealing Floor in LQ
Veteran
Posts: 136
Location: Alabama
In my LQ area, I have floor insulation and then a piece of OSB plywood for the floor and I plan on putting down viny flooring. Since the OSB is not treated wood, I want to put something on it to seal it before I put down vinyl flooring. My first thought was Thompson's WaterSeal however, the people at Thompson's have told me that no floor adhesive will stick to their sealant. Does anyone know of some type of sealant I can put on the wood that will then allow me to put adhesive vinyl flooring down?
I thought about replacing the OSB wood with treated plywood but since my furring strips are attached to the OSB floor, it would be much easier to simply seal the floor rather than replace it.
Posted 2009-03-12 7:35 PM (#101233 - in reply to #101204) Subject: RE: Question about Sealing Floor in LQ
Expert
Posts: 5870
Location: western PA
Coat the OSB with a couple of coats of oil or water based polyurethane varnish. This will seal and waterproof the wood chips. After it drys, rough up the surface with some coarse sandpaper to allow better adhesion with the flooring material.
Posted 2009-03-13 8:51 AM (#101269 - in reply to #101204) Subject: RE: Question about Sealing Floor in LQ
Expert
Posts: 5870
Location: western PA
There are many types of flooring adhesives; water based rubber, water based tile adhesives, urethane based products for hardwood flooring, asphalt based for tile and linoleum, epoxies are used in commercial situations, etc.
The cured polyurethane finishes are pretty much impervious to many of the other urethanes, as well as water and rubber based products. Some epoxies are very aggressive, and could destroy the varnish coating. If you are using an epoxy, you would not need to pre seal the wood first. A complete application of the adhesive itself would be enough.
Many of these adhesive products will also seal the wood upon application, and you may not need the varnish. If you were to read the application instructions of the individual products, you may gain additional insight.