Shoutout to the guy who told me to try a 3/4 inch gap on that tricky laminate job

I was doing a big install over a slab in a Phoenix condo and the old heads always said a 1/2 inch expansion gap was plenty, but this one guy on site said to go bigger because of the direct sun on the concrete. I listened, and when that afternoon heat hit, you could see the floor needed every bit of that space. Anyone else run into this with slabs in hot climates?

4 comments

4 Comments

the_abby28d agoMost Upvoted

Half an inch has always worked fine for me, even on south-facing jobs. Sounds like maybe the subfloor prep was off. Could have been moisture coming up from the slab making it act up, not just the heat.

gavinw5328d ago

Yeah, moisture test before anything else.

leep897d ago

Man, moisture is the worst. How many times have you seen a slab pass a quick test but still sweat out enough vapor to ruin things later? It's like it waits until the glue is down to show up. That half inch rule is solid until the ground underneath decides to be a problem. Prep can look perfect on the surface and still be totally wrong underneath.

luna757d ago

I swear I've seen more slabs pass a moisture test and then fail later than I've seen good movies in the last five years. Had one last year that read fine, but the adhesive turned to soup two months after install. The homeowner called me back and I just stood there looking at the bubbles like a total idiot. My half-inch rule works great until the concrete decides to have a secret water party underneath.