Laminate Flooring - Vapor barrier

[Jon]

I have a split entry house. In the basement there is a room about 11 x 11 that I am goign to lay laminate down on. Right now there is just the cement.

My question is do I need foam with vapour barrier, or just foam to lay the floor on?

There has never been any moisture down there since I have lived in the house (1.5yrs). The only real reason I ask is that on a recent edition of Holmes on Homes (for all the canadian readers out there) he laid floor in a basement without vapour barrier because he said that barrier, in essence, could cause condensation itself...

Comments?

[Malcolm Hoar]

I'd lean towards including a vapor barrier.

However, I think the really important thing is to follow the instructions provided by the manufacturer of your flooring. Failure to do so will invalidate the warranty. If they call for a vapor barrier when installing over cement, you'd better include the barrier.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

AFAIK, every manufacturer recommends a vapor barrier. Do you believe Holmes or the guys that have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on research and testing of their product?

I used a barrier and I've not had moisture in 25 years.

[Moe]

"Jon" wrote

Unless you have zero humidity in your home (zap/ouch), you have moisture.

Always follow the manufacturers installation procedure, unless you don't mind a voided warranty.

I would like to know where this fella Holmes, thinks the moisture will condensate without a vapor barrier. He didn't eliminate the moisture by not putting down a vapor barrier. Hint: It will condensate on the underside of the flooring, and the flooring will absorb the moisture upto the saturation point. Swelling & buckling will occur b/4 the saturation point.

[DK]

My laminate flooring did NOT recommend a vapor barrier. It recommended the laminate go right over he concrete floor after applying an adhesive.

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[EXT]

It was a program about a house that had three different wood floors installed in a ground floor kitchen all with water problems over concrete. He eliminated water under the concrete and deduced that it was condensing on the concrete surface, wicking through they plywood underlay and then leaking through the thousands of holes where the wood floor was nailed down to the plywood underlay. Everything was soaking wet. He did not say "don't use a vapour barrier" he said that it was not protecting the wood floor in fact it was holding the water so that it could not evaporate back into the air. This is all in a cold Canadian winter. He did not like wood installed over concrete in these conditions and changed the floor to a slate or ceramic floor with underfloor electric heating for the homeowner. Before you can give a meaningful opinion, you need all the facts.

[Moe]

"EXT" wrote

FYI, I responded to the facts the OP posted, which entailed their particular situation. Do you have anything relevant to add?

[Edwin Pawlowski]

That sounds right on a glued floor, but a floating floor is a different situation and with no barrier, there is an air gap where condensation can form.