Julian Cassell's DIY Blog

Most carpet tiles don’t require adhesive and are laid dry. You can use double-sided tape in the first row, but after that, unless the manufacturer specifies, lay them dry. Some tiles even have their own adhesive tabs to keep them in place. This laying system makes it very easy to repair any damage as you simply lift out a tile and replace it with a new one. Tiles can be laid on concrete or wooden floors as long as they are flat, sound, level, clean and dry. read more »

To achieve a good finish with vinyl tiles, they must be laid on as flat a surface as possible. Concrete floors can be tiled on direct as long as they are sound, level, clean and dry. The floor must contain an integral damp proof membrane (dpm) – standard in modern homes, but not always present in older properties. If you have floorboards, they must be covered with thin ply or flooring grade hardboard to provide a sound flat surface for applying the tiles. read more »

Wooden floors can all be laid in many different ways. However, most commonly, engineered wood and laminate floors use a clip-together system, where sections of the floor are slotted together using a tongue-and-groove connection system. This system can vary between manufacturers (some require adhesive, although most now don’t), but the principle of how these floors are laid remain fundamentally similar. read more »

Self-levelling compound is a latex-based product which creates a very smooth subfloor before fitting your final floor covering. It is used on concrete floors or screeds which are uneven, not level, or in poor condition. The compound must be mixed in very clean buckets as any impurities will affect the integrity of the mix – use a mixer paddle with a drill on a slow speed to avoid introducing too much air into the mix. The following sequence shows the standard steps for successfully laying self-levelling compound. read more »

Sheets of plywood can be used to create a solid, smooth subfloor before laying your finished floor covering. Thin plywood (6mm) is used as an option to hardboard, providing a subfloor for coverings such as vinyl, carpet and soft tiles. Thicker plywood (12-18mm) is used to provide a rigid subfloor for hard tiles. You may choose to use large sheets (2.4m x 1.2m), which will cover a floor area more quickly with fewer joints read more »