Flooring chipboard

[blackrodd]

Was lead to believe when the stuff first came out the advice was you didn't need to support short joins. Then some full bodied person jumped on a join and they changed it.

I never bother supporting joins, just stagger them and use poly urethane glue.

You're right, fat ferret, when it was first introduced and used, the chipboard flooring was sold as not needing any end support
But, as any natural material, It is supposed to be stored in the fixing environment for a couple of days to acclimatise.
And, when fixing, You should have a 10mm expansion gap all around the perimiter, which the skirting would cover.
In the old days It was known to shrink slightly and the joints were slack and squeeky and some end joints failed.
There were also different grades, medium and high density, and everyone went for the medium density as it was cheaper but c**p.
I always try and comply with product leaflets as the manufacturers know their products, and I have seen situations where its obvious that the person doing the fixing hasn't bothered to read the fixing instructions, as boring as it seems.
Even a simple product like chipboard has a "best practice" laying and fixing process for best results.
Regards Rodders

 

[krismusic]

Well I did the job. What a mission! I cut the boards so that the join was on a joist in the end. It meant every board had to be cut but at least I know that there will be no problems in future.
All I need now is a bit of advice on repairing a plasterboard ceiling #-o . Yup. Foot straight Through! It's OK my mate is due to redecorate so I just replaced the plasterboard. Felt like a right numpty #-o
Anyway thanks everyone for the advice. Much appreciated. 8)

 

[blackrodd]

Glad it all went well, I would imagine the collars you fixed to were imperial and the sheets metric,
so end cutting was probably inevitable, sorry to hear of the foot and ceiling episode.
Regards Rodders

 

[lincs1963]

Building control, nhbc and zurich all require end joints on chipboard flooring to be supported when joists are at 600 centres. That is for 18 and 22mm boards. This does not mean the boards have to land on a joist, H frames are acceptable. At 400 centres 22mm boards do not require supporting.

 

[blackrodd]

NHBC, say this,--
http://www.nhbc.co.uk/Builders/Technica ... 219,en.pdf
Which is basically copy of the manufacturers specifications anyway, can't see any more up to date, but the factory spec still stands, as far as I'm aware.
Regards Rodders

 

[krismusic]

I think it was one of those situations when you get to the job and it is obvious what has to be done. Although theoretically unsupported joins may have been OK it just felt wrong. At least I know that there is no potential problem.