Properly implementing flooring in the dining room

Good evening,

my second new project is finding the right flooring for the dining room.

First about the construction and condition of the floor. It is a beam construction on which planks were mounted, which I screwed to the beams to avoid/fix creaking. To get a smooth surface, I covered the entire floor with 15mm OSB subfloor panels and impact sound insulation (impact sound insulation between the planks and OSB panels). The panels were installed with an offset of about 80 cm. To get additional stability, I screwed and glued the panels. The room is about 16m² and I used a total of about 600-650 screws for the screwings (plank on beam & OSB with planks and beams).

Now we are considering what to use as the floor surface for the dining room and came up with the idea of tiles as one possibility. For tiles, we came across a type in the size 60x30cm in wood look. Now the question arises whether the substructure itself is suitable for tiles, after appropriate treatment with primer or something similar. Or should one rather consider another type or size of flooring? Or are there certain intermediate steps I should possibly consider? Or would have to do, like additional materials and so on?

Actually, a click parquet was planned as in the living room, but there you can already see the first scratches and the like (not super bad but you know and if light falls on it unfavorably, you see it). Therefore, we thought about tiles, as they are quite robust and at the same time easy to care for.

Michael

Some things catch my attention,

1.) 650 (really?) screws used, well, more is not always better. You probably can’t talk about impact sound insulation anymore.

2.) The tile format of 60x30 cm glued onto OSB requires a very brave tiler who guarantees it.

3.) Tiles in wood look are a matter of taste, I just find them hideous.

4.) Tiles in wood look are not that "robust" either; the assumption or rumor that they are less scratch-sensitive is mistaken.

Small scratches on the floor covering just belong and are an expression of the natural impermanence of life or nature. The absolute does not exist...

Hello "Raspido". The tile format you requested will cause problems. The technical rules state that a format of 30cm x 30cm can be laid without problems on chipboard substrates, but for larger formats there is no guarantee of later crack freedom. A limitation of this risk is not neutralized at all by so-called uncoupling mats! The danger rather comes from bending moments of the substrate, and uncoupling mats have their limits there. There is the option of choosing a smaller tile format or selecting a so-called decorative covering with a stone pattern. If you don’t like joints (also from a visual point of view), a synthetic rubber covering in one of the many stone designs would be suitable. There are many (alternative) options. Just get advice once at a specialist shop. -------------------------------- Regards: KlaRa

Yes, okay then I’m informed. So reduce the format to a maximum of 30*30. But we still need to think it through carefully. Whether it will really be tiles or something else. Tiles (porcelain stoneware) were actually considered because they are relatively robust and also easy to maintain with moisture and the like.

Michael

Hello Michael. Robustness and moisture resistance are two different considerations! The mechanical durability of tiles is certainly high. But once again: please take a look at synthetic rubber floor coverings (from FORBO). Compared to ceramic tiles, both in terms of optical properties and mechanical durability, I always see this type of flooring as a very good alternative! And moisture? It has no place in excessive amounts on wood-based substrates without alternative sealing when tiles are used. A synthetic rubber covering would fulfill both aspects: a) high mechanical durability and additionally b) liquid tightness across the surface if the sheet edges are thermally sealed (this is not required according to DIN 18365, but it is recommended) ------------------ Greetings and good luck: KlaRa