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The new floor - Week 5 already!

I think you are wise to not do the 45 deal, besides being a real pain to get some of the corners, the other thing is that while the 45 can look good, lots of people just don't like it. If you plan on never moving and selling again, fine, but if you do need to sell the house and move at some point the more traditional layout for the flooring will make more prospective buyers smile.

Just a thought :wave:

Good luck, and kneepads are your friend :rolleyes: :rofl:
 
Day 2 - trouble already - HELP!

Well, day 2 of the project has come to an end and we have pulled up the carpet in the hallway. About 100 staples and lots of dust later some of my worst fears have been confirmed. First, the funny stuff.

I guess they ran out of big boards! :rofl:
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The 70's called. They want their vinyl back:rofl::rofl:
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This is what we got accomplished tonight
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OK. Now the bad stuff. Really. How flat should the floor really be? I'm guessing that it needs to be flatter than this!
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That's a carpenter's pencil under the level. I could almost have fit two of them under there!:eek:

So, I'm guessing that I have some heavy work ahead of me trying to get the floor level - or at least flat. I'm open (begging) for suggestions. What to do now? :dunno:
 
Greg Cook said:
Rennie,

Can you get under the house easily? A check of the floor joists appears to be in order....:doh:
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No joists. Not in the normal sense. 2 x 8 T&G on a post and beam. Not sure of the span. All the floors around the perimeter of the house seem to be a bit higher than the interior. Maybe - either the footings under the posts were not set properly, or they've settled faster than the exterior wall footings. Just guessing.:dunno:

I'm trying not to think about the possibility that I might have to have the house lifted and shims placed under all the posts.:eek:
 
Hi Rennie :wave:,
That may be the determiner of the direction for the boards? :dunno:
Are you using a foam pad under the wood? Will your floor be a floating floor? This is all going to work out fine!:thumb: I believe in you.:D
Shaz :)
 
Chuck Thoits said:
The good news is the new flooring will bow to match the floor. The other good news is when all the marbles fall out of your head they will be right there in the middle of the hall.:thumb::rofl::rofl:

That might be sooner than later!:(:rofl:

Ok now for the bad news. The new flooring will bow to match the floor but it more than likely flex with every step. First you need to check and see why the floor is bowed. If it is a foundation problem that would go to the top of the projects list. If it is not a foundation problem than it is a floor joists are to small for the span. If it is just 2x what is the span between beams? 2x on the flat might have a floor span of say 24" to 30". If it is sagging between the beams you might be able to install a floor joist or two to cut the span down and jack the sag out. What ever it is you will need to fix why it sagged before you do any thing else. Good luck and lets have some pic of the other side of that floor.
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You're just not making this any easier. :( I was not planning - time or money wise - to do any foundation work,:eek:

Robert Schaubhut said:
Hi Rennie :wave:,
That may be the determiner of the direction for the boards? :dunno:
Are you using a foam pad under the wood? Will your floor be a floating floor? This is all going to work out fine!:thumb: I believe in you.:D
Shaz :)
Click to expand...

The pad is part of the flooring, not separate. It does float, but I don't think it's supposed to float 3/8" above the sub floor!:rofl::rofl:
 
I did a floor for a friend down here with 1/8" padding (dense foam) laid prior to the install. Any chance you could layer that in the low laying areas? It would add to the insulation and help level the floor.:dunno:
Vicariously in this with you,:rolleyes:
Shaz :)
 
OK. After sleeping on this (sorry Toni & Stu - I know you've been up all night :D) I went and checked it again to see what might be the problem. The floor is level and flat once you get about 8" from the exterior wall. Checking other areas of the house I find a similar, if not as dramatic, 'slope' from the exterior wall. The slope is very slight in most areas. In fact, just a few feet down the hall the problem almost disappears. So the issue seems to be localized to just a few spots.:)

I think this tells me that the post footings are not moving. There are way too many posts and having them all sink exactly the same all over the house is just not possible. So, this directs me to look more closely at the exterior wall, specifically the ledger board, if there is one. (I HATE crawlspaces :eek:)

So, my plan for this evening is to pull up the particle board underlayment and take a closer look at the T&G 2x material. I can't see how 1 1/2" thick material could bow that much in such a short distance. :huh::dunno: I'm hoping to find something that can be fixed without major demo and CRAWLSPACE work. And, yes, I will be posting pictures.:D
 
Robert Schaubhut said:
I did a floor for a friend down here with 1/8" padding (dense foam) laid prior to the install. Any chance you could layer that in the low laying areas? It would add to the insulation and help level the floor.:dunno:
Vicariously in this with you,:rolleyes:
Shaz :)
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Thanks Shaz - Misery loves company!:rofl:

I thought about this, but the 'low' area is actually level with the rest of the floor. It seems the problem is not the sagging of the floor but the lifting of the perimeter. If that is the case, and I can't fix the root cause, I should be able to replace the particle board with some OSB and 'maybe' shave the underside of the OSB where it passes over the high spots. Just a thought - I'll know more this evening when I pull up the PB.
 
rennie, in the ozarks it`s acceptable practice to use roofing shingles as shims to level (or put in plane) areas that have waves. i`ve not seen this done with the snap together laminate stuff but it works well with nail down floors as i`ve torn out 50-60 y/o flooring that was shimed in this manner and the shingles showed no signs of deteration.
 
tod evans said:
rennie, in the ozarks it`s acceptable practice to use roofing shingles as shims to level (or put in plane) areas that have waves. i`ve not seen this done with the snap together laminate stuff but it works well with nail down floors as i`ve torn out 50-60 y/o flooring that was shimed in this manner and the shingles showed no signs of deteration.
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That sounds like something I want to remember - could come in handy - thanks. :thumb: Once I get the particle board up I might find that shimming will be the action of choice.
 
It'll be worth it!

We recently put in about 800 sf of Kahrs 5/8" engineered oak. Eight inch wide planks each about 8' long. Half of it went in the MBR over a plywood subfloor; the other half went over a concrete floor on the lower (walkout) level. Both were floating installations. The mfr specified that the subfloor should not vary by more than 1/8" over any eight foot area. We had several problem areas on each floor. We used 15 pound felt paper to fill the low spots. In some places, the felt was six layers thick, with fewer layers going outward to feather things out. It worked fine; the floor doesn't have any noticable flex or sponginess.

Hang in there. We couldn't be happier now that the emerald green carpet is out of the bedroom.

Tony
 
Rennie,

I really feel your pain. But beware the "Bill" disease: I tear out something, mumble "what in the heck were they thinking?", tear out the thing below it... if Doorlink didn't stop me there would be nothing left of this house, cuz NOTHING is straight, square, level or true in the entire house! ;)

This is one reason I prefer to do tile floors now: this is exactly what leveling compound is for! ;)

But I really like the felt idea.

Thanks,

Bill
 
Dumb question:

Can leveling compound be used on wooden subfloors? I realize it would potentially crack if the floor/subfloor flexes, but once it cracks, it seems there'd still be nowhere for the chunks to go.
 
Day 3 - Decision time

Well, today I pulled up the particle board to see what was going on. What I found doesn't tell me much except that there seems to be no other cause for the sudden rise in floor level other than poor workmanship. One board - the 2x to the far right of the picture - rises almost 1/2" above the rest of the floor for about 4' along the exterior wall. I don't want to do surgery on the floor, like tear up the 2x and find out why it is the way it is. So, I think I have a workable solution.

I/m going to replace the PB with 7/16 OSB (sorry Chuck - I checked and there are no Advantech retailers in my area) up to the offending board. The floor is flat up to that point. I'll fill in the last 6" with cedar shakes. I can cut each one to taper up to the high point giving me, I hope, a single plane on which to lay the new floor.

For those who were curious - the floor is 2x6 T&G laid on post & beam on 48" centers.

What say ye all? Think it will work?

FWW Floor day 3.jpg
 
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Chuck Thoits said:
Sound like a far plan to me too.:thumb: Both the big boxes carry Advantech up in this neck of the woods.
The thing about the OSB if it get wet it will swell up and won't shrink back to the same size.
That means no more wild beer parties.:rofl::rofl::rofl::thumb:
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Well that settles it then! From now on all wild beer parties will be retricted to the patio!:rofl::rofl:
 
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