OT: House flooring Q's, Sub-floor? Options

[Kerrys914]

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/smash.gif) I am/will be pulling out some old carpet and vinyl flooring out of a living room and kitchen.

Is/could there be an extra layer of sub-flooring under the vinyl flooring in the kitchen? I am putting in some hardwood/laminate flooring in both spaces and want a seamless look to the two spaces.

I am not in the house yet so I can't pull the flooring up to look. I thought it might be a common practice thang to use an extra layer of sub-flooring???

Garage will be done after the 1st floor is done.. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/driving.gif) (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/aktion035.gif)

Cheers

[kconway]

Does your house have a raised foundation or concrete slab?

Hmmm, VA. prolly have a basement huh. I'd bet there is ply subfloor beneath that vinyl.

[bernbomb914]

you might want to lay your new flooring over the vinyl if it is well fastened down. check with the experts

Bernie

[Kerrys914]

Has a crawlspace.

The problem I am worried about is if the carpet areas have only one layer of sub-flooring and the kitchen has two I will need to remove one layer of sub-flooring so the two areas match up and are level.

Thanks

[anderssj]

I think you're right . . . I've taken up two vinyl floors here in VA; both had an "underlayment" of 3/16" luan plywood between the vinyl and the subfloor.

IIRC it's used so the irregularities in the subfloor (nail heads, etc.) won't show through the vinyl--but it's not needed with the carpet and the pad.

The underlayment is usually held down by staples around the edges (hope it's not glued down). Once you get that out, you should have level sub-floor throughout the work area.

Good luck with the floors!

[Trekkor]

It's 95% likely that there is 3/8" particle board layer stapled to the plywood subfloor under the lino.

When I say stapled, I mean STAPLED. These guys have a habit of using a staple every 1/2" at the seams and every 4" in the field. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/headbang.gif)

I like the idea of bringing up the level of the floor under the carpeted section with material to match the height of the lino.

Just make sure you won't have any issues with other adjoining floors. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/wink.gif)


KT

[VaccaRabite]

I went through exactly what you will be doing when I bought my house last may.
It is a TON of work, but it is _SO VERY_ worth it in the end.

You will probably find that the linoleum is glued to 3/16 play as the other have said. This is a very good thing. Trying to get linoleum off a subfloor is hell. It is much easier to pry up a corner of the ply and get under it with a sturdy floor scraper. Use that to pry up all the staples and nails. You should be able to take up the linoleum in large chunks that way.

The "sub floor" in my house was the house's 100 year old original pine floor. All I did was put red paper over it and nailed down my new 3/4 hickory flooring over that. It really turned out well. It is not perfectly level - granted. But I did not really want it perfectly level - it would be the only floor in the house that was... :-)

No lie, though. By far the hardest part was getting all the old flooring up. It took 3 days (working from noon to 4am all the days) to tear the old carpet and linoleum up, pull the nails and staples, fix bad sub floor boards etc. It only took a day and change to put in the new floor once all the demo work was done.

But when you are done, you will never belive it was the same room before the project was started.

Zach

[Trekkor]

Here's the secret to quick lino with underlayment removal (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/wink.gif) ( don't tell, it's a secret )

Determine the total thickness of the material you are going to remove.
Set the guage on your circular saw to slightly more than that amount.

Cut a large grid of two foot by two foot squares over the surface of the entire floor.

Now you can just pop each square with a prybar and hammer.

Better yet, have an assistant shop vac behind you as you go.

I can tear out 400-600 square feet a day this way...by myself (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/smilie_pokal.gif)

KT

[VaccaRabite]

QUOTE (trekkor @ Mar 24 2006, 11:38 PM)

Here's the secret to quick lino with underlayment removal (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/wink.gif)  ( don't tell, it's a secret )

CHEATER!!!! (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/ar15.gif)

I wish I had thought of that when I was doing my floor. Though I was origionally trying to save and restore the old pine floor, so having a 2x2 grid of scoring into it would not have worked. But as it turned out, the original floor was too far gone to use as much more then sub flooring.

Zach

[rhodyguy]

when was the house built? in an older house, you may find there is another layer of floor covering under the luan and they used the luan to provide a smoother surface. hopefully, the second layer will not be an older lino that contains asbestos. 12"x12" tiles from a house built in the early 60's and down, are often suspect.

k

[Dead Air]

QUOTE (Kerrys914 @ Mar 24 2006, 05:18 PM)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/smash.gif) I am putting in some hardwood/laminate flooring in both spaces and want a seamless look to the two spaces.

[QUOTE]

When you say "hardwood/Laminate" do you mean a flooring like "Purgo"? A floating floor? Or plywood planks that have a finished surface that will nail or staple?
Depending on the space you may be able to leave the kitchen floor.
Hear me out.

I have know idea what your layout is but regardless you'll have to put some type of threshold at the areas I've colored red. If your boards run in the direction in the illustration and they have any flex to them at all, you can use thin set floor leveler to build up to the high spot in the area indicated in grey.
If you're using 3/4" hardwood planking it won't work because the butt ends won't sit flush together.
I think you'd save alot of time. Just make sure to "prime" the plywood with "Levelquick" latex primer to make sure you get good adhesion under the floor leveler.