Open windows to allow adequate ventilation. © Copyright 2020 Hearst Communications, Inc. Planing the existing floor joists, which includes removal of material to bring the elevations to within tolerance after the subfloor is replaced. Our starting point was right outside the … Sanding seams is necessary on most jobs due to the tendency of OSB to swell at the edges (coincidentally known as edge-swell) when exposed to rain, snow, or construction-related moisture introduced during the construction process (which also reiterates the need to check the moisture of the subfloor before installation). Seems like its going to work just fine. Plan to correct gaps of more than 1/8 to 3/16 inch. For floating floors some manufacturers over the years have approved clean, dry masonry sand to be used as a self leveling material. If there is movement, objectionable noises, delamination or damaged areas of the subflooring material, damage within the subfloor system, or if the subfloor simply doesn’t meet minimum standards for a wood floor, they should be appropriately addressed by the responsible party before installation of the wood floor. Strict removal and disposal laws have been put in place to protect workers and homeowners from the dangers of asbestos. I am going to simplify floor leveling as much as possible. I’d love to hear a bit about how the flatness is tolerated by different flooring types. Use builder’s felt or shingles stapled to the floor to fill small low spots if you don’t want to wait for leveling compound to dry. Tile, carpet and hardwood are rarely the same thickness. Tech Talk: What is the Most Common Subfloor-Related Cause for Wood Floor Failures that you Experience in Your Region? Installing new hardwood flooring is a major investment, which makes choosing the right one even more daunting, especially for a wood-floor newbie. Sanding the subfloor can remove minor swells or high spots in the wood, but any low spots in the floor must be filled in order to level the plywood. I have found NOTHING that is actually helpful…until your article ! Clean the floor thoroughly, apply the floor level… Whatever happens below, will undoubtedly affect what’s on top. Any ridges at the panel edges should be sanded flat before installation of hardwood flooring, using an edger with coarse grit sandpaper. You can level the plywood floor yourself using roofers felt, … For large areas, you can rent a hardwood flooring edger to make the job go faster. Use screws that penetrate at least one and one quarter inch into the wood joist. Sand any rough edges of the leveling compound after it dries overnight, using medium-grit sandpaper. This problem can be resolved using a bucket of floor leveler. He can be reached at brett.miller@nwfa.org. The easiest way to check the … Probably the most common method of shimming is using underlayment material to build slight elevation gains. The thinner, less-expensive shingles work best.Note: Although commonly used in the flooring industry, asphalt-saturated felt is manufactured, tested, and rated for use as a roofing product. Glad to have that suspicion confirmed by an expert. Use caution when sanding wood subfloors, as breathing these particles may cause allergic respiratory symptoms, mucosal and non-allergic respiratory symptoms, or even cancer. To do this, you’ll want the longest level you can find. Make a final check with the level … Fill any low spots with a cementitious leveling … You should inspect the subfloor carefully. Choose a concrete floor grinder to remove high spots on a concrete subfloor instead of a sander. Models with dust catchers help minimize dust in the house. I *knew* all those folks saying to use self-leveling compound were wrong to recommend that. I’m putting don goodnight under the shims, predrilling screw holes and screwing down shims on top of glue on top of non level plywood. How these shims are also adhered to the wood substrate below will dictate how well the wood floor performs over them. One size doesn't fit all, so the solution is to make your own with hardwood. Somerset Hardwood Flooring Announces Single Distribution Agreement with William M. Bird and Co. Construction Spending Rose 1.3% in October, NWFA Real Answers Podcast – Planning for the Future & Managing Customer Expectations, Virginia Abrasives Seeking Pro Flooring Channel Sales Manager, Oregon Lumber Seeking Outside Sales Rep: Pacific Northwest, Hand Scraped Floors: How to Texture a Floor (Part One), Installing Inlays into a Floor Without Jigs (Part Three), Hartco Introduces Timber Brushed Hardwood Collection. Hardwood floor installers often use the term “level” when referring to subfloors, when actually they are meaning the term “flat.” While it’s desirable to have a level floor, most homes have a variance of a fraction of an inch across the width of a room. Creating a flat subfloor involves lowering the high spots and raising the low ones. If you have hardwood floors on one level and carpet on another, one of the most common approaches is to carpet the stairs to match. Of course, a sudden shift from one temperature and level of moisture to another can also be bad for flooring—especially if such changes occur after the wood flooring … Keep in mind, plumbing lines and electrical wiring/conduit are often run through/or alongside the joists, and will add to the difficulty of the replacement. To avoid exposing your customers, your employees, and yourself to the dangers of asbestos, have the product tested and/or hire an asbestos abatement company to remove and dispose of the products. It is the responsibility of the flooring installer to assess and address substrate flatness before installation. In other words, an improperly prepared or inadequate subfloor will adversely affect how the wood floor performs. Subfloor flatness is one of the many considerations that should be addressed before installation of any wood floor. Pass a long carpenter’s level or straight board across the floor in all directions. In general, vapor retarding membranes such as #15 felt or asphalt saturated kraft paper are just shy of 1/64” thick. This Akona floor leveling compound is available at Mennards for about $35 per 50lb bag. Cover heating vents as well. For instance which install type requires a higher level of flatness, glue-down, floating or nail down. Position yourself in a way that allows you … Remove any rough edges between plywood subfloor joints with the sander as well. Sistering material to get the elevations within tolerance, which is the reinforcement of a joist by nailing, or attaching alongside the existing joist, another joist or reinforcing member. Taking an extreme example a 2″ thick flooring material is likely to span an imperfect subfloor to a greater degree than a 1/2″ thick flooring material. Shimming the subfloor is a common method to flatten to required tolerance. Sand off the high spots on the subfloor. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. This could be done by a disinterested third party who observes the final procedure and, (depending on the product), sanctions the substrate, (in a limited manner), for the flooring proposed. In some cases, a structural engineer may need to assess the situation to make this determination. Shimming may consist of many variations in technique and a multitude of products to achieve the same goal. Remove any obstacles from the floor. Any time you use paper, roofing shingles, linoleum, or similar products to build up low spots in the subfloor, you reduce the fastener penetration into the wooden subfloor, which in turn increases the potential for squeaks, crackles, pops, or overall disengagement from the subfloor. Sometimes the floor is only out of level by a small amount. It can be a bit of a wheel spinner when you aren’t sure what to do. Lay a 8- to 10-foot piece of lumber on the concrete floor. Wood floors may be installed over subfloors that are out of level, such as a ramp, but should still fall within … The hardwood grading system was created to help both home-buyers, sellers, and flooring professionals to have a common point of reference for describing batches of wood with similar … Compound can correct sags and dips as deep as 1 1/2 inches. Then vacuum the floor with a wet-dry vac or sweep it with a broom. Use of longer fasteners may assist in minimizing these risks, but will not alleviate the risk. Thank you! Plywood allows for a much better build-up with lower undulations in the subfloor. 7 Keys to Electrical Safety on the Job Site. Akona Self-Leveling Floor Underlayment Cement is another water-based powder mix for use over plywood and concrete. Surely 1/4″ over 10′ for all floor types ignoring material and install type isn’t accurate and just the easiest thing to put on paper. When installing over a wood subfloor, the flatness can affect how easily the wood floor can be installed, as well as the floor’s long-term performance. Cover the openings to the other rooms of the house with plastic sheeting held in place with painter’s tape to prevent dust from going everywhere. Raise the lower end of the level until the bubble is centered, then measure the distance from the bottom of the level to the floor to find the depth of the dip. You can have a flat floor where all points are in the same plane, but it’s not level. You can have a flat floor where all points are in the same plane, but it’s not level. And, it’s good to learn exactly how much variance is ok and how to deal with what I find. Zar Ultra Polyurethane Clear Interior Wood Floor Finish. They came & ripped up the carpet today & discovered that the sub-floor is very … Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. When elevation gain requires more, customized screeds planed to the necessary thickness work just as well. Lay a long level "downhill" on the floor, with one end of the level on the level part of the floor and the other end at the lowest point. You can find a list of when and where these classes will be at nwfa.org/education. Post-installation, the ability to determine flatness and levelness is at best controversial yet both conditions result in poor performance, call backs & disgruntled end users. Although there is no standard on “how-to” flatten a subfloor, and no two subfloor jobs are the same, these general tips should give some general direction on which method best fits a given scenario. Before jumping into a repair of this magnitude, you should first determine whether the sagging/low areas are in any way structural. Required fields are marked *. Anyway, thanks! Using the … Brett Miller is VP of Education & Certification at the National Wood Flooring Association in St. Louis. Brown holds a master's degree in history education from Truman State University. Cutting 2×4 shims to put over an existing, unlevel, plywood floor. Check with your manufacturer for use and compatibility of these types of products over wood subfloors if you’re considering a glue-down installation. In a remodel scenario (which is where this prep work is most common), removal of the subfloor to address the issue is often necessary. Determine the Underlying Problem. How to Level a Floor for Installing Tile Before you install file flooring, follow the directions above for fixing high spots and low spots in a wood or concrete subfloor. Many of these recommendations come from years of experience and from many of our members’ suggestions. Many times a combination of all of these methods are necessary to get the floor flat to within tolerance. I’ve spent HOURS on the internet looking for some guidance on how EXACTLY to check my subfloor for plane before I install new (new-to-me, reclaimed) hardwoods. This will expose the subfloor underneath, which is where most leveling problems lie. Before taking steps to level a floor, you must find out why it’s not … Build up from the lowest elevation, using the products that allow for enough incremental elevation gain to get to within flatness tolerance. Just be sure to follow these simple steps that I will layout for you and all will be good. Remove the existing flooring. For those contemplating going this route I urge you to get approval from the hardwood … In new construction, the responsibility lies with the builder; in a remodel project, these repairs should be completed by a qualified professional. When doing minor overlay repairs to a low area within a subfloor, some of the more common methods are listed below: Self-levelers are not normally approved or recommended for use over non-dimensionally stable subfloors such as OSB or plywood. Leveling floors with a Small Drop. 3-tab roofing shingles may range from 1/16”-3/8” in thickness, or more, depending on the quality/style. Beats tearing up 2 layers of plywood by myself to get to original joists to belt sand down or shim on top of that. Remove any obstacles from the floor. Mark the high and low spots on the subfloor. How to Use Foam Underlayment Under a Hardwood Floor, How to Use Fiberboard to Install Floor Tile, How to Level a Subfloor for Laminate Flooring, How to Install a Prefabricated Wood Floor, HardwoodflooringTalk.com: How Do I Level My Subfloor, How to Install Laminate Flooring on an Uneven Surface, How to Refinish a Wood Floor With Grooves. Outside of these ranges, hardwood floors might start to experience adverse effects. Well, turns out, all my ideas of what to do are right because “it depends,” which is so often the case when working with wood.
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