I smell like WD-40 and oak dust most days. My knees are a wreck and my knuckles have permanent scars from thirty years of wrestling with 3/4 inch solid oak. Most guys walk onto a job site and look at the wall colors. I look at the floor. I look at the way the light…
Most guys skip the leveling compound. They think the underlayment will hide the dip. It won’t. I spent three days grinding concrete on a job last month just so the floor wouldn’t click like a castanet. I have seen it a thousand times. You walk across a room and feel that sickening sinkhole beneath the…
The 1/8 inch that ruins everything Self-leveling underlayment acts as a liquid shim for laminate and carpet install projects. It creates a flat plane by filling low spots or birdbaths in the concrete. However, if you do not handle the ridges left by the spiked roller or trowel, the floor fails. Laminate flooring requires a…
The physics of subfloor moisture and leveling success Most guys skip the leveling compound. They think the underlayment will hide the dip. It won’t. I spent three days grinding concrete on a job last month just so the floor wouldn’t click like a castanet. If you have ever walked across a floor and heard that…
The 1/8 inch that ruins everything Floor leveling requires a 10-foot straightedge and a diamond grinding wheel to remove high spots. Most humps are caused by foundation settlement, joist crowning, or subfloor moisture expansion. You must achieve a flatness tolerance of 3/16 inch over 10 feet for a successful laminate or hardwood installation. Most guys…
The sound of a dying installation Most guys skip the leveling compound. They think the underlayment will hide the dip. It won’t. I spent three days grinding concrete on a job last month just so the floor wouldn’t click like a castanet. That clicking or crunching is the sound of a structural failure. It is…
The tapping trick that reveals your hidden subfloor failures Most guys skip the leveling compound. They think the underlayment will hide the dip. It won’t. I spent three days grinding concrete on a job last month just so the floor wouldn’t click like a castanet. That is the reality of the trade. If you do…
The sight of a mirror-like finish on a freshly poured subfloor might look impressive to the untrained eye, but to a veteran installer, it is a flashing red light. I spent three days grinding concrete on a job last month just so the floor wouldn’t click like a castanet. Most guys skip the leveling compound….
I spent three days grinding concrete on a job last month just so the floor wouldn’t click like a castanet. Most guys skip the leveling compound. They think the underlayment will hide the dip. It won’t. I have seen the same mistake repeated for twenty-five years. A contractor walks into a room, sees a sagging…
I spent three days grinding concrete on a job last month just so the floor wouldn’t click like a castanet. The homeowner thought a thick underlayment would mask the half inch belly in the slab. It won’t. Most guys skip the leveling compound because they are afraid of the mess or the cost. They think…
