I smell oak dust and WD-40 every morning before I even have my first coffee. After twenty-five years of staring at subfloors, I can tell you that a kitchen is the most hostile environment for any wood-based product. Most homeowners think of laminate as a plastic sheet. That is their first mistake. Under that decorative…
I have spent twenty-five years on my knees with a moisture meter and a level. I have smelled the damp rot of a thousand failed kitchens. I once walked into a house where a fifteen thousand dollar wide-plank walnut floor was cupping so bad it looked like a potato chip because the installer didn’t check…
The invisible enemy under the dishwasher kickplate Stopping kitchen laminate from swelling near the dishwasher requires a complete moisture barrier system and a perfectly level subfloor. Most failures occur because of steam penetration into the high-density fiberboard (HDF) core through the micro-gaps of the locking mechanism. To prevent this, you must apply a 100 percent…
The physics of why your kitchen tiles are cracking right in front of the sink 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. When I see a…
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 because they think the underlayment will hide the dip. It won’t. I walked into a kitchen in Seattle last winter where the homeowner was frantic. Their beautiful Italian porcelain…
I have spent twenty five years on my knees with a moisture meter and a level. I have seen every way a floor can fail. Usually it starts with a homeowner buying a box of cheap laminate because the packaging had a picture of a duck on it. They think waterproof means indestructible. It does…
The physics of a flat kitchen floor I spent three days grinding and screwing down a double-layer plywood subfloor 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 or a bit of extra thin-set will hide the dip. It won’t….
Why Your Kitchen Laminate Is Bubbling Near the Dishwasher I smell oak dust and WD-40 every morning before I even have my coffee. It is the scent of a career spent on my knees, crawling across subfloors with a moisture meter in one hand and a level in the other. I have seen every way…
The physics of the phantom click under your kitchen floor The clicking sound you hear when walking near a kitchen island is the mechanical cry of a floating floor system under extreme stress. This noise occurs because the laminate planks are trapped between the heavy weight of the island and the perimeter walls. When you…
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 walked into a kitchen where the homeowner complained about a clicking sound every time they stepped near the…
