I once walked into a house where a $15,000 wide-plank walnut floor was cupping so bad it looked like a potato chip because the installer didn’t check the crawlspace humidity, and ever since that day, I treat every surface like a crime scene waiting to happen. People think laminate is a plastic product they can…
The subfloor secret that ruins most laminate jobs Floor leveling is the prerequisite for any successful laminate installation because a subfloor with more than 1/8 inch of deviation over 10 feet causes the HDF core of the planks to flex and fail. Most guys skip the leveling compound. They think the underlayment will hide the…
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. The homeowner thought I was being dramatic until I showed them the 1/4 inch valley in their living room…
Homeowners always ask why their waterproof vinyl or laminate is buckling. Usually, it is because they locked it under a heavy kitchen island, killing the floor’s ability to breathe. I once walked into a job where the entire kitchen floor had risen three inches off the subfloor because the installer tight-fitted the planks against the…
The shadow under the casing 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 you walk into a room and see a jagged gap between your laminate…
Dropping a heavy tool or a sharp kitchen knife on a freshly installed laminate floor is a specialized kind of heartbreak that only a professional installer truly understands. Most homeowners assume the only way to restore the perfection of their new surface is to dismantle the entire floor starting from the nearest wall, but that…
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 job was a reality check for the homeowner who thought laminate was a simple slap-and-dash product. I walked…
The 1/8 inch that ruins everything Homeowners always ask why their waterproof vinyl or high end laminate is buckling when the sun hits it. Usually, it is because they locked it under a heavy kitchen island, killing the floor ability to breathe. I remember a job in a high humidity lakeside home where the owner…
The Hammer Tap Strategy for Identifying Hollow Spots in Laminate 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 remember the smell of the grinding wheel hitting…
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 was in a high-rise downtown where the wind was literally whistling through the baseboards because the subfloor was…
