It sounds obvious, but it's vital to make sure a floor is level when laying new flooring.
As this renovator found, it is not always ensured by home owners;
"In a lot of the older houses we do . there might be three or four levels of old vinyl on there," says Scott Thorvaldsen, an estimator with Contempa Carpet Co. "As long as the subfloor is pretty level, there's no problem when we do tile and linoleum, the floor should be very secure, screwed and glued."
If you're planning to install any sort of hardwood or floating floor like laminate, you'll need the floor to be as level as possible, says Thorvaldsen. "With the floating floors . if the floor (level) is out of whack, you'll have dips in the floor," he says.
To ensure the floor is level you usually need to put hardwood over plywood or OSB, which is typical for a standard nail-down hardwood floor.
Laminate flooring or engineered (hardwood) flooring in particular is intolerant when it comes to an uneven surface, only a quarter-inch over 10 feet is how far a floor is supposed to (deviate).
The latest flooring news, courtesy of Floors Online.
Date : 09/06/2011
Category: Flooring Industry News