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Rant: The basement job in Bellingham where the tack strip just gave up
I was finishing a big basement install up in Bellingham, about 80 yards of a decent loop pile. Everything was going smooth, got the pad down, started on the last wall. I was using my trusty Roberts 10-500, putting some good pressure on the knee kicker to get a tight fit against the baseboard. Then I heard this awful crack and the whole strip just... crumbled. The concrete underneath was this weird, sandy mix and the nails had zero bite. The strip pulled right up, taking a little chunk of the floor with it. I just stood there for a second staring at this little crater. Ended up having to switch to a liquid adhesive for that whole 15-foot section, which added like two hours to the job. Has anyone else had a floor just reject a tack strip like that? What's your go-to fix when the subfloor won't hold a nail?
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claireg811mo ago
That "weird, sandy mix" concrete is the worst. My go-to fix is also liquid nails, after I've spent ten minutes muttering at the crater.
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ivanlewis1mo ago
That "weird, sandy mix" concrete sounds like a real pour job. Ever check if the builder used a cheap bag mix with too much sand? That stuff just turns to dust under pressure.
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