c/flooring-installers

Found a weird trick for keeping transitions level on concrete

I was fighting with a uneven door threshold in Denver last Tuesday and just tried shimming with roofing felt instead of plastic spacers, and it actually held flat after the glue dried - has anyone else tried something random that actually worked better?

Switched to glue-down vinyl after a nightmare at a church job in Dayton

I was always a click-lock guy, thought it was faster and cleaner. Then I took on a 2,000 square foot basement for a church in Dayton. The floor had a slight dip in the middle, maybe a quarter inch over 20 feet. I spent three days trying to level it perfectly for click-lock, and it still had a tiny bounce in one spot. The pastor didn't complain but I knew it wasn't right. A older installer I ran into at the supply house talked me through glue-down vinyl and how it handles uneven subfloors way better. He showed me a job he did with it and the stuff laid flat like concrete. Now I'm rethinking my whole approach for any basement or garage slab. Has anyone else had click-lock fail on a slightly uneven floor?

Tried self-leveling compound on a sloppy plywood subfloor in Denver last month and it taught me a lesson

I figured I'd save time by skipping the primer on a 400 square foot job. Big mistake. The compound bubbled up and dried uneven, so I had to grind it all down and start over. Learned that primer is worth every penny no matter how good the plywood looks. Has anyone else had self-leveler fail on them like that?

That customer in Phoenix who watched me work for 2 hours and then asked if I could 'just nail it down faster'

I was laying a 1200 sq ft LVP job in a new build and this guy kept pacing behind me timing each row. He finally said he saw a YouTube video where a guy did a whole room in 20 minutes with a rubber mallet. Has anyone else had a client try to speed-run you based on a viral video?

Tried those click-lock vinyl planks after years of glue-down only

Had a job last month in a basement where the slab was still curing. Normally I would have pushed the glue anyway and hoped for the best. But the GC talked me into trying a floating click system from one of the big box stores. No glue meant no waiting and no moisture issues. The customer saved about $400 on labor too. Anybody else found a good situation for floating floors over glue?

Tried a glue assist method on a floating floor install in Tampa...

I was putting down some 12mm laminate in a rental flip and kept getting this hollow sound in the middle of the room. Thought it was the subfloor but turns out the click lock wasnt fully engaging. On a whim I ran a thin bead of wood glue along the tongue of the last 3 rows before tapping them in. Solid as a rock now. No more hollow spots. Anyone else ever cheat with glue on a floating floor?

Had the worst Monday of my life installing engineered hardwood in Nashville

I was dead set against using glue assist on a click lock floor. Thought it was a waste of money and time. Then I spent 8 hours on a single room fighting gaps that kept popping open near the sliding door. My boss walked over, handed me a bottle of glue, and showed me how just a dab on the tongue fixed everything. Has anyone else had that moment where you realize a product you hated actually saves the whole job?

My old nailer jammed solid on a maple install yesterday and I had to finish the last 200 square feet by hand.

The driver blade snapped inside the magazine, so I grabbed my manual nail set and hammer from the truck and got it done, but man, my wrist is feeling it today, anyone have a reliable pneumatic model they'd recommend under $400?

Been cutting my own underlayment for years and just realized I'm an idiot

Watched a guy in a Tacoma Home Depot parking lot last week just roll out a full roll and cut it with a knife after the floor was in. I've been measuring and pre-cutting every piece in the shop like a chump. How many hours have I wasted, lmao?

Honestly, a job in Boise last spring changed how I prep concrete

Tbh, I was installing some engineered hardwood in a 1950s basement and the moisture readings were all over the place. The homeowner had an old dehumidifier running, but it wasn't cutting it. I ended up waiting three full days with industrial fans before the slab was finally ready. Ngl, I used to rush that step, but now I always budget extra dry time for older foundations. Anyone else run into this with mid-century homes?

Just saw a stat that vinyl plank fails way more often in basements than I realized

Read a trade report showing a 40% higher failure rate for floating floors in below-grade installs over concrete. Has anyone else switched to a glue-down method for basement jobs?

Honestly, I saw a guy in Phoenix try to lay a whole room of LVP without leaving a single expansion gap. Not one. It's gonna buckle in a month.

Warning: I thought the old glue-down tile in that 1980s Phoenix kitchen was a total loss until I spent a Friday night with a 4-inch scraper blade and a spray bottle of warm water.

The adhesive softened up enough to save the original subfloor, which saved the homeowner almost $800 in materials and a full day of demo work I had quoted.

A job in an old Seattle house taught me to check for radiant heat before I start

I was about to start laying engineered hardwood in a 1920s house up in Ballard last month. The homeowner said the floor was ready, but something felt off when I walked on it. It was warm in spots, not just from the sun. I pulled up a corner of the underlayment and found a mess of old, thin electric wires buried in a layer of mastic. It was a DIY radiant heat system from maybe the 70s, and the owner had no idea it was there. I had to stop everything, get an electrician to make sure it was dead, and then spend half a day carefully scraping up the mastic so I could put down a proper underlayment. That one check saved me from frying the system or starting a fire. Now I run a simple surface temp check with my hand on any pre-1940s house before I even bring the nailer in. Has anyone else run into a hidden system like that, and how did you handle it?

I finally stopped using a hammer and chisel for tricky cuts around vents

For a long time, I would mark the vent outline on the plank and then spend 15 minutes tapping away with a chisel, which often left rough edges. Last month, I saw a guy on a job site in Portland use a multi-tool with a plunge-cut blade, and it was so much cleaner and faster. What's your go-to method for those tight vent cuts now?

PSA: Watch out for old tile adhesive under that 'easy' vinyl plank job

I mean, I just got burned by this last week. A client in Springfield wanted vinyl plank over their old kitchen floor. They said the old tile was gone, just some adhesive left, no big deal. I figured a quick scrape and we'd be good. Wrong. This stuff was like concrete, maybe some old cutback mastic. My floor scraper just bounced off. I tried a 4-inch razor scraper, then a heat gun, then a rented floor grinder. The grinder gummed up every two feet. What should have been a half-day prep turned into three full days of just getting the subfloor flat. I'm talking 30 hours of work for a 200 square foot area. Has anyone else found a better way to deal with that rock-hard black adhesive from the 70s?

Just realized I've been cutting my LVP planks wrong for years

I was watching a guy from a crew in the next unit over at a big apartment complex job in Tempe. He was scoring and snapping the planks with the finished side up, not down. I've always done it face down, thinking it gave a cleaner break. His way left zero splintering on the visible surface. It's one of those things you see and just feel dumb for not knowing. Anyone else pick up a better method from watching another installer work?

I was convinced a 3/4-inch expansion gap was overkill for that 800-square-foot engineered job in a dry climate, but the homeowner's radiant heat system proved me wrong after the first seasonal change.

What's the biggest factor you all consider when deciding on gap size beyond just the square footage?

Just lost a whole morning's pay because I trusted a 'self-leveling' compound that was anything but (you know, the kind that promises a perfect floor in 30 minutes)

Found a full set of dentures under a floor I was pulling up in a Tacoma bungalow last month

I was demoing the old linoleum in a kitchen, and when I pulled back a corner near the sink, there they were, grinning up at me from the subfloor. The homeowner had no idea who they belonged to, and we just stared at them for a good minute. Ever find something truly weird under an old floor?

The difference in a kitchen floor after a client ignored my advice on subfloor prep

I put down a vinyl plank floor in a house in Boise about eight months ago. The client wanted to skip the leveling compound to save a day and some cash, even though the old subfloor had dips you could feel. I told them it would fail, but they signed off on it. Now the floor has gaps and clicks when you walk on it, and they called me back to fix it. How do you guys handle it when a client pushes back on the right prep work?

Why does nobody talk about the new glue formulas for vinyl plank?

I used to swear by the old water-based stuff for years, but after a job in Phoenix last summer where the planks started to lift in just three months, I switched to a full spread of a pressure-sensitive adhesive. The heat out there was cooking the old glue right out from under the floor. Now I only use the new stuff on any install over 80 degrees. What's your go-to for hot climate glue-down jobs?

I was cutting laminate with the good side down for a solid year.

A client in Boise finally asked why I was scoring the back of the planks, and I had to stare at my saw for a full minute. I guess I just copied the guy who trained me and never questioned it. Anyone else have a 'well, that was dumb' moment with a basic tool?

Changed my mind about cutting LVP with a knife

I always used a jigsaw for cutting planks around door frames, thought a utility knife was for amateurs. On a job last week in a tight Phoenix condo, my jigsaw battery died and I was in a rush. Grabbed my knife, scored the plank top and bottom, and snapped it clean in about 30 seconds. The cut was way cleaner than any jigsaw cut I've ever made, no chipping at all. Now I use the knife for all my straight cuts on LVP and save the saw for weird shapes. Anyone have a favorite brand of knife blade for this? Mine seem to dull fast.

My neighbor's basement floor went from wavy to flat in a weekend

He had a big dip in his slab, maybe an inch deep over 4 feet. We used a self-leveling compound I picked up from the local supply house, and the difference after it set was crazy. Anyone have a go-to brand for that stuff on really uneven concrete?