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I’m looking for some advice. My husband and I wanted to put down vinyl plank flooring in our basement to replace old carpet. My husband removes the carpet and there’s old worn out tile underneath. Some spots are missing tile so I bought peel in stick vinyl tile to make the floor as even as possible. I start to install the vinyl planks and realize the floor is more uneven than I first realized. The planks are not staying flush because of the floor underneath. So I talk to my husband and he wants to get someone to even out the floor with concrete, however there is a French drain lining 2 of the walls so I don’t even know if pouring concrete is possible without spending a lot of money, which we do not want to do. Any advice? Suggestions?
Spend the money to even the floor out or put in a different product. I stupidly listened to the installer who was recommended by the store (and had very good reviews) who said i didn't need to level out the floor and I didn't need a cushion layer. I spent 5K total for a floor that bugs me everytime i walk on it. The planks look level but I can still feel the dips.
Thinset can work wonders in situations like yours. As the name implies, it's a thin layer that's troweled on, not poured. It's often used to create a level smooth surface on top of a plywood subfloor before installing sheet vinyl, for example. Sheet vinyl will show every little imperfection in whatever's beneath it, and a layer of thinset provides it.
Get a good installer though, it's not a DIY project if you've never done it before. They can feather it out toward your French drains.
The vinyl plank is pretty forgiving. I've had great results installing it over concrete, and mostly unlevel concrete. Yeah you'll maybe see or feel some of the more pronounced hoopty's in the floor but so what.
Unless you are doing a high end luxury home who cares.
Yeah you'll maybe see or feel some of the more pronounced hoopty's in the floor but so what. Unless you are doing a high end luxury home who cares.
With all due respect, that's the kind of outlook that makes me crazy when I see or hear about it. Why should the quality category of a home be an excuse to be satisfied with less than the best quality work? Unfortunately too many contractors/workmen feel that way, and I think it's sad.
I've extensively renovated four homes and built one from the ground up. I saw no reason to accept lower quality work in the 900 sq ft circa 1940s cape on 1/8 acre than I did in the 5000 sq ft circa 1990s colonial on 3/4 acre. Anyone who takes pride in their work should feel the same way regardless of what house it's being done in. That said, there's a lot of hack workmanship out there because of the "oh well, it's good enough for government work" mindset, or because someone didn't want to spend the extra money or effort to do something right.
Which is not the same as not being able to afford to have it done right. If all someone can afford is to have Louie next door and his friend help with a DIY project for a couple of pizzas and a case of beer, and they end up with slightly out of plumb cabinets or moldings that don't line up or a shower floor that always has puddles because it wasn't pitched properly, they were aware from the get-go that it was a cr@pshoot based on lowest cost. But to try to justify the result by saying "This kind of work is acceptable because my house isn't a McMansion" is being disingenuous. Why not just be honest and admit "I'm okay with incorrect workmanship because it cost me less money."
McMansions are some of the worst built homes ever.
No quality or pride in workmanship and inferior materials.
Always built to meet the bare minimum code requirements.
Totally lipstick on pigs.
Anyway, if someone wants to dump 200k into a home they paid 500k for that will only be worth 525k, well thats certainly their right to do so. More so if they actually intend to stay there forever.
I got vynal (not plank) but it looked like plank flooring. It is not perfect, in the right sun light you can see little like wrinkles but it was cheap enough. I plan on putting down a rug over the wrinkles come resale time.
I finished my basement myself. My co Crete floor was not exactly level I was gonna get the wood planks bu I heard you need a pretty level floor. I decided to go with luxury vinyl tile. They are thicker and have many designs but more importantly, they are forgiving. The
H will bend with the floor. It’s been two years and there are no issues at all. Looks great. Be careful about your tile that was under the rug. If. They are asbestos, you could be getting that it not he air.
I finished my basement myself. My co Crete floor was not exactly level I was gonna get the wood planks bu I heard you need a pretty level floor. I decided to go with luxury vinyl tile. They are thicker and have many designs but more importantly, they are forgiving. The
H will bend with the floor. It’s been two years and there are no issues at all. Looks great. Be careful about your tile that was under the rug. If. They are asbestos, you could be getting that it not he air.
Asbestos tiles are fine if they're intact and you're going to cover them.
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