CF

"Christopher Finke"

05/06/2005 10:28 PM

Floating floor over uneven subfloor?

My fiancee and I are looking to buy a house built in the late 1800's;
the upstairs bedrooms were carpeted at some point, but we'd like to
tear out the carpet and put in wood flooring. However, the planks that
make up the floor beneath the carpet have dipped over the years
(structurally sound, but definitely not flat).

Is it possible to put a floating floor (e.g. Pergo) in place when the
subfloor isn't completely flat? If not, are there any comparable (as
far as price) options? Thanks in advance.


This topic has 5 replies

HM

"*HMFIC@1369*"

in reply to "Christopher Finke" on 05/06/2005 10:28 PM

06/06/2005 12:25 PM

There is no easy out on this.... All floors are best installed on a flat
level surface. End of story!


you can rig anything to work, but will it stand up to time? and are you
willing to accept sub par quality? If you can answer that with a yes then go
ahead....

Bottom line is: It would be best to level out the floor, by what ever means.
New subfloor, or jacking, hacking and sanding up the old floor (I'd
personaly still use a subfloor over the old floor anyway even after
leveling, (1800's house you'd want a more stable subfloor))








"Christopher Finke" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> My fiancee and I are looking to buy a house built in the late 1800's;
> the upstairs bedrooms were carpeted at some point, but we'd like to
> tear out the carpet and put in wood flooring. However, the planks that
> make up the floor beneath the carpet have dipped over the years
> (structurally sound, but definitely not flat).
>
> Is it possible to put a floating floor (e.g. Pergo) in place when the
> subfloor isn't completely flat? If not, are there any comparable (as
> far as price) options? Thanks in advance.
>

ba

"bremen68"

in reply to "Christopher Finke" on 05/06/2005 10:28 PM

06/06/2005 6:34 AM

If it's only cupping of the boards, I'd go with sanding them down.
You'll want to fill any gaps first.



Good luck!

CF

"Christopher Finke"

in reply to "Christopher Finke" on 05/06/2005 10:28 PM

06/06/2005 1:12 PM

Thanks for all of the replies - pretty much what I expected, but I'm
pretty amateur in this area and thought there might be an easy fix.
Looks like we'll either be re-carpeting or putting down some new
subflooring. Thanks again.

Chris

TB

"Thomas Bunetta"

in reply to "Christopher Finke" on 05/06/2005 10:28 PM

06/06/2005 6:31 AM

Mine is a concrete floor, and we had a floating floor installed over it. The
job was botched by a lousy installation and one of the questions I had asked
the installer concerned a dip in my floor of a little over 1/4" at one
point.
His reply was "a floating floor was designed to handle things like that".
Later as we attempted to get the floor done right, I read the flooring mfg.
instructions... The floor should be floated if there is more than 1/8" of
dip.
Now as we walk around, we can feel the floor sink in several areas of the
house, and hear the foam moisture barrier beneath make noises.
Tom
"Christopher Finke" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> My fiancee and I are looking to buy a house built in the late 1800's;
> the upstairs bedrooms were carpeted at some point, but we'd like to
> tear out the carpet and put in wood flooring. However, the planks that
> make up the floor beneath the carpet have dipped over the years
> (structurally sound, but definitely not flat).
>
> Is it possible to put a floating floor (e.g. Pergo) in place when the
> subfloor isn't completely flat? If not, are there any comparable (as
> far as price) options? Thanks in advance.
>

Gg

"George"

in reply to "Christopher Finke" on 05/06/2005 10:28 PM

06/06/2005 7:30 AM


"Christopher Finke" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> My fiancee and I are looking to buy a house built in the late 1800's;
> the upstairs bedrooms were carpeted at some point, but we'd like to
> tear out the carpet and put in wood flooring. However, the planks that
> make up the floor beneath the carpet have dipped over the years
> (structurally sound, but definitely not flat).
>
> Is it possible to put a floating floor (e.g. Pergo) in place when the
> subfloor isn't completely flat? If not, are there any comparable (as
> far as price) options? Thanks in advance.
>
Possible, but foolish. Floating on the waves?

Get some flat, if not level, with sub-flooring.


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