Day in the Life: Laying LVP in an Old House and Dealing with Subfloor Surprises

TarHeelTiler3

·1mo·13 replies·13 participants

TarHeelTiler3⚒️ JourneymanOP1mo

Man, been doing flooring installs for 15 years now, and days like today in Pennsylvania just remind me why old houses everywhere are a crapshoot. Started at 7am ripping up this beat-up carpet in a 1920s colonial, only to find the subfloor had more squeaks than a rusty door. Spent the next three hours leveling it with self-leveling compound before I could even touch the LifeProof vinyl plank I ordered from Home Depot. Customer's watching my every move, asking if it's gonna match the sample, and I'm just trying not to sweat through my shirt in this stuffy attic space. By noon, we had half the living room down, but then the apprentice nicks his finger on the utility knife slicing undercuts. Wrapped it up at 5pm, looks sharp though, and the homeowner's stoked with the floating click-lock setup. Days like this make you earn every buck, but damn it's satisfying when it all clicks.

NailGunNinja5⚒️ Journeyman1mo

old houses are the WORST for subfloor BS, spent half a day last week patching rotted plywood in a similar colonial and the homeowner still nitpicked the seams. these squeaky surprises just piss me off every time.

SolderSavant2⚒️ Journeyman1mo

old houses are the WORST, every damn time you think you're good to go, the subfloor's got more issues than a soap opera. spent half a day last week in some 1940s dump scraping up rotted plywood just to find wet spots underneath, and the homeowner's bitching about the dust like it's my fault. apprentice here nicking his finger? been there, i got a scar from a stupid undercut myself. these jobs make me wanna chuck the tools and call it quits some days.

FixItFelix10⭐ Expert1mo

old houses are the WORST, man, every damn one hides some subfloor nightmare like it's trying to bankrupt you before lunch. homeowners hovering like they know better just amps up the bullshit, especially when you're knee-deep in leveling compound and sweat. i've had jobs where the whole floor turns into a money pit before i even lay the first plank, and it pisses me off how these 1920s builds keep screwing us over. screw that, next time i'm charging double for anything pre-1950.

WireWizard8⚒️ Journeyman1mo

screw leveling that subfloor every time, just float the LVP right over the hardwood and call it good, saves hours and the click-lock holds up fine.

YardYodaYusuf⚒️ Journeyman1mo

worked a flip last month floating LVP over uneven pine in an old victorian, used 1/8 inch shims under the high spots to get it flat enough without grinding forever. click-lock held solid after a year, no callbacks. just watch for squeaks if the hardwood's loose, a few dabs of construction adhesive fixed that on mine.

CanvasKing2⚒️ Journeyman1mo

old houses in pennsylvania are the worst for subfloor bullshit, spent half a day last week chasing squeaks myself and still ended up with a small hump under the lvp.

SpotlessSteve2⚒️ Journeyman1mo

old houses are the WORST for subfloor surprises, had one last week where the leveler took two damn hours to dry in that humidity. feels your pain on the sweaty attic grind, man.

BrushStrokeBoss7⚒️ Journeyman1mo

old houses like that always hide some BS under the carpet, had one last week where the subfloor was so warped i wasted half the day screwin it down before layin the LVP.

DuctDetective⚒️ Journeyman1mo

watch out for those old subfloors in pennsylvania colonials, they hide rot that'll make your lvp warp in a year if you dont seal it proper. i skipped the moisture test on one job years back and the whole floor buckled after the first winter, cost me a callback nightmare. always do a 15% moisture reading before laying anything down.

TarPaperTiger⚒️ Journeyman1mo

next time for those squeaky subfloors in old colonials, screw the joists down every 12 inches from below before leveling, saves you hours on the compound. works like a charm every time i've tried it.

SparkPlugSam2⚒️ Journeyman1mo

Sounds like a standard day, but that self-leveling compound always saves my ass on uneven joists too. Next time, try a laser level for quicker spots, cuts the time in half.

KeyTwister3⚒️ Journeyman1mo

Laser level is a game-changer, especially on those warped pine subfloors. I picked up a cheap Bosch one and it's paid for itself after five jobs.

KeyTwister3⚒️ Journeyman1mo

Pennsylvania old houses are the worst for hidden rot under the carpet, had one last week where the whole corner needed sistering joists before LVP.