Regluing and shimming up Vinyl flooring

When I bought my house last year, there was a soft spot in the kitchen floor, under a window, where there had been a window air conditioner. the floor was made of particle board which had deteriorated from the water. Unfortunately, the vinyl (linoleum) is very new and in good shape, but no one has any matching material. But, before I tore up the floor, I decided to see if I could remove the vinyl and possibly reuse it. I cut it along a line (it's sort of a tile pattern), so I just cut it on the lines. Much to my surprise, it did lift up, despite the glue. Not easily, but it did come up in one piece without damaging it.

I have replaced the floor with 3/4" plywood, and am ready to glue down the same vinyl. However, the "so called" 3/4" plywood is not really

3/4" anymore. (I suppose they save $0.50 per sheet by cheating people). It's something like 23/32. But it appears to be more like 1/16th inch lower. But there's more, because there was also a layer of old linoleum under the new vinyl. So, it's more like 3/32 inch lower.

Anyhow, I want to bring the plywood patch up to the same level. I know they make floor leveler (sort of a plaster kind of stuff), but I doubt I'd get that stuff real level without lumps in such a large area. I replaced a 3 foot by 8 foot piece of the floor. It would make more sense to just glue down something else first, but what????? I thought of buying a small piece of some cheap vinyl, but it may be tricky to get the same thickness.

A retired guy who was once a carpenter told me he recalls seeing flooring guys use some sort of building paper to fill in large areas of a floor. But what would that be?

Any suggestions?

Reply to
Jerry.Tan
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3/32 is getting close to 1/8" which would be the thickness of luan. I think first thing is actually determine the thickness. Other thought is what you said, ie another piece of vinyl. You could probably find scraps at any dealer, maybe sort through them with a micrometer and get it for free or for a tip.
Reply to
trader_4

You might be able to use a thin plywood shim underneath. Frankly I'd tear up the whole thing and start over. Vinyl flooring that's not really stuck to particle board, which should never be used as underlayment, is not worth salvaging.

Reply to
Mayayana

In an area that large I wouldn't worry about getting it back up to "level" . I would feather the filler a foot or 18" out into the patched area so the difference is not so noticeable . I do NOT recommend adding a layer of tarpaper or anything similar because that will leave the area soft and prone to damage until it all sets up , a month or better . You might try to find some 1/8" plywood or untempered masonite to bring it up to level , but you're still going to need to patch the cracks or it will show thru the flooring .

Reply to
Terry Coombs

I ran into a similar problem and what I did was to use several sheets of plywood of differant thicknesses to make up the required 3/4 inch.

You may want to look at the luan sheets and see how thick they are. If almost but not exectally enough, put something between the plywood and luan sheet to make up the differance.

Reply to
Ralph Mowery

Mostly lower back , though if I get on my knees just right it can get painful . I'm starting to have problems with my hands these days , probably arthritis from all those year using hand tools . I spent a lot of years in cabinet shops after I left flooring trades .

Reply to
Terry Coombs

If it were me, I would:

  1. Put down painter's masking tape onto the sheet vinyl around the area you'll be working to keep it clean,

  1. have a 3 foot long piece of spruce 2X4 ripped into strips 3/32 inch wide on a table saw

  2. Use staples (preferably) or small nails or even short drywall screws to fasten down those wooden strips on 12 inch centers over the repair area,

  1. Use a standard 11 inch long plastering trowel to spread floor leveler onto the plywood using the 3/32 inch strips of wood as screeds.

(When doing this, don't mix any additive (pronounced "adhesive") into the cement based floor leveler. That will make the floor leveler hard to sand smooth.

  1. Sand the soft cement based floor leveler (and I'd recommend Mapei Planipatch sold at Home Depot) smooth and flush with the wooden strips using a light resting on the floor to exagerate the high and low spots so that you can readily identify the peaks and valleys where you need to add more floor leveler or sand it down more to make the cement based floor leveler flush with the tops of the wood strips. (Cement based floor leveler will shrink a bit as it dries, so you'll need to apply a second coat to fill in the shrinkage.)

  1. Pull the wooden strips up, vaccuum up, and then fill in the areas where the strips were with a 3 or 4 inch wide putty knife. Allow to dry and sand smooth.

  2. Once you have the area covered with 3/32 inch of cement based floor leveler, NOW use a small brush and a 7 or 10 inch paint roller to paint the recommended additive (pronounced "adhesive") diluted with water onto the dry floor leveler patch. As that dilute additive dries, it will glue all the cement grains together to harden the patch. As long as the patch turns dark when applying the diluted leveler, it's absorbing more liquid. Keep applying dilute additive until it doesn't darken when dilute additive is applied. In that case, the additive is forming a film OVER the leveler instead of being absorbed into it.

  1. Remove the painter's masking tape around the perimeter of the work area.

  2. Set your sheet vinyl in place and put something really quite heavy (like a spouse) on one side of the sheet vinyl.

  1. Pull back the sheet vinyl on the unweighted side and spread flooring adhesive onto the floor leveler there. Wait until the flooring adhesive gets tacky.

  2. Set the sheet vinyl into the flooring adhesive on the unweighted side.

  1. Move the weight to the glued side of the sheet vinyl, pull back the other side of the sheet vinyl and do an encore performance.

Or, at least, that's what I'd be most inclined to do.

Reply to
nestork

NESTORK nailed the ay to success.

Reply to
hrhofmann

I always nail the ays.

Reply to
nestork

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